Avt Reflection

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

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

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

I sat in my child development class in a “brick and mortar” classroom setting. What was I doing there? I was extremely interested in what the professor was speaking on and what was being discussed. However, I was beginning to doubt whether I wanted to continue in my current field of study, Speech/Language Pathology. I no longer felt I was being fulfilled. There was something lacking. I talked to a few of my friends who mentioned how much money I would make as a Speech/Language Pathologist. I heard what they were saying, but somehow it just did not matter. I had to find the missing link…….

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

I am Samantha Peterson, as a child I was taught to be independent in my beliefs and to always follow my heart wherever it led me. I have always been one to go after what I want and never give up until my dreams are fulfilled. I plan to finish my associate degree at AB Tech and transfer to Western Carolina. I plan to graduate from Western Carolina with a master’s degree in speech pathology. Once I complete this phase in my life I hope to pursue my career and start a family of my own. To begin my career, I hope to still be employed at Mission Hospital, but as a speech pathologist rather than a medical assistant. As a speech pathologist I hope to make life changing improvements in people’s everyday lives that I cross paths with. While beginning

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).

With just attaining a bachelor’s degree in Speech and Hearing Sciences, I had dedicated 4 years of my undergrad career to working with young children. During my stay at the University at Buffalo, I took the time to get involved in internships which allowed me to work along a speech pathologist in a bilingual public school in Buffalo. I also went along to work in a child care center, as a teacher assistant. These experiences have increased my passion for working with

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

A little over four years ago, after taking a seven year break from college, I decided I wanted to get my associate degree to better myself in my career but also to accomplish something that I didn’t think wasn’t meant for me. Once I finished my associate degree in liberal arts, I considered continuing on with my education but wasn’t sure once again if I should or how would I do it. I was given a great opportunity when the private doctor office I worked for merged with the University Of Sylvester Cancer Center. I am blessed and honored to be able to say I am working for UM, and one of the best benefits I have received for working with such a prestige intuition, is that I’m able to attend the University of Miami with a full covered

At 18, I cynically refuted commencement speakers and their success stories. I remained confident that money and status were more practical reasons why people chose certain professions. These messy quests of pursuing passions became comprehensible to me as I came out of my depression. I concluded my sensibility, conscientiousness of social exclusion, and empathetic nature can have a tremendous potential in helping those who need speech and language services. My passion was cultivated through the following life experiences.

I gained a short-lived interest in Speech Pathology during my first semester and faced a tough decision on whether or not I wanted to become a nurse. Luckily, I decided