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.

Choosing a major can be difficult, especially when considering expanding your collegiate career from your undergraduate career. For myself, Speech-Language Pathology was a clear answer for me to pursue, especially since I have a desire to help change an individual’s life and make a substantial impact that can affect more then just one individual. From the start of my Speech-Language Pathology collegiate career, I have always been drawn to working with children and increasing their communication skills. Although, my passion for working with children does not stop with expanding their communication skills, but also to help them to become more confident and content with whom they are.

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

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).

In the profession of speech-language pathology, there are a variety of settings and clients with diverse needs to work with. One is able to work with not only children, but people of all age groups. Throughout my undergraduate program, I was able to gain the necessary skills in order to write professional reports for both medical and educational settings. The principles of formulating goals, establishing effective communication skills, and being flexible with your clients were among the many important skills I

The EDUX 9930 class allowed me the flexibility to choose a topic that was specific to speech pathology. I used the hours of class time to catch up on the most recent research completed through the American Speech and Hearing Association, watch in-services on multiple speech related courses, and listen to webinars that addressed disabilities that affected speech skills. It is important for speech pathologist to stay current with evidence-based practices that will help students make the most progress in the shortest amount of time. I work with students in kindergarten through fourth grade so several of the topics that I focused on were in depth articles on phonological awareness and reading during the primary grades. I will recap some of my

Do you ever ask someone what they want to become when they are older or what their major is? It seems as if I always get the same answer, everyone wants to become or is in the process of becoming a speech-language pathologist. I believe the amount of graduating speech-language pathologists are outnumbering the jobs available. Speech-language pathologists diagnose and treat communication and swallowing disorders. They are able to help individuals who have had strokes, surgeries, injuries, dementia, as well as those who have autism. Speech therapists work with individuals of all ages and are able to work in several settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and rehabilitation centers. Job opportunities for speech-language pathologist

A speech language pathologist, otherwise known as an SLP, deals with many people throughout their career, which includes patients who do and do not want to receive assistance for their disorders. Sometimes a patient might refuse because they are too young to understand why they need therapy, and adults might refuse the aid of an SLP because they do not find it necessary to receive treatment for the speech, language, or hearing disorder. To address these problems SLP’s will have to give the proper help to the patient as needed. For a child, the SLP might use toys or activities to get the child involved in a talking atmosphere. In a adult’s case, it would be ideal to give the patient as much information as possible in order to let them fully

I chose this topic because I’m interested in studying speech language pathology or audiology in college and I don’t know much about it, so I wanted to take this opportunity to learn as much as I could about this subject. “Speech Pathologists require significant formal education”. “..Sometimes called speech therapists, assess, diagnose, treat and help to prevent disorders related to speech”. I also chose this topic because my cousin is hard of hearing, which caused her to have learning disabilities and fall behind in school but she took speech therapy to help improve her interactions with people and to help her get further in her educational career. She also uses American Sign Language and she now attends The School for the Deaf

My purpose for seeking a Master’s Degree in Speech Pathology is so I can have the opportunity to expand my knowledge of theory and research methods as it pertains to communication disorders. I particularly want to modify my research skills as I believe that the importance of improving research skills is necessary to becoming a lifelong learner as I prepare for a career in Speech Language Pathology. I fully understand the importance of gaining credibility among my future colleagues and those that I will be serving in the field. I want to develop a clear and concise knowledge of leadership and the communication disorders profession and how to coincide both as one; at the same time enjoying the opportunity to develop a network of scholars. The ability to experience the community and devotion that my fellow cohort mates will be able to offer.

“‘Atticus, he was real nice….’… ‘Most people are, Scout, when you finally see them.’” is a dialogue written by Harper Lee that stuck with me after reading To Kill A Mockingbird in high school. Despite physical appearance or intellect, everyone deserves to be valued at their core; what better way to affirm someone than by conversing with them as Scout did with Boo Radley. Thus, my aspiration is to enable a voice to those with communication disorders. This desire to be a speech language pathologist has been influenced by personal and professional exposures to the field.

s an undeclared first generation college freshman, I relentlessly completed career interest surveys, read through career descriptions and listed and categorized my interests in search of an ideal profession. Although I was certain about my passions, which included languages, cultures and social and human services, it seemed as though the possibilities were infinite. It was during my second semester of college, after several attempts at narrowing down the options, that I was first introduced to the field of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Prior to learning about the field, I took general education courses from a variety of different fields but none seemed completely fulfilling. As my discouragement in not finding the ideal field increased,

The charge of this committee was to make recommendations regarding the programs mission, vision, strategic initiatives, curricular changes and/or adjustments. Additionally, the SPC identifies critical strategic issues facing the program and provides recommendations of alternative strategic options. Even though, we all must remain current with trends in the profession, advances in evidence-based practices, and the needs of all stakeholders of speech-language pathology, it falls to the SPC to provide recommendations relative to those market trends, the needs of the community program and making the program more viable and competitive than it is presently. Therefore, the SPC is mandated to develop measureable strategic goals for development and implementation for five-year interim periods. In the beginning of the academic year, the SPC met with faculty and staff to review the current strategic plan and to map out potential changes and future goals that the SPC will formulate. As a former SLP program director, I am well familiar with past goals of the program (since I drafted them), including curricular changes, teaching and employment needs as well as needs of the students as they progress through their matriculation. Additionally, as a former program director I managed the elimination of the undergraduate division of the program and wrote a monograph recommending a doctoral program in speech-language pathology to be created once the university forms an infrastructure to accommodate such a program. As always, the strategic plan is student-driven. Those goals that ensure students are ready to take the board examination (PRAXIS), are ready for employment and patient engagement are the primary concerns of the SCP. As a former coordinator/program director and current associate professor, researcher and clinical consultant, student needs are considered

I’ve always had a passion to work with children. I decided to pursue Speech Language Pathology because I want the reward of assisting children overcome their speech insecurities. I am determined to gain the skills and knowledge, from the Communication Sciences and Disorders program at UF, that will prepare me for a master's program in Speech Language Pathology. I hope to learn how to evaluate speech, language, and hearing disorders by having the needed knowledge of the anatomy of hearing and speech mechanisms. This is a demanding field and it will be a rewarding experience to work in the language therapy field.

In the field of speech language pathology parent education and involvement in treatment programs can be very beneficial to a client’s progress(TEMPEL). Evidence supports the use of programs that contain interactive approaches to speech and language intervention(LORRAINE). The importance of education is often recognized but can be difficult to deliver. The challenge of providing an effective parent/ caregiver education is an issue that Speech Language Pthologists may come in contact with.