I am officially back to school today! This will truly be an unprecedented year. Is anyone else tired of hearing that word? Unprecedented. I have heard the administration of the school I work for use that word in almost every email. To me, unprecedented seems to translate to no one knows what is happening, let’s all wing it!

I was recently reading Uniquely Human: A different way of seeing autism by Barry M. Prizant, PhD. In the book, he quotes a personal friend who said, “The opposite of anxiety isn’t calm, it’s trust.” In this time of uncertainty, many students (and adults) will seek to control anything they can to artificially create trust in an environment that is rapidly and unexpectedly changing. Dr. Prizant encourages educators, therapists, and caregivers to focus on being calm and consistent in the face of unexpected changes.

Well friend, that’s my plan–lean on my routines and focus on being calm and consistent for my students. My speech therapy planning routine has always been to choose a broad theme for the month and select picture books, articles, animated shorts, songs, games, and activities within that theme. Thankfully this style of planning works no matter the service delivery model, so I will be remaining consistent with my materials and therapy style.

Head on over to the freebie library to download a copy of the September Speech Therapy Planning Idea Guide pictured below. It has clickable links and features only no-print interactive resources that are great for both in-person therapy on an ipad and teletherapy.

Get it here. I hope this helps you transition into distance learning this month!

Thanks for reading!