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Why did you become a Speech Language Pathology?
Hello! My name is Alyssa and I am a current high school student. I'm conducting an interview with any professional in the Speech-Language Pathology field for a Foundations in Health Science Class project about careers! I have created a total of 13 questions. Comment on this post, answering all 13 questions to be apart of my assignment.
1. What profession did you choose? Why?
2. How many years of college did you need to go through?
3. What jobs did you work before you landed your present professional job?
4. How can I decide if I should earn a Ph.D. in this field?
5. Were you in a college program?
6. Did you have to pivot and go back to school at a later date?
7.Did you shadow another professional in the field?
8. Did you join any school clubs related to your current profession?
9. Was there a particular subject you struggled with during your school years?
10. What skill sets did you learn or gain while pursuing your career?
11. What will the main communication challenges be?
12. Can a communication device help? If so, can we talk with an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) specialist?
13. Do you work as part of a team? What members are on the team?
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Briana’s Answer
Hi, Alyssa.
1. What profession did you choose? Why?
I enjoy language and linguistics. In undergrad, I studied cognitive science with a focus on psycholinguistics, in addition to studying Japanese language. I went on to become an SLP because it was a job that applied my knowledge of linguistics to a concrete field.
2. How many years of college did you need to go through?
High school (4 years), undergraduate Bachelors degree (4 years), professional Masters degree (2-3 years), clinical fellowship year (1 year).
3. What jobs did you work before you landed your present professional job?
I worked in food service, as an ELL instructor, a Japanese/English translator before graduate school. I was an accent modification/ELL tutor as a TA during graduate school.
4. How can I decide if I should earn a Ph.D. in this field?
You will want a Ph.D if you want to do acedemic research in the field or if you want to become an acedemic professor. Becoming a clinician or a clinical professor only requires a masters degree. Some schools also offer an SLP-D, which is a clinical doctorate. In my experience, having a Ph.D, SLP-D, or an Masters degree does not impact your career strictly as a practicing clinician in terms of hiring or pay.
5. Were you in a college program?
Yes, it is a specialized Communication and Hearing Sciences and Disorders masters program.
6. Did you have to pivot and go back to school at a later date?
I took a gap year between graduating undergraduate and attending graduate school. This is when I worked as a translator. This allowed me to save money and study for the GRE, which is necessary for most grad school applications.
7.Did you shadow another professional in the field?
All speech and hearing science students are required to shadow a certified clinician for at least 10 hours before starting graduate level courses.
8. Did you join any school clubs related to your current profession?
Yes, I was a member of National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA) and of National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing (NBASLH).
9. Was there a particular subject you struggled with during your school years?
I struggled with math classes (algebra 2, pre-calculus, calculus, etc). in high school. In college, the only math class required was statistics, which I found easier.
10. What skill sets did you learn or gain while pursuing your career?
Speech pathology has the "hard skills" of learning the nitty gritty of HOW to provide evidence based therapy, operate EMR systems, and do healthcare documentation. It also requires a lot of "soft skills" like interpersonal communication between colleagues and patients, bedside manner, time management, and flexibility.
11. What will the main communication challenges be?
It depends where you are working, and with what population. Speech pathology also has a very large scope of practice that does not just cover communication.
-Speech disorders (not being able to say certain sounds)
-Develpmental language delays (not having appropriate vocabulary, grammar, etc.)
-Acquired language disorders (language difficulties after stroke, brain injury, etc)
-Stuttering/fluency
-Social Pragmatic language therapy (often for children and adults with autism)
-Pediatric feeding disorders
-Dysphagia (swallowing disorder)
-Cognitive therapy (for brain injury, dementia, etc)
-Voice therapy (for people with damaged or dysfunctional larynx and vocal cords)
-Gender affirming voice therapy (for trans people looking to change how their voice sounds)
-AAC (altered and augmented communication for people who do not have fully functional verbal language)
12. Can a communication device help? If so, can we talk with an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) specialist?
A Speech generating device (SGD) can be very helpful for patients with a certain set of strengths and unmet needs. For many people, having an SDG is the only way they can effectively communicate. For others an SGD is used to supplement other forms of communication they have. For example, I have may pediatric patients who I have prescribed an SDG because they are apraxic (their Speech is inconsistently intelligible) or who are autistic (often have limited functional verbal speech) so that they can expand the types of things they are able to say. I've also prescribed SGDs to adults with aphasia following a stroke who ahave strong reading skills but very labored speech.
13. Do you work as part of a team? What members are on the team?
Yes. In pediatrics, I work mainly with pediatric occupational and physical therapists. Sometimes with behavioral therapists and teachers. For adults, I typically work with nurses, their doctor, and adult physical and occupational therapists.
1. What profession did you choose? Why?
I enjoy language and linguistics. In undergrad, I studied cognitive science with a focus on psycholinguistics, in addition to studying Japanese language. I went on to become an SLP because it was a job that applied my knowledge of linguistics to a concrete field.
2. How many years of college did you need to go through?
High school (4 years), undergraduate Bachelors degree (4 years), professional Masters degree (2-3 years), clinical fellowship year (1 year).
3. What jobs did you work before you landed your present professional job?
I worked in food service, as an ELL instructor, a Japanese/English translator before graduate school. I was an accent modification/ELL tutor as a TA during graduate school.
4. How can I decide if I should earn a Ph.D. in this field?
You will want a Ph.D if you want to do acedemic research in the field or if you want to become an acedemic professor. Becoming a clinician or a clinical professor only requires a masters degree. Some schools also offer an SLP-D, which is a clinical doctorate. In my experience, having a Ph.D, SLP-D, or an Masters degree does not impact your career strictly as a practicing clinician in terms of hiring or pay.
5. Were you in a college program?
Yes, it is a specialized Communication and Hearing Sciences and Disorders masters program.
6. Did you have to pivot and go back to school at a later date?
I took a gap year between graduating undergraduate and attending graduate school. This is when I worked as a translator. This allowed me to save money and study for the GRE, which is necessary for most grad school applications.
7.Did you shadow another professional in the field?
All speech and hearing science students are required to shadow a certified clinician for at least 10 hours before starting graduate level courses.
8. Did you join any school clubs related to your current profession?
Yes, I was a member of National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA) and of National Black Association for Speech-Language and Hearing (NBASLH).
9. Was there a particular subject you struggled with during your school years?
I struggled with math classes (algebra 2, pre-calculus, calculus, etc). in high school. In college, the only math class required was statistics, which I found easier.
10. What skill sets did you learn or gain while pursuing your career?
Speech pathology has the "hard skills" of learning the nitty gritty of HOW to provide evidence based therapy, operate EMR systems, and do healthcare documentation. It also requires a lot of "soft skills" like interpersonal communication between colleagues and patients, bedside manner, time management, and flexibility.
11. What will the main communication challenges be?
It depends where you are working, and with what population. Speech pathology also has a very large scope of practice that does not just cover communication.
-Speech disorders (not being able to say certain sounds)
-Develpmental language delays (not having appropriate vocabulary, grammar, etc.)
-Acquired language disorders (language difficulties after stroke, brain injury, etc)
-Stuttering/fluency
-Social Pragmatic language therapy (often for children and adults with autism)
-Pediatric feeding disorders
-Dysphagia (swallowing disorder)
-Cognitive therapy (for brain injury, dementia, etc)
-Voice therapy (for people with damaged or dysfunctional larynx and vocal cords)
-Gender affirming voice therapy (for trans people looking to change how their voice sounds)
-AAC (altered and augmented communication for people who do not have fully functional verbal language)
12. Can a communication device help? If so, can we talk with an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) specialist?
A Speech generating device (SGD) can be very helpful for patients with a certain set of strengths and unmet needs. For many people, having an SDG is the only way they can effectively communicate. For others an SGD is used to supplement other forms of communication they have. For example, I have may pediatric patients who I have prescribed an SDG because they are apraxic (their Speech is inconsistently intelligible) or who are autistic (often have limited functional verbal speech) so that they can expand the types of things they are able to say. I've also prescribed SGDs to adults with aphasia following a stroke who ahave strong reading skills but very labored speech.
13. Do you work as part of a team? What members are on the team?
Yes. In pediatrics, I work mainly with pediatric occupational and physical therapists. Sometimes with behavioral therapists and teachers. For adults, I typically work with nurses, their doctor, and adult physical and occupational therapists.