Typically developing four-year-olds have it figured out. They discover around this age the intoxicating power of questions and use them to drive their parents halfway crazy. This incredible skill helps collect information, teaches and leads to even more questions.
We were designed to be hungry for the world around us and questions give voice to that innate curiosity.
As SLPs we know that questioning is vital for the development of language. The inability to ask questions is a red flag signaling a need for intervention. We play games and create environments that elicit appropriate questions. We use natural contexts that spark curiosity. Over and over we model and correct, knowing how important the ability to ask questions is to the overall success of an individual.
So what happens when we stop being curious as adults? What happens when our most important questions drain out of our language?
When we forget to practice the childlike curiosity learned at four, we swap a sense of wonder and possibility about our “one wild life” for the jaded boredom of rut living.
I started this blog because I wanted to create a space that asks: “Why am I doing what I do as an SLP?” All of our answers to this question will be different. We come with a rainbow of motivations and desires.
But one of my goals is to share words and resources that help lead you to your answer to this question.
Books and podcasts are two of my favorite tools that spark curiosity. Here is one of each to check out if you find yourself losing the desire to ask questions and be curious about your life.
Becoming Curious: A Spiritual Practice of Asking Questions
Just finished up this book by Casey Tygrett. I underlined and starred so much of it, which is always a good sign that I’ll be recommending it. To whet your appetite, here are a few quotes on the importance of questions.
The process of becoming curious is the movement away from simply living by what and how, and moving into the beautifully ambiguous and possibility-laden world of God’s why and all that comes with it….
What if we become deeply entangled in details and tasks because we’re focused on what we’re supposed to do and how we’re supposed to do it, but in the meantime we’ve lost the why behind it all?”
STORY Podcast
True confession…podcasts are addicting. I’m all for multitasking which is just one reason podcasts make me so happy. I listen in the car, during meal prep and laundry and on my walks.
The STORY podcast is one of my new favorites, which is no surprise of course. I recommend it as a place to go for inspiration and to get your creative juices flowing. Try starting with either episode 17 or 35.
A final word…
Curiosity breeds questions, opening up all sorts of new opportunities. After listening to a few episodes of the Story podcast I realized there was a yearly conference that a lot of the podcast’s content was taken from. My curious questions led me to Nashville in September to attend The Story Gathering. The theme for this year’s gathering was Carnival of Curiosity and helped give me the courage to finally push publish on this blog.
This week, I encourage you to follow your curiosity somewhere new. Ask yourself this question: Why am I doing what I do as an SLP?
and get A Blessing for the Speech Pathologist,
a free printable to
help you remember your WHY
