Name: Claudia Martinez
Position: Speech-Language Pathology Aide and SCAI Manager
Position: Speech-Language Pathology Aide and SCAI Manager
What led you to your current position? When I was the Program Assistant for All -In, I felt the need to find a purpose of than auditing IEPs and scheduling meetings. After shadowing special education teachers, school psychologists, and speech therapists at several school sites, I knew that speech therapy was for me! I love the fact that speech therapists provide therapy that target their speech and language goals all while playing games and having fun (not to mention the kids don’t even realize they are strengthening their skills) all within a short period of time. After realizing I would need to go back to school to take classes in speech therapy, I was determined to find work that would allow me to not only apply the theories and skills I was learning in classes, but also reinforce that my career switch is worth the all-nighters! All-In! has been supportive with this and has allowed me to work closely with Yoko (our lovely Lead SLPA) and LaTisha (SLP) as their Speech-Language Aide at their school sites that range from Transitional Kindergarten to High School students. Once I am done with my licensing program, the hope is to transition to an SLPA.
Fun Fact/Quote? I have been dancing Mexican folklore for 20 years! Because of dance, I have been able to meet so many people, learned so much about myself, and have traveled to different places to perform. Here is an action picture!
Fun Fact/Quote? I have been dancing Mexican folklore for 20 years! Because of dance, I have been able to meet so many people, learned so much about myself, and have traveled to different places to perform. Here is an action picture!
What does your average day look like?
Every day is different! I am located at different school sites so my day depends on what day of the week it is. I usually start at one school, set up my materials and supervision, grab the student, work with them for 30 minutes and send them off to class. I then grab the other student, work with them and send them back! Then I’m off to the next school!
When I am able to stay at one school site, I usually grab speech materials which can range from worksheets, board games, sentence strips, and tongue depressors to set up for the sessions I have for the day and then it’s off to grab the students! Depending on what the student is working on, we could be working on them being able to produce a sound, incorporating sign language with their verbal communication, using complete sentences or working on how to deal with their stutter. Once they are done with their session, I provide them with stickers and send them off to class so I can grab the next group of students. All this is happening while LaTisha supervising me during therapy sessions and I’m taking data on how the child did during the session! In between sessions, I help print IEP documents, connect with teachers and other service providers about their students, prepare materials (laminating is a must!), and entering data in Apricot. Every day is different and can get very challenging but it’s all worth it when the you finally hear your student say “Okay” instead of “Otay” when talking to their friends.
Here is a picture of one of my activities I prepped for my student who is working on her /l/ sound production!
Every day is different! I am located at different school sites so my day depends on what day of the week it is. I usually start at one school, set up my materials and supervision, grab the student, work with them for 30 minutes and send them off to class. I then grab the other student, work with them and send them back! Then I’m off to the next school!
When I am able to stay at one school site, I usually grab speech materials which can range from worksheets, board games, sentence strips, and tongue depressors to set up for the sessions I have for the day and then it’s off to grab the students! Depending on what the student is working on, we could be working on them being able to produce a sound, incorporating sign language with their verbal communication, using complete sentences or working on how to deal with their stutter. Once they are done with their session, I provide them with stickers and send them off to class so I can grab the next group of students. All this is happening while LaTisha supervising me during therapy sessions and I’m taking data on how the child did during the session! In between sessions, I help print IEP documents, connect with teachers and other service providers about their students, prepare materials (laminating is a must!), and entering data in Apricot. Every day is different and can get very challenging but it’s all worth it when the you finally hear your student say “Okay” instead of “Otay” when talking to their friends.
Here is a picture of one of my activities I prepped for my student who is working on her /l/ sound production!
Why do you do this work? I do this work in order to work closer to a community that I can connect with, despite the hour commute I do every day. When I began working in the schools, I realized many Spanish speaking families are under-represented and find it difficult to connect with educators on campus, especially within Special Education. I felt the need to continue to work within this community so help advocate for their needs and be able to connect with them linguistically and culturally. Bilingual speech therapists are rare to come by and my hope of when I am licensed, I can help children not be diagnosed with Specific Language Impairments but rather with a language difference and continue to work with students on their speech and language needs.
What hope do you have for the future of All-In? I would like to see All-In! open up its own charter school and expand to the Tri-Valley area! It would be amazing to see all staff who work there follow the same model and have the same vision for our students.
What hope do you have for the future of All-In? I would like to see All-In! open up its own charter school and expand to the Tri-Valley area! It would be amazing to see all staff who work there follow the same model and have the same vision for our students.
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