About SLBeeps

About Me

I’m a Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) in California.  I work in a school setting with children who have moderate-severe disabilities.

The author, Summer, standing on a hill in the sunshine.
Summer in sunny California!

I love tech and figuring out how to use apps in novel and engaging ways with my students.  I’m a continuing education fanatic and go to ASHA every chance I get.  Parent/staff education is one of the most rewarding parts of my job, and I hope I can do some of that here!

What are these Beeps?

As a group, SLPs are known (to ourselves, anyway) for being very type A.  That is, we are polished, prompt, organized, perfectionistic, and driven.  Those of us who don’t have the color-coordinated polka-dotted organization of our peers sometimes felt like outsiders.  

I started a Facebook group for these outsider/type B SLPs.  I eventually had to close it to new members because I was getting ten membership requests an hour (seriously!). That’s when I realized that a lot of us feel this way.  We were so happy to have found each other that we developed a shorthand for referring to ourselves, and we decided on Beeps!

But what about the evidence on A/B typing?
(There is none. ) 

In anticipation of some concern, yes, I’m aware that the A/B distinction is not solid science, or even loosely science.   Cardiologists in the 1950s developed a theory about who was more likely to have heart attacks.  They called these highly strung people type A.  Anyone else was a Type B

Per Wikipedia (so take that with a grain of salt) scientists have discredited the A/B  as having anything to do with cardiovascular health, with the exception of a subset of Type A people who have a lot of hostility.

In short, A/B typing has all the scientific import of your Hogwarts House.  Like Hogwarts Houses, it can be a useful shorthand to express how we see ourselves.  In the vernacular, Type B means something more specific, a looser, calmer, more go-with-the-flow personality.  Those are the perspectives that I (and, I hope, in guest posts, some of the beeps) want to bring to you with this blog.

Wait, So You Don’t Like Evidence?

I love evidence! I work hard on staying up to date.  Sometimes (often) I like pop psychology.  I think knowing myself better makes me a better SLP.   Am I using pop psych on my students and sorting them into these categories? No.  I am not.

  • My priorities with evidence are as follows:
    • First: do no harm (There is a considerable difference, in my mind, between interventions that are proven to be actively harmful and those that are proven to be ineffective.)
    • Second: waste no time.
    • Third: don’t overlook cultural competency, especially when it comes to dialect.
    • Fourth: don’t forget to have fun!

Following Evidence-Based practice helps me feel good about doing the first three so that I don’t miss out on the fun!

Who is else is SLBeeps?

SLBeeps has particularly benefited from the advice of Subhra B. Saha (Ph.D. Economics) and a group of tireless facebook moderators, who together comprise most of my favorite people in the world.