This unseasonable warm weather reminded me of when our air conditioner randomly turned on in the middle of last year’s winter. I am no HVAC professional, but even I knew we had a problem, so I did what every self-respecting millennial does:

I Googled it.

Because I didn’t really know what I was searching for, it took forever and didn’t yield results. I called a specialist from our thermostat hotline. The specialist asked for product information and had us perform some activities on our device. Something truly surprising happened:

Specialist: Go outside to your air conditioner condenser.

Me: Okay.

Specialist: Now unplug it.

Me: Okay, it's unplugged. What now?

Specialist: Is it still running?

Me: No.

Specialist: Excellent. Is there anything else we can do for you today?

Me: … Are you serious?!

The surprising part, in case you were wondering, was that I wasn’t speaking to a specialist, despite the title. I was speaking to someone who was prompted by a computer program, absent of any understanding of our house, the root of the problem, or what “problem solved” looked like.

So we called a real specialist, someone with 30+ years in the HVAC industry, who had built trust with us and our community. Several questions and some fancy equipment later, he figured out the root of the problem, explained our options, found us a temporary solution until the permanent one could be implemented, and taught us what to do if it ever happened again. I could have had the same fancy equipment and never figured out a fraction of what he did in 20 minutes, let alone the preventative training. That is what a real specialist does.

A good specialist is someone you listen to, who might have some special equipment and solve a problem well. A great specialist is someone you engage with, who listens to you, discusses big problems and plans for the future, and they make room for you to learn alongside them. They are someone who sits with the table as a "knowledgeable other" on your very knowledgeable team and leaves it better than they found it.

The next time you work with a specialist (or find yourself as the specialist) consider these questions:

1. How do you gather and use the lived experiences of the student and knowledge of the family and staff who know their roles and the student best?
2. What do you see as the root of the problem or barrier we identified? (Hint: if they say it’s the student, find another specialist)
3. How can our team ensure we are on the right track when the specialist isn’t here? How do we reach additional help if we need it next week? In a year? In 10 years?
4. When was the last time you had professional development in this area? What did you learn? How does it apply here?
5. How can we identify goals for our student and team?

So I repeat: don’t listen to specialists. Leverage good specialists by fully engaging with them and communicating your high expectations for all your students. Really great ones are worth walking alongside, having one very long and inspiring conversation over the course of your entire career.

PATINS has a list of specialists ready to engage with you, as well as a process just for students who struggle to communicate and may benefit from Augmentative and Alternative Communication. We look forward to the conversation!

I lack, what my husband calls, “mechanical empathy”. Basically, I can’t tell how durable an item is and push it far beyond its limits.

Case in point - I was home from college for the winter holidays and went to take a shower. The hot water knob was stuck so I gave it a good yank and I, a person who can’t do a push-up, ripped the knob clean off the wall. 

(If you’ve ever wondered what why Chip & Joanna always turn off the waterline before replacing anything in the bathroom, you’ll soon find out why.)

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH.

A constant flow of water was aggressively hitting the opposite wall of the shower...5 feet away. To steal a line from my students, “I was shook.” First, that I was actually holding something that had been welded directly to the wall. Second, that the bathroom was quickly turning into Niagara Falls. Detached knob in hand, I screamed for anyone in the house to turn off the water. Quickly, my brother cut the waterline and a few hours later my uncle stopped by to survey and fix my destruction. I felt very fortunate to have my family clean up my mess, literally.

You’re probably thinking, “How did she get hired by PATINS?” Luckily, the Assistive Tech Lending Library, filled with devices, are far from my reach. Your loan items are safe, Indiana.

I tell you this story to remind you that educational tools and devices are objects that can be fixed or replaced. Plus, there is always someone close by to help you. While we ask that you treat borrowed items carefully and return them in clean, working order so our two Lending Library Managers, Carrie and Sheri, can speedily pack them up for the next eager borrower, we understand that life happens. If you’re anything like me, you breathe easier knowing that PATINS/ICAM specialists can be your emergency “Help-it’s-broke!” lifeline when a borrowed app stops working, the device won’t turn on, or you’re missing an important cord/connector.


You can trust the PATINS family will be there for you from start to finish all year long no matter the size of the problem.

What is the most interesting thing you learned?

Why is this the one question I ask all students? It seems simple at first, but this question alone has given me vivid insight into who my students are at their core while sneakily working on enhancing language skills. Here are 5 reasons why.

1. Build rapport. Instead of relying on the "About Me" worksheets students fill out once in July or August, you can keep the lines of communication open between you and your students all year long. We all know what's cool one minute, is out the next anyways.

2. Work on skill deficits. With this one question alone, SLPs (and anyone working in the school) can help foster social skills, correct use of conjunctions, and expanding verbal/written sentence length. For social skills, students can work on turn taking, topic maintenance, asking follow up questions, perspective taking and reading nonverbal cues. For example, "What do you think X found interesting? How do you know?" If students answer with a simple sentence, you can use a visual of conjunctions to prompt them for more information. FANBOYS is always a favorite.

3. Find out what they've truly learned. Wait 10-15 minutes, a class period, or even a day and then ask what they found interesting from an earlier lesson. It may be a small detail you've glanced over that actually piqued their interest while they may have forgotten about information needed for the test. Now, you know what needs re-teaching.

4. Learn more about what engages them and use that information for future lessons. Students may reveal surprising interests such as loving opera music or a passion for tornado chasing. These are two real life interests brought up by my former students and you bet these were incorporated in more than one speech session.

5. There is no "wrong" answer. It's a low stress way for students to participate who may not otherwise felt confident enough to speak up with their ideas. Even if they say nothing was interesting, they can explain why and what can be different next time.  

As you can see, "What is the most interesting thing you learned?" packs a lot of educational "punch" with virtually no material preparation (unless you choose to - this could easily be done on a Padlet, white board, or other discussion format should you like a record of it).

Weave this question into your school day and comment below your thoughts on my all-time favorite question.