Ideas to Build Your Brand With Colleagues and Clients, SLPs

The job of a speech-language pathologist continues to expand. And as demand for our expertise increases, so does our workload. Awareness about our profession seems not to grow as much, however. New SLPs, for example, might quickly learn about others’ sometimes-limited understanding about our scope of practice. It can be frustrating when others don’t understand what an SLP does, but we can teach them by advocating for ourselves. As a school-based SLP, I educate many of my co-workers about the extent of my skills and expertise. Let’s learn to represent our brand, fellow SLPs. I hope these strategies work as well for you—whatever your setting—as they did for me: Create and deliver a brief presentation to co-workers about speech-language pathology: Include audiologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists to reiterate our ties to other professions. Review your education, any specialized areas of focus and licensing requirements. Let them know about ASHA and provide it as a resource. Explain our scope of practice as it relates to your work setting. Educate client/student families and friends: Provide parents with a list of common acronyms and terms used during IEP meetings. Provide a “Welcome to Speech” packet with treatment-room procedures, an overview of our scope of practice, and a letter introducing yourself. Provide packets and resources of seasonal and daily activities for families to do at home. Use our correct title! Don’t be afraid to ge...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Advocacy Source Type: blogs