Pediatric SLP: Iris

Hey Everyone!

Today I am so excited to share with you an interview with Iris Pyo who is the founder of Shop Speechy! I am obsessed with Iris’s dedication to spread awareness of children with disabilities along with working as a Speech Language Pathologist. Iris is an awesome educator who is major educator goals.

Here is her interview:

1. What did you want to be when you were growing up?

Believe it or not, this question was always the hardest question for me because I actually did NOT know what I wanted to be. I had so many interests in so many things that I basically couldn’t make up my mind! I always had a very special interest in all things language so I learned foreign languages including sign language. I knew, deep inside, that I wanted work with individuals with special needs though!

2. Is there a moment that sticks out to you that you remember from school with a teacher you had growing up?

I immigrated to the States when I was in elementary school. Back then, I did not know how to speak English, at all! All I knew was basically the alphabet. I still can’t forget the name of my first teacher in the States, Ms. Abel! Though all I did for the first 3 months was draw and color due to communication barrier, she awarded me with Student-of-the month!

3. I know about an SLP on a school campus but can you explain what it looks like to be a pediatric SLP, how long have you been a pediatric SLP, and what did it take for you to get there?

I’m actually fairly new to this field! I’ve been a pediatric SLP for about a year. Depending on the setting (school, medical, home health, clinic, etc), SLPs have a very wide scope of practice; we provide clinical services in the areas of communication (expressive, receptive, pragmatics), cognitive communication (attention, memory, executive functioning, problem solving) and swallowing across the life span from infancy to geriatrics. Being a speech therapist, you basically don’t know what you’re walking into everyday! Everyday is so different that you could never get bored!

To get to where I am now, I have worked extremely hard to get to this pivotal moment in my life. It literally took YEARS to figure out I wanted to become a speech-language- patahologist but better late than never, right? Upon graduating from University of Southern California as an undergrad with a totally different major, it was NOT an easy decision to basically start all over again from scratch but I was motivated enough to do so. I pulled through graduate school as a preggo and finally became a licensed SLP. And one day, I became a mother of two precious little daughters and I am still adjusting to motherhood.

It took so much commitment, determination, persistence, and sacrifice to come to this point. Grad school for me was about survival. Trying to balance mommy-life vs. grad school life was the most difficult part of all, but I am so proud to say that I have no regrets about having obtained my master’s degree and have no doubts about my capacity to undertake anything in life; I feel as if I could conquer any obstacles knowing I have gone through this journey. In addition to becoming a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), this adventure has molded me into a better person in which I learned to let certain things go, manage time more wisely, and most importantly, to really appreciate quality time with my family.

4. What is your go-to tool you use with children?

When in doubt, pull out ‘em BUBBLES. You could never go wrong with bubbles, seriously. It’s always my last resort.

5. Is there anything you do to accommodate your students and how often do you find yourself using that accommodation?

All-the-time. Because we mostly work with children with special needs, we are always using modifications and accommodations. The ability to think on your feet – is definitely the key to successful sessions. We need to be creative! Some of the accommodations we recommend in a classroom setting are: extended time, seating arrangement, visuals, breaking steps down into sequential steps, repetition of instructions, and more!

6. Your store is so fun, what inspired you to create it?

As I was pursuing my degree to become an SLP, I knew I wanted to do more than just becoming an SLP. I have always been thinking of ways to increase disability awareness but for some reason, I was always so fixated on providing face-to-face, in-person services before the pandemic. I don’t know about you, but for me personally, the coronavirus crisis really changed the way I think about everything. This crisis actually helped me to think outside the box resulting in creating ShopSpeechy to increase awareness.

ShopSpeechy was created to increase public awareness of what the allied health professions and educators contribute to our society. To this day, many people are not aware of what SLPs do; when I tell someone I am an SLP, they either don’t know what we do or think we “teach pronunciation” (mostly /r/ words!). I mean, I don’t blame them considering the wide scope of practice for SLPs! We advocate on behalf of individuals with disabilities to foster greater acceptance and inclusion for families with special needs. Our one-of-a-kind designs are intended to facilitate small talk, instill curiosity, and promote a greater connection to ultimately increase disability awareness.

7. Any advice for a new SLP?

For those that are planning to or currently in grad school, just know that grad school is not about how smart you are- it’s about how resilient you are! One of the biggest struggles about being an SLP is actually becoming one – seriously. But you won’t regret it! Believe in yourself.

8. Have you had to work virtually since the Pandemic, if so how has it been?

I actually haven’t. The pandemic came when I was on maternity leave (our second daughter recently joined our family!). However, I’ve been trying to stay up to date by doing my own research and joining groups to educate myself!

9. A lot of people have been saying they hope things start to change in education since this Pandemic, do you think anything will change from it?

Though the future is uncertain, I hope that we could embrace the “learning anywhere, anytime” concept. By complementing traditional in-person classroom teaching with digital modalities (e.g., virtual reality experiences, live broadcasts), this system could possibly benefit both parties (teachers and students) to facilitate learning. Hopefully, this type of approach could create a lifestyle around learning.

10. Last but not least, where do you see yourself in ten years?

Through our ShopSpeechy shop, I see myself being connected with so many great professionals within the related field and supporters/families. Can’t wait to see what the future has in store for us! Speech On!

Thanks again Iris!

Happy Teaching :)