Download the show notes and full transcript of the conversation.
This first episode in a new series sees the welcome return of Katie Widestrom-Landgraf. In this episode, Katie reflects on how and why she switched from being a medical SLP to school-based, and how much she still loves a day in the life of a school-based SLP, over 20 years later.
Stay tuned! For the next 10 episodes of this series, Katie will be bringing her school-based SLP experience to the interviewing seat and talking with various guests also working in schools and educational settings.
Discussion & Reflection Question
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- If you’re thinking about working as a school-based SLP, who can you reach out to as a mentor, or who can connect you to someone who may be able to mentor you or give advice?
- As a school-based SLP, how do you make it possible for your student population to be compliant and engage with you as an SLP in an age-appropriate, accessible, and acceptable way, depending on their age?
- How can you advocate for your needs as a school-based SLP? Can you be proactive about solutions, and educate colleagues about the role of SLPs at the same time?
- How flexible do you need to be with your daily schedule? Are there ways you can make any daily adjustments easier?
- Have you got a big caseload? How can you manage your work-life balance?
Katie Widestrom-Landgraf,
MS, CCC-SLP
Katie is a speech-language pathologist who has worked in both medical and educational settings for over 20 years. She presently works with adolescents in a large suburban high school.
Katie is a past president of the Minnesota Speech-Language Hearing Association (MNSHA). She has collaborated with the MN Dept. of Education to expand the understanding of oral language as critical neurodevelopmental infrastructure for academic achievement processes.
Katie is most passionate about helping students develop their language skills as a tool for thought, wonderment, questioning and curiosity…and of course communication. When Katie is not working with the students on her caseload, she is still working with students to develop their communication and self-expression as a high school forensics coach.
Katie enjoys great conversations and connections where one loses a sense of time, fabulous dining experiences, transcendent cups of coffee and books that are so good she negotiates with her alarm clock so that she might finish just one more chapter.
Contact Katie Widestrom-Landgraf
the.curious.slp@gmail.com
“There’s something magical about being able to help somebody develop the infrastructure of thought. It’s not just communication. The idea that I get to do that every day, that’s my “why”. There are these wonderful moments of connection and authentic authenticity that you have with your students, and I don’t think I’m unique in that experience but that’s a primary driver for me. I love seeing meaningful progress.”
– Katie Widestrom-Landgraf
“We just did this great eight week course on career exploration and what you do and don’t like about your job. Many SLPs get on a track and they just don’t stop, and then they’re unhappy. I love that Katie stopped, paused, got off of one track, and got on to the other.”
– Mattie Murrey-Tegels
Mattie Murrey Tegel, MA, CCC-SLP, L, CPC, CLSC
Medical Speech-Language Pathologist and Founder of Fresh SLP.
Mattie Murrey-Tegels is the founder and SLP behind Fresh SLP and The Missing Link for SLPs Podcast. She’s been “in-the-trenches” as a medical SLP around the world for over 25 years and now an Assistant Professor for 3 years. She is thrilled to be adding this dream of a podcast because paying her experiences forward is something she is very passionate about. If you ask her patients and students, one thing they will remember is how much she loves her job! She may not look like it but she is a huge introvert and when she is not actively working as an SLP, she is almost always reading, writing (writing over 1,000,000 words a year), or listening to amazing Chicago Blues bands. She also loves being outdoors and definitely enjoys soaking up the sun at her home in Minnesota, where warm and sunny days can be limited. She’s ridden motorcycles for many years, raced sled dogs, hiked huge mountains yet she cherishes the quiet moments of climbing into a hammock to nap or timeless conversations with friends and family.
The Missing Link for SLPs podcast and Fresh SLP is her legacy, giving back to a career that has so richly rewarded her.
Thank you for listening to The Missing Link for SLPs podcast! If you enjoyed the show, I’d love you to subscribe, rate it and leave a short review. Also, please share an episode with a friend. Together we can raise awareness and help more SLPs find and connect those missing links to help them feel confident in their patient care every step of the way.
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Not a substitute for a formal SLP education or medical advice for patients/caregivers.
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