Show me the DATA (linky)

Speech Language Pathologists are trend setters.  We'd been using hashmarks for YEARS before hashtags became so popular.

Hashmarks, 

Plus/minuses, 

Smiley/frown faces, 

Thumbs up/thumbs down

Guesstimators

iPad data collection apps

What's your data collection style?  

Even if you have a favorite method, there's always the student who you have to constantly change how you are reporting your data because they are going to get upset or argue that their answer was correct.  As I've gotten older, I've become a little more blunt with my students-they generally know when they didn't get an answer correct.  

Jenn over at Crazy Speech World is having a linky party for data collection sheets.  I love this-I'm always looking for new ideas and forms for data collection and documentation. 

Most of my work experience has been in outpatient pediatrics.  When you are billing insurance companies, you need to show medical necessity and skilled service within your daily documentation.  You can have a lot of hashmarks on your daily note suggesting that you completed a lot of repetitions.  However, the prompts are what constitutes skilled service.  It's why Johnny doesn't get better when mom just asks him to say 10 different /r/ words by using a louder voice.  

When I started going on home visits, I developed this form.  I type the students information at the top and list the objectives in 1-7.  I made 5 copies of this sheet and stapled it together.   Then I put them in a 3 ring binder under the tab for that student.  

When I am typing out the goals, I try to think of which prompts I think my student will need and list those at the bottom.  I  use a rating scale with the higher numbers being more intrusive prompts.  Then within each session, I try to decrease one level of prompting (if I can).  

Get your FREE copy HERE.

Do you have a favorite data collection system?  Head over to Crazy Speech World to link up yours!  

This title reminds me of one of my first SLP job interviews.  I'd gone to interview at an early intervention agency.  They mostly saw birth to 18 months of age.  I remember being a little nervous about my ability to treat this population coming out of grad school.  We were at lunch (back when people took you out to eat for a job interview) when the woman asked me if I thought I would be able to work with young children.  It was right after Jerry Maguire had come out.  "Babies?" I said, "Show me the BABIES."  OMG-worst interviewee of all time.  Needless to say, I didn't get a job offer on that one.