u/kasarchive

i’ve been working in pediatric home health for about 7 months now. it’s my first SLPA job post-grad and for a while i really enjoyed it, but lately i’ve been struggling with the inconsistency and my work/life balance.

i still enjoy being an SLPA and working with my kids, so i don’t necessarily feel like i chose the wrong career. i’m more so starting to question whether home health is the right setting for me long term. i’ve thought about trying a clinic, school, or even teletherapy, but change is scary 😭

another issue is that there aren’t many SLPA opportunities where i live, so part of me feels like i should just be grateful for what i have. at the same time, i don’t want to stay somewhere just because i’m scared there might not be anything better.
i also don’t really have any other SLP/SLPA friends to talk to about this, so i’d love to hear other people’s experiences.

how long did you stay at your first SLPA job? what made you realize it was time to leave or try another setting? if you’ve switched settings, did your work/life balance actually improve? and would you take a pay cut for a job that gave you more stability/better work-life balance?

i think i’m mostly scared of leaving something familiar and regretting it 🥲

sorry! kinda long post but this has been bothering me for a while and i’m feeling pretty stuck 😭

i’m still new to the field (home health ~3 months) and i’m struggling with my only older artic client. he’s 10, almost 11, wears hearing aids, and all his goals are speech sound/phonological processes.

in the beginning, i tried making sessions fun and interest-based, which worked for a bit, but now he’s basically over it and just wants to get it done as fast as possible with no play/activity.

the main issue is he shuts down with any corrective feedback. even after repeating correct productions a few times, if i cue again (“let me hear that again,” “don’t forget your /s/,” etc.) he tunes me out, says “ok i’m done,” or ignores me. visuals, placement cues, segmentation, airflow, auditory discrim, etc. all lead to him disengaging.

i also try to stay very positive and give a LOT of feedback like “good trying,” “i heard the /s/,” “that was a good sm,” “hey there we go,” etc. i’ve also acknowledged his feelings and told him i know speech can be boring, but working on it helps us eventually be done.

breaks/preferred activities haven’t helped either—he’ll drag them out so we avoid work. i’ve implemented what my supervising slp suggested but still feel stuck.

today he asked why he even has to do speech and said he wanted me to leave. i reassured him that if he keeps practicing, he’ll eventually graduate from speech. he said “i hope so.”

he wasn’t this resistant at first, so i’m wondering if this is common with older artic kids who are burnt out. it feels like the moment i give feedback, motivation drops completely.

any advice/ideas appreciated 😭