Title: P.S.S.T Public School Speech Therapist: The Best Kept Secret in the Public
Schools
Author: W. Ray
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1728342678
Pages: 108
Genre: Non-fiction
Reviewed by: Leah Shepherd
Pacific Book Review
This is a good book that’s worth the time for anyone with an interest in speech therapy as it is meant to reveal universal truths for speech therapists across the country. The author W. Ray worked in many different settings in a variety of states. The familiar, widespread challenges for speech therapists include too much paperwork, feeling unappreciated and misunderstood, traveling all the time to different schools, and difficulties in scheduling.
This book is a perfect guide for a student who would like to pursue a career as a speech therapist. It gives readers a thorough and unvarnished picture of what the job is like on a daily basis. It’s also a very useful book to educate school principals, central office administrators and classroom teachers about the challenges that speech therapists deal with every day. The tone of the book is conversational, casual and sometimes humorous. It’s a like hearing a friend talk about her job in the schools. There’s very little technical jargon. You won’t find any formal, academic pontificating.
It’s not a book that breaks down complex theories on education and speech therapy. The author is clearly experienced and knowledgeable about her field. She’s faced plenty of obstacles on the job, including car breakdowns, large caseloads, and parents who didn’t understand why their kid needed speech therapy. A frequent headache is the lack of space in the schools, leaving speech therapists to work in closets, trailers and other less than ideal environments. The author offers some wise advice, such as the importance of being flexible and staying on good terms with the front office staff and the custodians. She describes feeling isolated and lonely because speech therapists usually have to shuttle around to several different schools in one week.
The travel makes it hard to find time to earn continuing education credits and bond with the classroom teachers. But the payoff when young students thrive in accomplishments make it worth it. This is an excellent resource to give to administrators if you are a Speech Therapist working in the public school system. It outlines the roles, duties, and responsibilities of working in the school setting.
