‘I’M AN SLP’ Poem

A poem about a day in the life of an SLP. Feel free to download the printable version HERE!

I’m An SLP

Walking through the halls with the familiar sounds,
I get to my office and see kids all around.
Another day at my job with 60 kids to see, 3 evaluations and 2 IEPs.
How is this possible, I can’t get it all done.
I guess I better start now. It’s time for some fun.

Group after group, they come and they go.
Did they learn something from me? I don’t really know.
1:00 already? I didn’t even have lunch!
No time to eat now, I’m in a huge time crunch.

My first IEP lasts longer than I thought.
My schedule is off now, this happens a lot.
Onto IEP number two, with the paperwork in hand.
No one shows up, not going as planned.
More time for paperwork I think in my head.
Boring Medicaid again? I’d rather go to bed.
Medicaid billing, logs and reporting galore.
If there wasn’t this much paperwork, I could see kids so much more.

Last group of the day walks into my room.
‘Let’s play some games and get stickers!’ they boom.
Categories, concepts and following directions,
They don’t want to do the work, so many objections.
It’s time for them to go, so they leave and say good bye,
I forgot to work on ‘wh’ questions like who, what and why!
I needed more time to think my therapy plans through,
But I didn’t have time, there was too much to do.

The day is done and to myself I say,
‘I didn’t make a difference, today wasn’t the day.’
Then one of my students walks through the door,
I look at her and ask, ‘What are you here for?’

She looks up at me with a huge smile on her face,
And tells me that the speech room is her favorite place.
‘I love it here because it feels safe to me,
I don’t get made fun of for how I sound, you see.
My sounds are getting better each day that I’m here,
I now love to talk, I’m losing my fear.
It’s nice to know that you are always there,
So thank you for helping me and showing you care.’

Knowing that I made a difference even for just one,
Made me realize that my job’s not only fun.
I help kids learn to communicate while they work with me,
That’s why I love my job and that’s why I’m an SLP.

~ By Jennifer Bradley

Download It Here