• Home
  • My Story
  • Membership
  • Courses
  • Contact

Speech is Beautiful

5 Made-Up Words Speech Paths Use That No One Understands

Education

4 Oct

sib92015There are so many things we know that people outside our field don’t know or understand – sometimes I think I’m in a “speech” cult or something! My husband is always giving me funny looks. Here are some words he has learned over the years:

  1. Spectrummy — First and foremost I am not able to diagnose autism. Don’t worry, I don’t even try! But “spectrummy” is a code word I use with other speech paths when we talk about certain behaviors students display. Whether it’s a lack of appropriate eye contact or rigidity during transitions, but there are lots of behaviors that come with autism that you see across the spectrum of students at school — many of which wouldn’t meet the criteria for autism, but I can describe in a shorthand kind of way with the word “spectrumy” when I problem solve with the other speech paths in my building.
  2. Pick up and drop — This year I share a space with two other speech paths. We talk about our caseloads and I’ll say “I’ll pick him up” or someone else with say “I’m dropping her.” Others might be confused by these terms — they only refer to managing our caseloads and speech eligibility!
  3. Eval — “Eval” can be both a noun (evaluation) or a verb (“I’m going to ‘eval’ him.”) I use this term *all the time.* I know it’s not grammatically correct, but I use it when I’m “talking shop” with my friends in special ed.
  4. Oral Mech — What a weird combo of words? “Oral mech”? What the what? All it means is an oral mechanism exam or when a student is getting an eval, I will also check out muscle strength and tone during my evaluation (lips and tongue primarily).
  5. Stimming — I remember when my husband first heard me use the word “stimming” he was totally confused. It refers to a behavior exhibited by a student with autism that helps him or her calm down their nervous systems. It might be flapping, waving hands or an object in front of their faces, or focusing on an object or character (many students “stim” on a cartoon character meaning they focus and perseverate on it too frequently.)

I pulled back the curtain to share some of the terms we use in our field. If you love someone who is a speech path, now you know some more insider vocabulary!

Bonus word by me: Therapize – Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like there needs to be a word for providing therapy. So that’s why I want to make up and use the word therapize. I don’t want to say I “gave that student therapy” or “provided that student his/her therapy minutes.” I need an all-in-one word!

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

« 50 Thoughts Speech Paths Have During Back-to-School Time!
Blogging on Teachability: 5 Free & 5 Paid iPad Apps I Can’t Live Without »
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Buy me a coffee

Categories

Latest on Pinterest

  • 10 Pros and Cons of Being a Bilingual SLP - Speech is Beautiful
  • New on Etsy: Speech Therapy Stickers and Pins - Speech is Beautiful
  • 10 Tips for CFYs - Speech Pathology Clinical Fellowship - Speech is Beautiful
  • 10 Wordless Videos for Speech Therapy that Teach Inferencing - Speech is Beautiful
  • Working in schools as a speech pathologist for more than seven years, I have treated a lot of kids. One of my duties is to decide whether or not speech services continue to offer an educational benefit for students. I have found that most parents want their children to continue in speech therapy even after the recommendation for dismissal. It’s okay to disagree.
  • 5 Tips for Success in Your Speech Pathology Clinical Fellowship - Speech is Beautiful
  • Pirate Description Bingo - Free Bilingual Sample - Speech is Beautiful
  • 5 Ways to Deal with Impostor Syndrome - Speech is Beautiful
  • 5 Sources of Funding to Start Your Speech Private Practice - Speech is Beautiful

Copyright © 2023 · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs

 

Loading Comments...