I found this infographic (a visual learner’s dream!) on Presence Learning. It illustrates what goes on Inside the World of #SLPeeps, depicting settings, education, salary, and more for SLPs.
There were some parts that definitely caught my eye. One was the section that stated information about job satisfaction and burn out. But, the statement that really got my attention was that when a caseload exceeds 60 students to one SLP, roughly 1/3 make little to no progress.
I must say I was not really that surprised. When our caseloads get so high it can difficult to really give each student the attention they may need. It got me thinking how other people are feeling right now about their caseloads and effectiveness.
What is your caseload like? Do you feel like you can deliver effective speech therapy with your caseload? Have you switched settings because of feeling burnt out? I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions, maybe get a good discussion going about this hot topic.
Infographic by PresenceLearning, The Leader in Online Speech Therapy
4 Responses
Very cool visuals and some good information. I worked for many years as an SLP in Anchorage, AK. At the time, we tried to adhere closely to the 40:1 ratio that ASHA suggests. Great job satisfaction! When I moved to the lower 48, I decided to go into a clinic setting and do contract work with the schools because the caseloads locally were 60 and 70:1. TOO many!
I am starting my 17th year as an elementary based SLP in Indiana. This year I will have close to 90! 🙁
It is so hard to make progress when your groups are that big. It also make it very difficult to push in to a classroom. I can’t get around to that many classrooms in a day. For now I do group sessions as well as the 5 minute kid program.
Holy Cow! I hope you can get an extra pair of hands to give you some support. Hopefully our districts will realize how having more SLPs with will benefit everyone.
This is no surprise to me! My last year with my school district, I was supervising an SLP -Asst. and covering 3 elementary campuses with 113 kiddos to start the year. I did get another SLP-Asst. one day a week at the smaller campus about 3 months into the school year after I stated to our Lead SLP that I would need to stop going to the smallest campus due to simple logistical issues with covering therapy services and travel. It was a nigthmare! Not sure how we did it, but I left the school district after 16 years of service for a private practice job with kids. I had difficulty adjusting to having time to actually make a difference. I love where I am now and will never go back to that stressful situation.