Memory, cognition, attention, executive functioning, articulation, expressive/receptive language… SLPs hear these words every. single. day. Our livelihood is based on working on these things (+ many more). We cycle through many of the same goals and activities with many of our clients, and it can be SO easy to get burnt out. It can also be so easy to lose sight of what is most important – helping our clients improve their skills to an age-appropriate and FUNCTIONAL level.
Functional – this is a word that we should be surrounding ALL of our therapy activities around, for clients of ALL ages. Truly, you should not work on any activities that are not building functional skills for the client. For example, if you are working on R with a 7 year old, don’t target the word “perspire,” target the word, “vampire” or “umpire.” What is the point of working on words the child is not using in their day-to-day life? Eventually they may use this word, but build the skills with words that are functional and they will carry over for long term success.
Here’s another lesson for you – stop with the memory games. Your client is working on memory and attention? That’s great. They possibly are working on these skills so that they can go to the grocery store and not forget why they are there, or so they can cook dinner and not forget to add in each ingredient, or so they can leave the house and not forget where they are going. Clients with these goals in mind do not need to practice by playing card games or memorizing numbers – they need to practice by doing things they actually will do in the future.
Get to know your client – what is important to them? What are their goals? Is their goal to talk to a friend and not immediately forget what they said? Then work on that in speech therapy! Make up scenarios that a friend might say to them (or check out my no-prep activity on TPT) and have them try attending to the conversation and recalling information, and if they need to modify this task or use external memory strategies, have them practice writing down the information that is heard. Yes, memory games may help their memory and attention – but it is not what is best for the client right. now.
We should always talk to our patients and to their families – find out what they NEED. Do they love to cook? Practice reading recipes, shopping for groceries, writing down a shopping list (click here for my Preparing a Meal activity). Do they love to travel? Practice searching weather forecasts and preparing what they should pack (click here for my Reading a Weather Forecast Activity) or practice planning a trip by searching destinations and hotels (click here for my Planning a Trip Activity).
There is absolutely no reason to practice tasks that our patients are not interested in or do not participate in typically. If they aren’t (and never were) the person in the household who pays the bills – they do not need to complete a bill paying activity. Always get a background in what your patient cares about and is in charge of – and THAT is what you need to target.
Please stop with the memory games – everything, EVERYTHING, should be functional.
Be sure to check out my TpT, there are so many functional resources to bring into therapy with you that will pertain to almost any client. As always, shoot me an email if you have any questions or need more therapy ideas!!
— Courtney B SLP