Reflective Summary

In my opinion, one of the best aspects of graduate school is being able to apply the

information learned in class to evaluation and treatment procedures in the clinical setting. I was a

bit nervous to start my clinical practicum, as graduate students typically are; however, I quickly

realized that my classes would provide me with a solid foundational knowledge to begin this

kind of work. The bulk of my clinical experience has been with the pediatric population,

including working at Longwood Speech, Hearing, and Learning Services and working at Prince

Edward County Schools. During my time at Longwood Speech, Hearing, and Learning Services,

I conducted evaluations and individual therapy sessions, participated in their emergent literacy

program, Camp Jumpstart, and went on Early Intervention visits with a licensed speech-language

pathologist. At Prince Edward County Schools, I provided evaluation services and individual and

group therapy sessions at the elementary, middle, and high school. Several courses in particular

came in handy while working with the pediatric population including pediatric feeding and

swallowing, language disorders in infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, articulation and

phonology, language disorder in school-aged children and adolescents, language sampling and

analysis, fluency disorders, and my educational settings course. In this reflection, I will further

explain specific knowledge obtained from my classes in regards to evaluation and treatment

procedures and how this knowledge was implemented while working with children ages one

through 17.

To begin, I would like to discuss how I integrated my coursework into services provided

while on Early Intervention home visits. One of my favorite experiences while working with the

Early Intervention team was when I went with them on a feeding evaluation for a baby who had

to stay in the NICU after she was born. My baseline knowledge on the topic came from my
pediatric feeding and swallowing course. I was currently enrolled in the course during the

semester I went on this home visit so the information was fresh, assisting me as I formulated

questions for my parent interview and in answering the family’s questions at the time of the

evaluation. This baby was being bottle fed; therefore, the topics of conversation included flow

rates of different bottle nipples, the suck-swallow-breathe pattern that babies adhere to, and what

a “quality” feed looks like, meaning not just focusing on how much liquid the baby was intaking

but also the experience she was having while being fed.

Next, I would like to discuss how I integrated my coursework into services provided at

Longwood Speech, Hearing, and Learning Services. At the clinic, I had several younger clients

between the ages of 3-5. Therefore, I utilized a strategy I had learned in my language disorders in

infants, toddlers, and preschoolers class, which is called toy talk. Toy talk is essentially a

language modeling strategy where the clinician talks all about the toys the child is playing with,

including characteristics of the toys and what the toys are doing. I found this strategy to be very

engaging and has helped with eliciting spontaneous language from children at this age.

Lastly, I would like to discuss how I integrated my coursework into services provided

while at Prince Edward county schools. At the beginning of the school year, my supervisor and I

had many evaluations to complete. In doing so, we would gather a language sample in addition

to administering our standardized tests and engaging in clinical observations in order to get a full

picture of the child. This type of evaluation method is called dynamic assessment. My language

sampling course gave me the skills to gather a complete and accurate language sample on the

spot, which proved beneficial in these instances.

In conclusion, I am very thankful to Longwood University's graduate program as the

courses and clinical experiences offered have prepared me well to work as a speech-language
pathologist. The classwork and homework assignments in these courses were very functional as

they mimicked work we would be doing in a clinical setting. This practice in the classroom was

easily translated into the clinical setting and, for me, it was fun to see my coursework and

clinical work go hand and hand. Moving forward, I know I will have a lot to learn in my time in

clinical practice. However, I feel strongly that the baseline knowledge Longwood’s Master’s

program has provided me with will serve me well as I enter the working world.