Ann Peterka Interview

Today’s speech pathologists are faced with many challenges. However, the field of speech therapy is unique in that when the speech pathologist overcomes a challenges is more often that not a significant triumph in the patients life. It is of massive importance for speech therapist have the following traits good interpersonal skills, the ability to take another’s perspective and problem solving skills.

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.

Originally, I was drawn to speech pathology after my sister’s diagnosis of Autism at the age of three. Watching Diane struggle with language development and acquisition while other children seemed to grasp these skills naturally is what initially sparked my interest in helping families like my own. At the start of my junior year, I set out to obtain experiences working with different populations. Toward the latter half of junior year, I became involved as a clerical volunteer at the Sacramento Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center. By senior year, I was balancing a full course load alongside three volunteer experiences. In addition to Scottish Rite Childhood Language Center, I divided my time between tutoring at a neighboring elementary school in the Twin Rivers School District and serving as an intern at the Autism Center for Excellence (ACE). During my undergraduate experience, I welcomed the opportunity to work with students that struggled with literacy, language, and pragmatic skills. After graduation, it was my goal to obtain additional experience in the field as a speech-language pathology assistant.

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

It wasn’t until I start going to speech classes that I felt comfortable going to school. I went to my speech classes three times a week, one on one up until I was in 4th grade and then I began going with a small group of children. Schmitt also states that “Descriptive studies of current SLP practices indicate that over 75% of children with LI in the public schools receive pull-out therapy, regardless of age or language need” (p.35). My mother said that the speech program at my elementary school was extremely awesome. She said that it took a team to help me overcome my speech problem because the speech classes didn’t stop at school. When I came home from school she would also work with me. My mother and speech teacher wanted the best for me and they both wanted to ensure that I had a bright future. Having a disability such as a speech impairment has shaped my life because it engages in every aspect of my life such as articulation, reading and

Keaunna Knox has been a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) since 2007, and has worked ever since 2000 with children with special needs who had speech and language disorders. She began as an “Instructional/Speech Aide” at Pasadena Unified School District working with children with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities. All the students she worked with had speech and language disorders, and, since the Districts therapy was overloaded Keaunna implemented the communication goals she wrote. Based on that experience and many others, Keaunna decided to enroll at Cal State Los Angeles to pursue her professional career in teaching. She received her Master’s in Mild-Moderate Disabilities in Special Education from Cal State Los Angeles and a second

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.

On Thursday, December 3rd, 2015 at 2:00 PM I observed an hour and forty five minute secession at East Stroudsburg’s Speech and Hearing Center. East Stroudsburg’s Speech and Hearing Center is located on campus, in the town of East Stroudsburg PA, on the second floor of Monroe (building). The clinic at ESU was very clean and organized. It had multiple therapy and diagnostic rooms that were set up nicely and welcoming for a client. The types of population seen at the ESU’s clinic range from any age for speech therapy or audiological visits. The clinical audiologist I observed was Susan Dillmuth- Miller Au.D., CCC-A, FAAA..

I am a passionate undergraduate student who is pursuing a clinical doctorate degree in Audiology, as well as a Ph.D in my areas of interest (psychoacoustics, speech development with cochlear implants). I want to impact the Deaf OSU community and the hearing OSU community throughout and past my time at Ohio State. Throughout my collegiate career, I have conducted research with the Psychoacoustic lab, the Western Reserve Reading project with Nationwide Children's Hospital, and the Sound Mapping project. For the Psychoacoustic lab, I ran MATLAB and collected data. I collected DNA samples in cooperation with Nationwide Children's, entered data, administered language, reading, and cognitive measures to children and adults with or without language

Describe your experiences in working with children or youth with disabilities, and indicate their significance to you.

Having been presented with the opportunity, I have worked with multiple children and have fallen in love with their intelligence and determination. The first group of kids I worked with was a group of summer campers and my job was to lead the campers on a few trail rides around camp. Then I worked with a special needs girl, who after a few months took part in the Special Olympics. Currently, I am working with a special needs school group, with grooming and tacking their own horses, and basic riding skills. Additionally, I am teaching a little 5 year old to ride a horse, the only hindrance is a language barrier. When I first started working with this little girl she could speak no English. For the next 2 months both of us had to learn each other’s languages, and now she can speak a little English and I can speak enough Spanish that we can

Carnes who informed me of what it is like raising her son who has cerebral palsy and how the educational system worked with him over the years. Hearing what Ms. Carnes had to say about her experiences helped to give me a better understanding of what these parents have to go through, and it can give me an advantage if I have to work with parents who have children with disabilities. Because of her surprise at how much work the educational system is putting into training their new teachers, it created a high point in the interview, and I had a sense of pride in knowing that I am being trained to the best of my abilities. What truly surprised me is how much patience these parents have to have to raise a child with disabilities. To conclude, this interview made me slightly nervous over the amount of responsibilities I will have, but this course has helped me become infinitely more

Working with children with special needs can be challenging but yet rewarding. My experience April 17, 2016 was invaluable. I had the chance to work with a group of remarkable children. The children were happy to have someone listen to them, play with them and show a caring spirit. This respite event gave me the chance to take a glimpse in the lives of children with disabilities. I was also able to see that the simple things in life that I often take for granted, were difficult for some of the children at the event. Simple things such as walking, talking and being able to go to the bathroom freely. Nursing is a caring profession and this respite event allowed us to display a caring spirit. The smile on the children’s faces made waking up early on a Saturday morning worth it. I was able to see the huge responsibilities that the caregivers of these

Communication disorders are non-discriminatory. They can affect any person or family at any time. I first became connected to Speech-Language Pathology when my cousin, who experienced a bilateral stroke at birth, was told she would never function on her own. With the help of her clinician’s continuous support, she has made remarkable strides. Many years later after my grandfather suffered heart failure and a tracheostomy, I observed how his SLP showed compassion and care in his rehabilitation and health. Seeing the positive impact these professionals had on my family, coupled with my drive to have my career revolve around helping others, fueled my desire to follow this path.

Speech Therapy is my number one career choice. In many ways, it represents my second, third, and fourth career choices. Educators teach and lead young people towards success. Legislators draft politics that improve processes for their constitutions. And professional basketball players commit themselves to extensive practice to master the skills of their profession. As a speech therapist, I want to see myself incorporating all three. I want to master the skills of assessing, work to improve the processes of speech therapy practice, and successfully educate my patients to enable them to play their role in the society.