A Day in the Clinical Life

The time: it could be an hour from now, or it could have occurred twenty years ago. The place: Just outside my patient's space. She might be in a clinic treatment room, or it might be her apartment or home. I enter - "Good morning!"

"Thank you for letting me visit with you today. Your doctor asked me to visit with you, after you returned home from the hospital. Who is the doctor that ordered my visit? It was Dr. _____! You remember her, good! Did you work with a speech therapist in the hospital? OK - what I want to do is to help track your recovery from your condition. May we do that? Thank you. Do you think your ability for _____ has changed, since this all started? Tell me what you can".

"Thank you for the compliment. My mother used to say I was a nice person. I kidded with her in return, now I'll never get a date! But I think it helps me help others. Did your parents or your teachers, or other adults want you to be that way?....OK. I've enjoyed our conversation, all of it, and our conversation has given me some clues as to what you're dealing with - Can we now do something now, that's a specialized way of observing how people communicate? WE CAN? Oh, thank you. I'll explain each part of this, but please ask any questions if they come up".... ....and so it goes. After all the assessment is done, and I explain what I see, and get feedback from her, I work to "close the sale". That's a component of what we do, speech - language pathologists. Improved skills are our widgets, our EV's, and our commodity futures. Our product, when it is sold with clarity, honesty, compassion and commitment; - it's the best. We only want to help you connect.