Speech and Language Facebook Groups
If you aren’t familiar with Facebook groups, you might be wondering what they are, how people use them, and why you should join! Well read on my friends, and discover one of the BEST ways to collaborate with SLPs around the world!
1) What is a Facebook group?
According to Facebook, groups are “for members of groups to connect, share and even collaborate on a given topic or idea”. Basically, you find a group that discusses topics you are interested in, request to join, get approved, and start participating (or just creeping & reading posts).
2) How are they used?
Each group is used differently. Typically, SLP groups are places for SLPs to ask questions, share stories, get advice, and connect with other SLPs. Each group kind of has it’s own vibe, niche, and specialty so it’s important to find the group that’s right for you! Some groups are primarily for sharing optimistic stories about being an SLP, some groups are for SLPs working in a specific work settings, and other groups are used primarily for asking questions and getting answers from other SLPs.
3) Why should I join one?
You should join one because it will make you a better SLP!! I love how much these groups are used. They aren’t some quiet forum. Questions are asked EVERY HOUR and most questions get many, many responses. I love the emphasis on evidence-based practice – making sure every SLP in the group is aware of great speech therapy methods and ideas. You will learn, laugh, empathize, and get answers to your burning/tricky SLP questions! To be honest, I’ve never even asked a question and I’ve still learned so, so much. I love that it’s in my Facebook feed so I just read a question, see the responses if I’m interested, and keep scrolling to see news from my family and friends. I don’t even have to click to another site or remember to check something else! It’s all in one place!
4) Okay I’m convinced. What SLP groups are out there?
So.many. I’ve tried to link to all of the ones I’m aware of below, but if I missed any great ones, please let me know in the comments so I can get it added!! The trickiest part about Facebook groups is they can be difficult to find/search for.
School-Based Speech and Language Therapy - Great for those of you who work in the schools. Typically used to ask/answer questions and discuss issues related to working in a school.
Speech Pathologists at Large - A group for any SLP in any setting!
Pediatric Medical SLPs – A group for SLPs working in the medical setting such as hospitals or rehab centers!
Speech Therapy Ideas - In general, I’ve found this idea to be less active than the others, but is still a good place to gets ideas for therapy.
Adult Rehab Speech Therapy – Do you work with adults in a rehab setting? This group is for you!
Medical SLPs Forum - Intended for any SLP working in a medical setting.
Bilingual Speech Language Pathologists - A great place for bilingual SLPs to collaborate!
Early Intervention Speech-Language Pathologists and Early Intervention SLPs Birth to 3 - Both great groups for those of you working with the early intervention population!
School SLP Jubilee – One of my favorite groups! It’s simply a place to share the awesomeness that is being an SLP. Some of the other groups get bogged down with venting. This one is positive stories only – something we all could use!
SLP Bloggers & SLP TPT Sellers – Do you blog and/or sell on Teachers Pay Teachers? You need to be in this group. Great collaboration! You do need an invite for this group so let me know if you have a blog or store and are not part of the group!
AAC Alternative Awesome Communicators - A group for both AAC users and the wonderful people who work with AAC users, including SLPs!
Did you just get carried away and request to join several groups? Awesome, but here’s a little hint. Your newsfeed is about to explode with SLP greatness. If you feel overwhelmed but don’t want to leave the group, you should know how to stop notifications! Check out the picture below:
The picture above is from the School-Based group. In the middle of the picture on the right side, you’ll see a bar. On the right it says “Notifications”. Mine has a blue check meaning some sort of notifications are on. Click on that button and you can change the settings for notifications from everyone, your friends, or none at all.
Turn it off if you don’t want to see things popping up from this group. You’ll need to do this for each group individually but it does help clean out your newsfeed if you feel overwhelmed but still want to check in from time to time.
So there you have it! Any groups I missed?
{thanks for reading}
