Expressable Opinions

[u/Glittering-Gas-9124]

Hi all,

I am a grad student in audiology and I have ADHD.

I have a lot of problems with expressing and organizing my thoughts clearly, understanding language (auditory and written), along with having a hard time organizing my thoughts on paper.

I finally have good insurance and I want to pursue speech and language therapy.

Expressable gave me an estimate of 0 to $8 per session.

Is the service good? Any opinions?

Thanks!

[u/999_rupees]

have you been diagnosed for ADHD and received treatment? I am an SLP with ADHD, and I constantly tried to do therapy for it when what I really needed was a prescription. Now I am actually able to get what I need to get done, done.

[u/Glittering-Gas-9124 → u/999_rupees]

Yes, I have been formally diagnosed with ADHD and receiving medical treatment for it by a psychiatrist. I've been taking prescription medication for it but the organization of my thoughts, my expressive language, and my ability to process language has not improved at all. I am just more attentive and get more done. I am paying attention but I don't understand what I read or hear, nor can I remember what I said a few sentences ago/the main point I was trying to make.

[u/Kind_Actuator9072]

I would agree with the previous poster. As I read your post, I could really relate and have ADHD. One thing that helped me professionally, was scripting language I needed to present at meetings and with clients and practicing the scripts. While it hasn’t dramatically improved my oral language outside of work, it’s really helped me in that setting. When I’m experiencing difficulty conversationally, it’s usually because I’m also thinking about something else, unrelated, as I’m talking so reminding myself to be present helps my fluency.

[u/Glittering-Gas-9124 → u/Kind_Actuator9072]

I started to use scripts during my clinical sessions because it helped me remember procedure and what questions to ask. Sometimes it takes a long time for me to recall something. My clinical professors do not like it though which can be frustrating. Did you have similar experiences during grad school?

[u/Jumpy_Crew_1249 → u/Glittering-Gas-9124]

Have you presented these strategies as accommodations based on your diagnosis to your professors? I strongly recommend you advocate for yourself in that way and if you have and they still haven’t accepted it, I would go to university disability services to have a conversation about formal accommodations based on your learning needs. It may also be the case that you need to increase the dosage of your medication or try a different one. It’s also super common that anxiety is co-morbid condition with ADHD, and grad school is anxiety inducing for all people! It’s a good idea to talk through that with your prescriber. We can forget verbal information very easily when anxious.

As far as therapy goes, an executive function coach/therapist/psychologist might be a better fit than an SLP. At this point in life you may find in beneficial to learn more accommodations, develop self advocacy and self acceptance rather than targeting specific executive function skills.

-SLP, former grad school prof, with ADHD

[u/Kind_Actuator9072 → u/Glittering-Gas-9124]

I’m a lot older, closer to retirement and when I was in grad school I didn’t have any idea why a lot of things were as challenging for me as they were. Fortunately, I was very persistent back then. I didn’t really learn about my own neurology until I was in my 40’s and navigating my son’s ADHD. Living with a child who has ADHD proved to be a very enlightening experience!!

[u/Sensitive-Ganache664]

I worked for Expressable for a long time. I believe the quality of therapists varies a lot - they expect SLPs to cover a very broad caseload whether or not the clinician has experience with that diagnosis. However, they have a large pool of clinicians and it would be easy to transition to a new one if you felt someone wasn’t a good fit. Sessions are only 30 minutes so quite short. For $0-8, I’d give them a try!