u/Affectionate_Wish

I think part of it is because I’m newer and still figuring things out. I’m mostly school-based so I already feel less confident in the private practice setting, and then having a parent sitting there makes me even more aware of everything I’m doing.

Most parents don’t stay in the room, so I think that’s part of why it throws me off so much when one does. I start overthinking everything and feel like they can tell I’m still trying to figure things out. Sometimes they’ll even jump into the session and manage the kid’s behavior, provide feedback about their child’s comments, etc. in a better way than I did.

The funny part is I’m usually totally fine with the kids, or at least have the headspace to think about how to readjust. But add a parent, and my brain stops working entirely. Hopefully I’m not alone in this and someone can chime in with similar experiences or advice!

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially as the year wraps up.

I feel like I hear the same thing over and over from newer SLPs (myself included). That feeling of being so inadequate, and that you’re constantly second guessing and just trying to stay afloat.

Part of me thinks it could just be variability. Some people probably end up in tougher placements or don’t have the most supportive supervision, so the experience feels harder than it should.

But another part of me feels like it might be more systemic. Even with a solid grad program and decent placements, this job is so broad that it’s hard to feel prepared for everything once you’re on your own.

You’re suddenly expected to manage a caseload, make clinical decisions, handle IEPs, evaluations, parents, teachers…all of it. And there isn’t always a clear transition from being a student to being the one people look to as the “expert.”

Do you think this is more about individual circumstances, or is it kind of built into the field?And if you felt like this early on, did it get better over time or did you just get more used to it?

I’ve always thought of myself as “bad at math” but I’m starting to question whether that’s actually true or just something I internalized from school.

In high school, I did okay in geometry, trig/precalc, and AP stats. Algebra 2 really hurt my confidence. It was an honors class and even though I kept up enough to pass, I constantly felt like the dumbest person in the room. Tests were especially rough and I never felt like I truly understood what was going on.

Looking back, I realize I avoided getting extra help because I had a lot of anxiety about seeming stupid. I convinced myself that even if I tried, it wouldn’t click anyway. That experience basically closed the door on going further in math. I skipped AP Calc and only took a basic intro course later on.

Now as an adult, I’m wondering if I gave up on myself too early. I actually want to try again, but I don’t know where to start, especially since Algebra 2 was such a weak point for me. At the same time, I’m worried about not practicing for many years and how that can impact my ability to understand the concepts.

Has anyone else had a similar experience of struggling with math in school but coming back to it years later? I’m open to any advice you may have!

The teacher in question goes by missdani on TikTok. People are commenting on her videos as well as posting their own videos discussing the situation. I’m never against healthy discussion, but at this point it seems like a lot of it has devolved into bullying rather than genuine curiosity. Some people are saying that this teacher is going to cause her students to not be able to pronounce her r’s, but I’m not sure if that’s true if they are hearing the r modeled correctly from everyone else. I do see how teaching pronunciation of some words may be more difficult, but I’m sure she has developed strategies like videos to help, or perhaps she can even say the r in isolation or at the word level. I’d love to have a productive discussion because I feel like this can be rather nuanced.