A Career In Speech-Language Pathology

During my interview with Speech Pathologist, Deborah Kirsch, I learned countless details about the Speech Pathology career field. When we first began talking, I learned that Mrs. Kirsch works out of a company called “Professional Therapy Services”, where she is contracted out to work for “Eunice Smith Nursing Home” which is located in Alton, Illinois. She has been working at this facility for about a year. She is a newly found graduate from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and she graduated in May 2011. Another thing that I learned about Mrs. Kirsch is that she originally did not go to school to become a speech pathologist, this was a career that she found later in life. After she had graduated from SIUE, the first time with a bachelors in Psychiatry, she started working at a nursing home around this area. She came to know a Speech Pathologist that worked there and she quickly found the field very fascinating. She had always been driven to help others, and she witnessed some of the exercises being done with individuals at the nursing home and decided to go back to school to get her masters in Speech Pathology.

The opportunity to observe the work overview of a Speech Pathologist, has tremendously solidified my interest in this field. At the Diana Rogovin Speech Center at Brooklyn College, I observed clients of various ages with different speech language disorders including articulation, language, voice, fluency and accent modification. Observing clinicians at the speech center gave me the opportunity to learn how important client-clinician interaction is for the session and how essential it is to build a good relationship with the client. Although I learned the

There are many requirements that involve education and training, as well as personal requirements and aptitude. To be a Speech Language Pathologist, one must have a sincere interest in helping people, sensitivity, resourcefulness, and imagination. One must also be able to communicate orally and in writing. Michigan Works, an agency that assists with employment, posts jobs that display education and background requirements for obtaining a job as a Speech Language Pathologist. Some requirements include a master’s degree from a speech and hearing program certified by the ASHA, American Speech and Hearing Association, post-certification experience in an institutional setting. Home health experience is also desirable. One must graduate from high school and pass courses in biology, physics, social sciences, English, mathematics, public speaking, language, and psychology. Undergraduate courses should include a strong Arts/Science focus, linguistics, phonetics, anatomy, psychology, human development, biology, physiology, math, physical science, semantics, and social/behavioral science. To be an applicant for an SLP position, a graduate degree is required and also three hundred to three hundred seventy-five hours of clinical experience. Applicants have to pass

My intensive Speech Language Pathology coursework at California State University- Fresno has provided me with the skills to implement treatment plans, assist during speech and language assessments, and keep formal documentation of client’s progress in speech therapy. These are the necessary skills required to be an effective Speech Language Pathology Assistant and will make me as asset to have in the school speech setting.

The qualities I possess to make me a successful speech language pathologist include compassion, open-mindedness, knowing how to be a team player and how to live out the FISH philosophy which is an approach dealing with workplace issues. Compassion is important to have in order to be patient with my future clients. Throughout my college years, I served on the executive council for my sorority for two years as Vice President of Member Development. While sitting in those meetings, I learned how to be open-minded to others’ opinions on certain topics being discussed. I also had to meet with people who were having a hard time maintaining good membership status. Sitting down and talking to those individuals taught me to be objective about the individual’s circumstance and to be as fair as possible. Not only does a speech language pathologist need to be skilled in speech treatment but also with counseling the parents and loved ones of the client who feel hopeless and helpless. Being empathetic helps create a trusting relationship between the clinician, client and family. Another quality of a great speech pathologist is being able to be a team player. Most cases require the collaboration of the speech pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist, schoolteacher, paraprofessional, orthodontist, audiologists, and social services to

An issue frequently debated by the legislature concerns funding of various social/public programs which include speech-language pathology services. As a child who suffered from an auditory processing disorder, and a future licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), I know all too well how important SLP services are for children. Currently, funding for social/public programs to include Speech-Language Pathology services in the United States is not adequate for children with learning disabilities and the legislature must act to remedy this.

The career of speech pathology offers many opportunities in a variety of different settings. For those who are willing to tackle the challenge of advanced education and have a passion for working with others, speech pathology could be a great career choice. Through my individual research and interaction with other Speech Pathologists,

Language is beautiful and wondrous phenomenon. Not only is it a crucial component in everyday communication, but it also accentuates the culture of those that speak it. As a student pursuing a career in speech-language pathology, the aspects of communication, such as language, are the pillars of my future profession and will be deeply embedded into my daily life. There are many reasons I have chosen this path, but my childhood friend, Jasmine, can be accredited with my finishing decision to become a speech-language pathologist. When I was in elementary school, Jasmine was one of my closest friends, but I did not always get to play with her at recess because she frequently had to see an audiologist, or go to speech therapy. Jasmine had a congenital

Some of the duties of a speech pathologist are, but are not limited to, evaluate patients’ levels of speech, language, or swallowing difficulty, identify treatment options, teach patients how to make sounds and improve their voices, work with patients to develop and strengthen the muscles used to swallow, and counsel patients and families on how to cope with communication and swallowing disorders (Duties, www.bls.org, 2015). ‘If the speech-language pathologists work in medical facilities, they work with physicians and surgeons, social workers, psychologists, and other healthcare workers’ (Duties, www.bls.org, 2015).

There are hundreds of career paths and options, which can be overwhelming and exciting. I have looked into many possibilities and wanted to talk to a speech pathologist about their career and responsibilities. Speech pathologists, also known as speech-language pathologists or speech therapists, help individuals with a multitude of disorders, associated with swallowing, speech, and language. They can work in schools, hospitals, specialty clinics, or through private practice. I chose to interview Sherri Anderson, a speech pathologist for Rock Creek Elementary School in the Beaverton School District in Oregon. Ms. Anderson originally got a degree in English, and worked for a bookstore for a decade before going back to school to become a speech

As a speech pathologist came in and got my grandma to the point of where she had been prior to the stroke, it was amazing to watch. The speech language pathologist had so many skills that helped my grandmother better understand what was happening to her. At that time this is what I wanted to do. This is what I believed I wanted to put countless time, money, and love into. Just as I had discovered the word of Speech Language Pathology, South Dakota State University had officially ended their major speech

As an undergraduate student, one of my requirements is to have clinical hours. I assist and observe the graduate students when needed. I believe this gives me more of an insight of what a clinical setting looks like. After observing during the semester, I understood the skill set and the drive an individual needs to become a successful speech pathologist. I was inspired to help individuals with speech and language disorders, understand their disorder and achieve more effective communication skills in educational and social settings.

Texas State’s program interests me because of the variety of services that the clinic offers as well as the large span of research among the different professors. I would love to be involved in adult and child therapy relating to dysphagia management, and neurological disorders. I am excited to see that Texas State’s Speech-Language and Hearing Clinic offers therapy to adults and children with neurological disorders resulting from cerebrovascular accidents, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis among others. I want to get hands-on experience with this population because this is such a large part of speech pathology in the medical field. Texas State also has a whole course on the cognitive rehabilitation of clients with traumatic brain injury, which is exactly what I want to get experience in.

Through academic work, I have learned a great deal of applicable knowledge during my first semester in the Communication Disorders program. I am definitely looking forward to my remaining undergraduate audiology classes. After graduating in the fall of 2018, I will apply to audiology doctoral programs, with a hope that I may continue this educational endeavor at Auburn University. Upon the completion of my Au.D., I plan to move back to my hometown to open my own practice to aid those with hearing impairments in the surrounding

It excites me to now that I have the ability to make an impact and possibly change someone’s life in helping them become more fluent, and possibly living out their dreams.