Toddler Clinic Reflection

Being part of the toddler clinic this year contributed greatly to my academic development. I got to observe what takes place during a regular therapy session in both a one-on-one and a group setting. Three main things I learned from my experience were; preparedness, flexibility and the importance of communicating the goals of a client during therapy. The first thing I learned about this experience is the importance of being prepared ahead of time. Being prepared starts from the moment we administer our formal test and ends once our client is dismissed. Through out the semester, both Breena and Susanna exemplified what a prepared clinician should look like. Every session, both clinicians came in prepared with materials and different activities that were of interest to their clients. This taught me just how necessary it is
I would like to learn about the different AAC systems available to individuals and what exactly SLPs do when working with these individuals. A second area of intervention I would like to learn about is focused on individuals with ASD. Being that most individuals with ASD have difficulties using gestures, facial expressions, may have inappropriate turn-taking and have delayed speech, I would like to learn what skills SLPs focus on to get ASD individuals to communicate with others. Lastly, I would like to learn more about individuals with childhood apraxia of speech and the focus of intervention during therapy. Because it is a motor speech disorder that most children will not grow out it, I’m really curious to learn how SLPs improve a child’s coordination to strengthen the link from the brain to their speech muscles. Overall, I am excited to continue my studies and get more clinical observations to learn about the different types of disorders SLPs treat and the types of communication therapies they provide to their