Teachers Voice Disorders

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

CSD 363 is a practicum course that gives students the opportunity to provide schools with free speech and hearing screenings. This class is mutually beneficial, seeing that students have an undergraduate opportunity to start practicing skills typically developed in graduate school, and that families receive valuable services for free. The screenings given are comprised of two parts: the Fluharty Speech and Language test, and an audiology pure tone screening including a look in the ears with an otoscope. Under the supervision of a licensed supervisor, students will be giving these screenings and making recommendations about further evaluations if necessary.

According to the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) 2016 School Survey, Speech Pathologists rated the amount of paperwork, high workload/caseload size, and limited time for collaboration and budget constraints among their greatest challenges. Immense pressure is placed on the SLPs in a school setting. Children with learning disabilities have a multitude of different needs, and for many, thirty-minute therapy sessions are not enough time to adequately address their problems. Furthermore, in many schools, Speech-Language Pathologists have had to make up some or all of missed student sessions themselves without any substitute coverage. This in turn has increased group therapy sizes which compromises the quality

My mother, Ann Peterka, works for Early Childhood Intervention services of Tarrant County. She works with children from birth to three who have disabilities, teaching each child’s family members intervention techniques to help with the child’s development. I chose to interview my mom because of her impact on my major selection, and her career itself. In the future, I would love to be a speech therapist or a speech pathologist, this career was brought to my attention by my mom. In her field, she noticed that there weren’t enough speech therapists to help out with many caseloads that each worker has. While my mom is trained to notice speech impediments she has said that she is not quite qualified to give a diagnosis or treatment, and that’s where having a speech therapist consult would come in handy.

I had a dream of a career that would allow me to utilize my skills, my motivation to help others, and would catalyze change. Speech-language pathology has allowed me to lead my life with purpose, the purpose of empowering others. This empowerment is gained by my assistance in overcoming speech related deficits and disorders as a speech-language pathologist

Through videoing myself at the beginning of week one and then at the end of week two I compared the reflection I made watching these videos (Appendix E). In week one when answering questions, I felt I had to answer immediately in week one (Appendix E), compared to week two where I felt I could pause construct the answer then speak with confidence. This has enable me to speak at a comfortable volume without having to strain my voice. I also noticed that with an increase in confidence in what I was saying, students were more likely to engage in class which eliminated a lot of chatter that occurred in week one. I understand that voice is something I must continually work on. My voice will improve once I become more confident in my own ability to assist students when they have questions. Speaking at a lower volume could be less effective in larger classes. I tried this with my year thirteen class which only has fifteen students. As class size increases I will need to implement other strategies which engage all students and reduces the behavioural

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

was lucky enough to have a childhood that was fairly even-keeled – I celebrated almost as much as I grieved, and laughed as much as I cried. Even though I entered into the adult world with a balanced upbringing, I still couldn’t help but to feel that I did not develop a voice properly due to one significant event.

This occurs due to diminished mental capacity, structural abnormalities such as unrepaired cleft palates, or lack of commitment on the part of the patient. An additional challenge sometimes faced by a school based SLP is dealing with difficult parents and rigid and sometimes unrealistic district expectations. However, despite the challenges faced by speech pathologists, the field of study continues to grow with an expectation of a 21% increase by 2024 (“Speech-Language Pathologists”). While jobs as an SLP are readily available nationwide in a variety of different settings, the key areas of growth in the field are in the states of Illinois, North Carolina, Texas, New York, and Ohio (“Best”). The growth of the field is due largely in part to people’s increased awareness of the benefits of treatment by a speech pathologist. SLPs provide treatments which allow individuals to function better in daily life. For example, SLPs in the education field provide techniques and strategies to help students function better both in the classroom and socially. SLPs in the medical field provide support in regaining the ability to accomplish daily tasks, safely ingest solid foods, and interact socially with family and

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.

What is metabolism? Metabolism is all of the chemical reactions involved in maintaining the living state of the cells and the organism. The Major point of this experiment was to see how and if the chemical processes of metabolism could impact body temperature. However first it must be explained what body temperature is actually measuring. When we measure body temp. We are actually measuring the body’s ability to make and give off heat. When our body is hot the blood cells in our skin widen to help carry the heat to the body’s surface. This is usually when people start sweating. However, when our body is cold the blood vessels narrow. Reducing blood flow causing you to shiver.

During the first therapy session the most obvious behavior that I observed was the way the student would make noises whenever he was working on activities. The student would make a chirping sound with his mouth whenever he was working on activities with the speech pathologist. This student’s session was interrupted by lunch time, so I was only able to observe the second half of the class. In the ten minute

Communication is very crucial in life, especially in education. Whether it be delivering a message or receiving information, without the ability to communicate learning can be extremely difficult. Students with speech and language disorders may have “trouble producing speech sounds, using spoken language to communicate, or understanding what other people say” (Turkington, p10, 2003) Each of these problems can create major setbacks in the classroom. Articulation, expression and reception are all essential components for communication. If a student has an issue with articulation, they most likely then have difficulty speaking clearly and at a normal rate (Turkington, 2003). When they produce words, they

Many people would like to make a difference, not only in their own life, but in others’ lives as well. Deepak Chopra once said, “Everyone has a purpose in life…a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals.” All of us, at one point in our lives, have to make the difficult decision of the goals we want to work towards. We all have certain goals, standards, and expectations of ourselves. Not everyone will figure out what they want to be right away, and some will know from the very beginning. My plan for my life is helping others through Speech Language

During an interview, I am always a little nervous because interviewers never ask the same questions as other interviewers. The one question I was asked time during an interview that I fear will be asked again is “On average, how many days do you call into work to say you are not coming in?” This question was and still is a little tricky to me. You have to consider that you might get sick once or twice a year. If you have children, they might get sick and need you to stay home and take care of them. So, what would be a reasonable answer to this question? When I was asked this question, I answered: “maybe between three and five days”. My interviewer looked at me with a surprised look. I didn’t get the job, and I wonder if this was the reason.