Speech and communication skills don’t stop developing at the end of childhood. For teens and young adults, continuing to invest in their ability to convey their thoughts effectively and carry on a conversation with a potential boss—or perhaps a date—can be the difference between a meaningful life or staying home on the couch.
This is the message that Westport-based speech-language pathologist Deirdre Flores, MS, CCC-SLP preaches with her private practice The Teen SLP. Inspired to pursue a career in speech from her childhood experience working with therapists learning to say her Rs, she has worked with Westport Public Schools for years. While seeing clients there, she began to notice that adolescents who had aged out of publicly-sponsored speech programs needed support in the communication skills needed to transition to adulthood. In 2021, she started offering communication, social, and life skills groups—yes, even one dedicated to dating!—in addition to individual clients through her private practice in town.
While many of the clients Deirdre sees are neurodiverse, and most do have some experience with speech therapy in the past, “not one person is the same,” she says. Parents or other providers usually do the referring, but given the age of her clients, she likes to make sure they are personally ready and motivated to invest in themselves. “In my intake session, I make sure to ask: ‘Is this what you want to work on?’”
Some of the biggest challenges she sees her clients face have to do with self-advocacy and making and keeping friendships. “When teens become young adults and they're no longer in high school or college, making relationships and finding friends is really hard,” Deirdre says. “The ability to have small talk or to ask somebody for their phone number or to engage at a community event are the skills that we work on all the time.”
These soft skills are not only imperative for us all to have in finding friends and maintaining relationships, but they can also lead to being successful at work. For example, Deirdre has helped clients learn how to use the phone at their jobs, including timely and appropriate texting.
Today’s young adults are already working at a disadvantage with the interruption in their development that COVID-19 lockdowns brought, not to mention the detrimental social impact that smartphones have had, she acknowledges. “They weren't able to practice these skills naturally,” she says. “I also think that they can hide from social situations a lot easier, because it's so much easier to be on your phone than to go out. And so that's what I work a lot with them on.”
School-taught abilities like reading comprehension and essay writing are important, but “learning to communicate is an invaluable skill,” she says. “If you are able to communicate your wants and needs, form relationships, self-advocate, and problem solve, you'll be so much more successful.”
Even for those who may not need her services, she recommends engaging with community to everyone to help improve communication skills. “If you are interested in running or board games, join a group,” she says. “Meet people that share a common interest with you. Go multiple times because the first time is going to be awkward. Engage in small talk, have the conversations–put yourself out there.” For more information about Deirdre and her practice, visit theteenslp.com
“When teens become young adults and they're no longer in high school or college, making relationships and finding friends is really hard," Deirdre says. "[These are] skills that we work on all the time."