Author Archives: Mary Huston, PhD; MS, CCC-SLP

Morals, Ethics, and Responsibilities

Posted in General, research by

Have you ever considered, I mean REALLY considered the responsibility we have to ourselves, our clients, and our profession? Of course you have…

We know we have a responsibility to keep up to date on research, to use evidence based practices in our clinical therapies, and to attempt to track our ever-widening (and often over-reaching) scope of practice…This helps our maintain our responsibility to our clients and profession (sort of).

But what about our responsibility to our fellow clinicians? That one is a bit trickier, isn’t it? Where does OUR responsibility end and THEIR responsibility begin? Is there a distinct line?  Continue reading →

Time for new…or renew…or…something.

Posted in General, Self Reflection by

Can you believe it is almost March and Mardi Gras?

mardi_gras_maskIn an effort to stop procrastination (I’m thinking about giving it up for Lent) and be more positive, I am debating on what to be when I grow up. For years, I was content being a school-based speech language pathologist. I was good at it, it was rewarding, and I had a dream position (really…I did!)

Now, I’m working at a university (which is very different, I love teaching new SLPs who to do what I love). This position, while not direct therapy, is also very rewarding. I’m shaping the very fabric of the profession – how awesome is that?  Continue reading →

Who is to blame? We are.

Posted in Advocacy, ASHA, General, Self Reflection, SLP Issues by

I’ve had a post on pseudoscience drifting around in my head for a while now and it just isn’t coming together the way I want. I won’t bore you with the particulars of it, but know that there will be one coming…sometime. In the meantime, while pursuing those elusive thoughts, I’ve been trying to figure out WHY we have such an influx of pseudoscience cropping up.  Continue reading →

Grad Schools, SLPs, and Oh My God What if I Don’t Get in!

Posted in General by

We have entered that twilight time that most SLPs try hard not to remember… That time of “did I apply to the right places”, “what if I don’t get in,” and “Did I miss the deadline.”

Choosing grad schools to apply to is hard. This is your LIFE you’re talking about after all. It’s not something to be taken lightly. But it is also extremely stressful because … well… it’s your life! So for those upcoming graduates, how do you decide which programs to apply to? For those experienced SLPs, what would you say to them about the pro gram you attended? What are the key things they need to look for in a grad school?

Continue reading →

Adventures with despair,happiness, and change!

Posted in Advocacy, General by

No matter where we turn in the last few days, we are surrounded by news on the inauguration, cabinet choices, fashion sense, and people in general expressing great pleasure and equally great despair. On Facebook there are posts proudly proclaiming marching in peaceful protests for women’s rights and/or against the current president (note: they are not necessarily one and the same). There are an equal number of people telling those marching to “get over it.”

There are posts against the president’s pick for cabinet members. There are an equal number of posts saying “give it time, give them a chance.”

There’s one thing ALL of these posts have in common… Continue reading →

SLPs, Agnotology, and Responsibility

Posted in General, research, SLP Issues by

In recent months, the United States has experienced a bit of a shock (now, don’t run away, this isn’t that kind of a political post…I promise). Amidst that shock was the discussion about fake news sites and how frequent sharing of those fake news stories, perpetrated the untruths about various political candidates, etc. Special interest was taken by Facebook and other social media about their role in stopping those fake news sites. What no one seemed to mention is that these fake news stories have been around for a long time. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve used snopes.com to fact check many of those facebook stories that come around every few months for YEARS.

So…what does this have to do with speech-language pathology? Let me explain.
Continue reading →

Hubris, Humor, and Humility

Posted in General, Self Reflection, SLP Issues by

I know…I know…It has been a while since I’ve posted, and for that I apologize. I’d like to blame it on the new work role, or the move to a (much) larger community, or moving 3 times in 1 month…but in reality, the delay has simply been because I haven’t felt that…nudge. I’ve been trying to force a blog post, which never works for me. Today though, today, I felt the nudge that said “YOU NEED TO WRITE ME NOW!!!” So…guess what?  Continue reading →

Don’t bother reading the research!

Posted in General, research, Self Reflection by

Say what?

You heard me…Don’t bother reading the research!

Are you wondering why I would possibly say something like that? I mean, speech-language pathology IS a science based career, right? Anyone who has read me here or on Facebook/Twitter, knows that evidence based practice and research is something that I drone on (and on and on) about…so why on earth would I possibly say don’t bother?

Continue reading →

The Filter Approach – A book review

Posted in Book Review, Book Reviews, General by

I am always on the lookout for something new to use with students. I was recently sent a copy of The Filter Approach: Social Communication Skills for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders by Stephanie Sanders to review. (Disclosure: I receive a copy of the book at no charge, and I have not as of yet implemented this method with a student.) That said, the approach seems to have some merit. There is a website that discusses more about the book as well (The Filter Approach) and also discussed the author background, and provides a link to purchase the book.  Continue reading →