Promised I'd take you along on my 3 day assessment trip to 2 communities which are 300 and 400 km away from where I live in Thunder Bay... and that starts with packing! I'm driving, so not as strapped for room, however I am still prioritizing re-using materials and fitting as much as I can into this bag! I'll be assessing speech, language, fluency,  and AAC this trip for school aged children. I've packed...

• standardized tests (GFTA-3 & CELF-5) and informal assessments (social scenarios, reading tasks)
• Pop Pig
• Grouch Couch
• r minis (lots of kiddos working on /r/)
• iPad with AAC apps and speech & language apps
• chipper chat chips, magnetic wand, and some holiday pictures
• oral motor exam cards
• also pictured, Cleo trying to sneak into my bag
• not pictured: pens. Lots of pens.

What are your go-to assessment materials?

The most valuable lessons I have learned working with remote Indigenous communities over the past 3 years has been *unlearning* certain assumed communication expectations in order to provide culturally-sensitive SLP care.

Of course, every community I work with is different, and different cultures will have different communication styles, but these points are something that I like to consider when working with Indigenous populations, or any under-represented population.

Interested in diving deeper into this topic? Halle has begun offering professional development on Providing Culturally Sensitive SLP care and other topics, check out our new page on our website here!

What happens when you have the evening off while up North providing SLP services?

You go to the Arctic ocean of course!

Miigwech for taking us out!

Today we "commuted" 850 km by plane to our most Northern community, which we are traveling to both this week and next.

The views were amazing as always, though it did get cold near the end, and there is still a little bit of snow left here (even though it's the end of May)!

My favourite part was finding some shells from the Arctic Ocean!

We were so honoured to each receive a custom-made Ribbon Skirt last week when visiting a fly-in Indigenous community.

I think the highlight of the trip was when the kokums (grandmas) made us spin around while the Kindergarteners told us how beautiful the skirts were. 

We love this description from www.theribbonskirtproject.ca:

"For Indigenous peoples, the Ribbon Skirt represents our own personal reclamation. It represents reclaiming identity, and wearing that identity proudly. It has become armour. It is a cultural protection against assimilation and degradation. It is a reminder of our roles in our community as women and as members. It reminds us of our sacredness as women and the power in that. It tells our story of adaptation and survival."

And how fitting is the pink?

After 3 years of traveling to northern remote communities that are only accessible by plane, I've learned a few tips & tricks so that the trips go as smoothly as possible...

1. Batch meal-prepping. I am not kidding when I say I'll make 6 chicken pot pies at once, or two full crockpots of chilli. Soups, bagels, banana bread, casseroles, etc. are great for bringing up North and reheating, and have the added benefit of acting like an ice pack (since space can be scarce!).

2. Bring up as much water as we can. There are still 26 First Nations communities (and no, that's not a typo) without access to clean drinking water. We are visiting one this week. Even if a community is not under a water advisory, things can happen that result in not having drinking water.

3. Pack an extra set of clothes (and food) in a carry-on. This is good practice wherever you travel, but since we have to take 2 flights to get to each community, that is double the chance of lost or stuck luggage. Learned this one the hard way!

Have questions about being an SLP/service provider with Northern travel? Drop them below! 

Join me on a full travel day to a remote Indigenous fly-in community! Today was a full day including 2 flights, meeting with an audiologist, and some unexpected turbulence...

Questions about Northern travel or fly-in services? Drop them below!

I get this question A LOT, and to be honest, it's a hard one to answer! Because my geographic location is an urban hub in Northern Ontario (17 hours from Toronto and 8 hours from other urban centres), it's just something that necessarily exists where I live!

I wanted to take this opportunity to share some other things I considered when choosing this position, and whether or not it would work for me! Some other reasons I love to live and work in Northern Ontario are... I'm from here, I love the outdoors, the cost of living is lower than most other parts of Canada, and we have a really great local community.

Feel free to drop other questions you have about fly-in therapy to remote Indigenous communities!

P.S., Our furthest community is located 850 km from where I live!

Now that I've been providing virtual & fly-in services to remote Indigenous communities in Northern Ontario for 2.5 years, I have learned and am continuing to learn about healthcare & services up North... and how incredibly hard it can be to access them.

Clinicians either need to travel in, or families have to travel out, for appointments. But flights are expensive - it costs less for two people to fly round trip to Europe than for one round trip flight within the same province.

Weather plays a huge factor on whether flights are cancelled, and appointments missed. Specialist appointments that are missed might not be rescheduled for 6 months... I have seen all of these situations happen.

Speech therapists are trained extensively on administering tests and analyzing how children are progressing with their speech and language skills, but there are many cases where standardized tests cannot be used. This is because these tests are typically created for white, middle-class American children. Using these tests for Indigenous children is, evidently, not appropriate.

There are currently no standardized tests that are normed for Indigenous children - which automatically puts them at a disadvantage and is not functional. These tests do not take into consideration geographical dialects, their second language learning, or parts of language that may be more meaningful to these populations (e.g., oral story telling).

As a Metis clinician, I am proud to work as an SLP in Northern communities, and I feel that my job is to listen and make suggestions where I am able. These suggestions are: to build on the children's strengths, make appropriate referrals, and invest in the inherent capacity within the community, so they can continue to help their students grow.

These lessons have been invaluable. I’m honoured to keep learning and growing thanks to these experiences.

Language matters, and as an Indigenous SLP who is white-presenting with white privilege, it I often hear this word in conversation and media.

This is a really important reminder if "savage" is part of your vocabulary, that this word is a derogatory term that was used to describe Indigenous people in official documentation when they were being colonized in North America both in the United States and Canada.

It was used to mean uncivilized, violent, and brutal.

It is a racial slur, not un-similar to the N-word.

So, if this word is part of your vocabulary, I urge you to remove it and to educate others on why it is inappropriate as well.

I am honoured to have had the opportunity to chat with Corinne Zmoos, MS, CCC-SLP, on an episode of her podcast, The Gestalt Get-Together!

In this episode, we talk all about my fly-in service delivery to remote Indigenous communities, cultural responsivity, as well as new things happening at HAEPI SLP Therapy Services such as Music-Directed Speech Therapy (and how this is benefitting our gestalt language processors!).

Content warning: This episode includes discussion of the Canadian Residential School System, the '60s Scoop, and generational trauma. Please listen with care.

September 30th marks the 3rd National Truth & Reconciliation Day, a day where Canadians reflect upon the experiences and history of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities in Canada, and to acknowledge, reflect, and learn about the injustices they faced through the residential school system and the ways it continues to affect Indigenous Peoples in Canada today.

We wanted to provide some resources with ways you can participate in this day, either in-person (events listed for Thunder Bay, ON) or through virtual or self-paced learning options.

Click here to watch recordings of the NCTR Lunch & Learns. 
Click here to see the list of 48 books by Indigenous writers compiled by Cree author David A. Robertson. 
Click here to explore Indigenous Canada, the 12-lesson online course from University of Alberta. 

Remember, this day is just a reminder of the learning (and unlearning) of Canadian history that we should be aware of everyday.

We hope to see you all with your orange shirts at school tomorrow and on Saturday Sept 30 for National Truth & Reconciliation Day!

Let's take a closer look at communities within Northern Ontario!

Did you know only 6% of Ontario's total population lives in Northern Ontario but is spread out over 88% of Ontario's land mass?

You can see why we need to fly in to visit our communities! Take a closer look at where I'm based versus where I travel for SLP services in Northwestern Ontario (NWO)!

Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada, a day where we recognize and share in honouring the heritage, contributions, resilience, history, and diversity of First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples.

This day is especially meaningful to me as a Metis clinician who also works for a First Nations Tribal Council. I continue to learn so much from my clients, co-workers, and the communities to which I have the privilege of traveling. Each community is unique in its culture and practices, and it is on us to show respect by learning from and listening to community members.

My SLP class was once asked in grad school, "do you know which reservation/Treaty area is located closest to where you are from?"

For me, that was (and still is!) Fort William First Nation.

This is such a simple question that we should all be able to answer, Indigenous or not. I hope that when future classes are asked this question, they will not only be able to answer -- but also be able to elaborate and share stories and details (maybe things like landmarks, foods, cultural preferences, etc.) about the Indigenous peoples and communities nearest to them.

If you listen closely, you'll hear kids singing along to Oh Canada in Oji-Cree.

Regaining their language.

Indigenous language and identity was punished and oppressed for so long, and here, you can witness the youth reclaiming it.

It's my job to learn and listen to these voices when I'm providing services in remote indigenous communities.

Today a little girl asked me if I knew Oji-Cree and I said I didn't, so she asked if she could teach me. She taught me a few words including cat (my interpretation of the pronunciation was "boozh") and we laughed about my cats.

Kids just want to connect, and it makes my job as an SLP a whole lot easier.

It's an honour to hear them and learn from them.

I travel to remote, fly-in only communities in northern Canada, and have had to adapt my assessment skills and goal planning immensely to be appropriate and culturally relevant to the children I serve. 

Speech therapists are trained extensively on administering tests and analyzing how children are doing with their speech and language skills, but there are many cases where standardized tests should simply not be used.

These tests are often created for white, middle class American children. Using these tests for Indigenous or Autistic children is, evidently, not appropriate.

There are currently NO standardized tests that are normed for Indigenous children - which puts them at a disadvantage. Of course they will continue to score poorly on standardized tests when the content is NOT RELEVANT to them. These tests do not take into consideration geographical dialects, second language learning, or parts of language that may be more meaningful to these populations (e.g., oral story telling). 

We also need to be aware that students carry generational trauma due to the residential schools’ practice of forced English language assimilation.

I am humbled to work as an SLP in northern communities, and my job is to listen and make suggestions where I am able. These suggestions are: to build on the children’s strengths, and invest in the inherent capacity within the community, so they can continue to help their students grow.