ERIKA UNTCH

I am a passionate, personable and dynamic speech-language pathologist with almost twenty years of experience working in public schools, charter schools, pediatric outpatient clinics and my small private teletherapy practice. I feel that it's time for me to pass some of this experience on to CFs, SLP-As, or graduate student clinicians, as I have thoroughly enjoyed informally helping CFs who have approached me for help over the years.

My therapeutic (and life) approach is founded on humility and mutual respect: We can all learn from each other no matter what! I have worked with both low and high SES districts, bilingual students, EI, Pre-K-12, and adults. At times, I have been the minority and have been treated as such, unfortunately. I have also been that new SLP who inherited goals from a former SLP for a boy with ASD to make direct eye contact and was consequently screamed at by an enraged father. I would also advise anyone I mentor to treat custodians and front desk staff just as well as administrators and CEOs. A sense of humor and other ways of preserving one's own mental health is also crucial!

I have co-taught classes with ELA teachers using the push-in model, and, in turn had to quickly learn classroom management skills. In addition, I love co-treating with OTs and PTs when possible and have learned so many cool new skills as a result, such as Bal-A-Vis-X.

I am especially proud of my keen ability to think on my feet and adapt a lesson plan to meet the needs of just about everyone on my caseload. Many of my lessons include a hands-on, multi-sensory experiential learning approach. To illustrate, one of my favorite activities is a backpacking lesson that is both instructional and fun! For students with executive functioning goals, we focus on creating a pack list, then prioritizing, categorizing and organizing a backpack from the bottom up. Also, breaking into partners to set up tents is a great way to address social/pragmatic issues. For articulation, apraxia and stuttering, I am easily able to collect data while students are reciting the pack list and communicating how to set up the tent. This lesson is also perfect for requesting objects/actions with AAC devices. Moreover, the versatility of this activity allows me to work with kindergartners as easily as seniors. For instance, younger students practice spatial concepts with whole body movements using the tent as a prop while older students practice sequencing steps of setting up camp or write persuasive paragraphs to obtain permission to go on a 3-day backpacking trip.

Other successful hands-on sensory lessons that can more easily be adapted to the teletherapy model are using silly putty to talk about flexible thinking (also doubles a fidget!) and teaching a pet dog to do basic commands using a click and treat approach. I'm also a big fan of using what my own clinical supervisors taught us in grad school: You can provide effective therapy with a just paperclip!