Speech-Language Pathology:
Speech-language pathology is the study and treatment of human communication and its disorders. Speech-language pathologists are also known as SLP’s for short. In addition depending on the setting they could also be called a speech and language therapist or just speech therapist. Speech-language pathologist “assess, diagnose, treat, and help to prevent communication and swallowing disorders in patients. Speech, language, and swallowing disorders result from a variety of causes, such as a stroke, brain injury, hearing loss, developmental delay, a cleft palate, cerebral palsy, or emotional problems” (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Swallowing disorders includes oropharyngeal and functional dysphagia in adults and children and feeding disorders in children and infants. Speech-language pathologists work with the full range of human communication and swallowing disorders in individuals of all
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ages. Speech-language pathologist work collaboratively with professionals from many other disciplines. In a healthcare setting they would work with other clinicians, especially physical and occupational therapists. Ashley, the Speech-language pathologist at the skilled nursing facility I work at was a part of the therapy department. However in a school they would be working and collaborating with teachers, and counselors. Additionally Speech-language pathologists may also; prepare future professionals in colleges and universities, own or run clinics or private practices, and lastly work for national, state, or local associations or agencies (ASHA.org). Speech language pathologists work in a variety of settings such as: schools, healthcare facilities and private practice.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 41% work at schools, 17% work in other healthcare offices, 13% work in hospitals, 5% work in nursing/residential care, and 24% is unaccounted for. “Most full-time speech-language pathologists work 40 hours per week”(Explore). Some work by contract which involves a lot of traveling between job sites. Most speech language pathologists work with other people such as “teachers, physicians, audiologists, psychologists, social workers and rehabilitation counselors”(Explore). Speech language pathologists work with patients of all ages so they need to be able to communicate with children to the elderly. It makes sense that Ashley, the speech language pathologist we interviewed first job was with a school in DC since 41% of speech language pathologists are employed by schools. However she went onto to work for a company named Rehabcare, and now works in a healthcare setting at a skilled nursing
facility In the United States, Speech-Language Pathology is a Master's entry-level professional degree field. Clinicians must hold a master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology (e.g. M.A., M.S., or M.Ed.) that is from a university that holds regional accreditation and from a communicative sciences and disorders program that is accredited by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), the profession's governing body (Standards for Accreditation of Graduate Education Programs in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology). Although master’s programs do not specify a certain undergraduate degree for admission, certain courses must be taken before entering the program. Required courses vary by institution, and some colleges and universities offer an undergraduate degree in communication sciences and disorders (CSD), but it’s not necessary. Ashley, the Speech-language Pathologist went to the University of Virginia where the they offered a undergraduate and graduate degree in speech pathology. By Ashley getting her undergraduate in speech language pathology, and than going to graduate school at the same place she received her undergraduate it ensured her prerequisites were met which made for a easy transition from undergraduate to graduate. After speech-language pathologist earn their graduate degree, they must pass a national examination (praxis), and complete a year long clinical fellowship. Lastly following successful completion of a clinical fellowship year they must obtain the ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech Pathology and full state licensure before they can practice. Ashley, the speech language pathologist from my skilled nursing facility said “ finding a job was easy, the only hard part was finding an employer to do my clinical fellowship with. There are thirteen universities in the DMV area that offer master’s programs in speech pathology. The six that are in Virginia are: Hampton University, Longwood University, Old Dominion University, Radford University, University of Virginia, and James Madison University. The three that are in Maryland are: Loyola University, Towson University, and University of Maryland. Finally, the four that are in Washington D.C. are: Gallaudet University, George Washington University, Howard University, and University of the District of Columbia. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “The median annual wage for speech-language pathologists was $69,870 in May 2012. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $44,380, and the top 10 percent more than $107,650. The return on investment is .43 or 43 %”. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the employment of speech-language pathologists is projected to grow at an accelerated rate from 2012 to 2022. There will be an increase of health conditions that cause speech or language impairments, such as strokes and hearing loss because of the large aging baby boomer population. There will be a greater demand for speech-language pathologists to treat the increased number of speech and language disorders in the elderly population. There will be a need for increased awareness of speech and language disorders, “such as stuttering, in younger children should also lead to a need for more speech-language pathologists who specialize in treating that age group” (Speech Language Pathologists). Also, advances in medicine are increasing the survival rate of patients who would need help from speech-language pathologists.
Children with SLCN have such a varied range of difficulties and support depends on what their particular type of difficulty is. For e.g. speech difficulty, expressive language difficulty, stammering, selective mutism, pragmatic difficulty, etc. parents can seek advice about their child’s speech, language
Such an approach is preferred if the child reveals secondary behaviours or when the child is aware of his/her. This decision of choosing direct therapy will depend on the amount of stuttering that is been observed as well as the impact the stuttering has on the child’s attitude and psychology towards communication. Direct therapy focuses specifically on the child's stuttering. Within all cases parents should encourage their children and most importantly expect any disfluency issue a child might have. Direct therapy, targets speech disfluencies by speech and language therapists and parents, if the parents have been directed by a professional speech and language therapist. Specifically, in contrast with indirect approach, direct approach focuses on the disfluency of the child by correcting and working on the stutters with the SLT or the parents if they have been directed by an SLT. Direct therapy mostly focuses on breathing techniques, managing reduced speaking rate, encouraging pauses when taking turns in conversations and motivating the child by letting him/her finish speaking without any interruption. Two approaches in direct therapy are the fluency shaping and the
This silent fear reflects that I grew up with a history of speech impediments. Spending countless hours as a child driving from one speech therapist to another, repeating a range of exercise from “fee-fi-fo-fum” to watching my tongue placement in a mirror, I was your
Speech language pathology is another major rehabilitative medical care. Some stroke survivors area unit left with brain disorder, an impairment of language and speaking skills within which the stroke survivor will assume likewise as before the stroke, however is unable to induce the proper words out or is unable to method words coming back [32]. Brain disorder is sometimes caused by a stroke on the left aspect of the brain. Speech language pathology will teach the aphasic stroke survivor and his or her family members’ ways for dealing with this frustrating impairment. Speech language pathologists additionally work to assist the stroke survivor deal with blackout and alternative "thought" issues caused by the stroke [33].
Now, for a main question that crosses most people’s mind. How much money do speech-language pathology make hourly and yearly? As of 2012 the median pay was $69,870 and about $34 an hour. The reasoning upon having a median wage is when they take half of the workers of a profession earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10% have earned less than $44,000 and the top 10% made more than $105,000 (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Even when some made the lowest they still are making pretty good money. Since a person now knows about the pay, job requirements, schooling and what speech-language pathologist is, now would be a good time to talk about the age groups that speech problems can happen in.
Over seven million people just in the US have some sort of speech disorder. Just think about how many it is around the world! There are many different types of speech disorders, such as: stuttering, lisping and, mumbling, to name a few. Many of these disorders become noticeable during early childhood, however, this is not the only time a speech disorder may occur. Many people that suffer from strokes or other traumatic accidents encounter struggles with speech through their recovery. Those who struggle with speaking after an accident, though, have more access to treatments than children that are born with speech impediments. The treatments that are most known for children include: phonology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. There are speech
Television and film are things that have been enjoyed by people for decades. A lot of people do not think of deaf people when they think about television and film, but they do not realize how much of an influence Deaf people have had on television and film. Deaf people have been part of television almost since it started. In this Paper I will talk about the history of deaf actors and actresses in Television and film,Marlee Matin,and deaf actors and actresses in television and film now.
Audiology inspired me by fulfilling my need to give back to others in a professional capacity, satisfied my electronic savvy skills, and being able to work with all ages anywhere in the world. Looking ahead to graduate school with complete certainty that I have discerned my divined course of action, nothing can deter me from this burning passion. Once I am accepted into your Doctor of Audiology program at Indiana University in Bloomington, I will work vigorously for the next four years until that diploma is in my hand. Then I’ll be off to work at a hospital where I will focus on pediatric auditory habilitation and rehabilitation. I aspire to work in the neonatal units doing Auditory Brain Response testing on newborns and helping parents understand and better prepare their child with a hearing impairment for a challenging, yet successful future. I possess a certain amount of obsession for children, not unlike the possessive nature parents feel for their young. Years of volunteering at the Church Nursery growing up and now working with preschool to 3rd graders, tutoring after school, helping with ballet classes, or even women’s shelters, I’ve found the age group that I am truly dedicated to and passionately work to help. This gives me great understanding and
I think PA and those of similar fields are careers that evolves as technology changes, so they won’t be obsolete after ten or twenty years. I feel like I am able to grow in this career. I won’t be pinned down to one specialty forever and this allows me to explore many options in the medical field. In the past I have worked with people of different backgrounds and age groups from caring for kindergartens in daycare to working with teachers as a teacher’s assistant. From my experience in those jobs, I have encountered students who cannot speak English, some only speaks Spanish, and some too shy to say anything at all. As an immigrant myself, I knew how hard it was for these students to adapt to a totally different environment and trying to learn at the same time. Each day, I sat down with each students individually and took my time to chat with them, when we had difficulty understanding each other, we drew pictures. I also made the effort in trying to remember my high school Spanish vocabularies when talking with the Spanish-speaking students. In the future as a PA, I will be serving people like these students who are very different in backgrounds and personalities, I think being able to work as a team with compassion instead of ordering people what to do all the time are great skills that a PA have. While I have worked with a lot of children, I think I definitely more exposure to the older group of
1. Many people have multiple reasons why they want to be able to help others in their everyday jobs. My attraction to being a Speech Language Pathologist is because I want to be able to people overcome their speech problems. As a Speech Language Pathologist I want to be able to help people that have speech problems, overcome this problem and be able to be independent without needing the help of myself or other people that are trying to talk to them. I personally know their feelings and have actually been in their shoes to know how frustrating life can be trying to talk and have someone else talk for you.
It’s interesting to know that clinics like the one I volunteer for are approved by the Department of Education and can provide additional services to children who need them. I have been told by quite a few people that in the past, speech-language pathologists had to know a little bit of everything, and while that still holds true today, specialized speech-language pathologists are becoming more of the norm. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association offers SLPs the opportunity to receive their Clinical Specialty Certification, which is a step beyond the Certificate of Clinical Competence. These areas include Child Language and Language Disorders, Fluency and Fluency Disorders, Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders, and Intraoperative Monitoring; Auditory Verbal Therapy (AVT), what the SLP that worked with Student A was certified in, is governed by the Alexander Graham Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language. As a future speech-language pathologist, I will be able to refer a child whose speech and language issues go beyond hearing loss to the appropriate SLP and work collaboratively with him/her; educators will be able to advocate for their
Congenital hearing loss is described as hearing loss that exists at birth. Factors responsible for this condition include those present during pregnancy (such as hereditary factors), as well as factors present after pregnancy. An inherited congenital hearing loss could be conductive, sensorineural, or even a combination of both. The amount or progression of this type of hearing loss varies according to each individual’s case. According to Richard Smith, congenital hearing loss is “syndromic (associated with malformations of the external ear or other organs or with medical problems involving other organ systems) or nonsyndromic (no associated visible abnormalities of the external ear or any related medical problems)…” Over 400 genetic syndromes are associated with congenital hearing loss. These include Treacher Collins, an autosomal dominant disorder and Down syndrome, an x-linked hearing loss. Although congenital hearing loss can be difficult to live with, hearing aids, surgery, and therapy are all available as forms of treatment. Hearing loss must be treated as soon as possible to prevent as many delays in the child’s language development as possible.
Speech errors serve as a window to investigate speech production and arrangement of language elements in the brain. Gary S. Dell and Peter A. Reich (1980) said that one of the best way to find out how a system is constructed is if that system breaks. Speech errors as a linguistic phenomenon has been the topic of many linguistic researches. It can be investigated as an evidence for linguistic change as well. Bussmann and Hadumod (1996) in the Routledge dictionary of language and linguistics defines speech errors as " (Latin: lapsus linguae), is a deviation (conscious or unconscious) from the apparently intended form of an utterance." (449).
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 may omit, substitute, or even distort sounds, hindering their ability to talk. Students who lack in ways of expression have problems explaining what they are thinking and feeling because they do not understand certain parts of language. As with all types of learning disabilities, the severity can range. Two extreme cases of expression disorders are dysphasia and aphasia, in which there is partial to no communication at all (Greene, 435, 2002). Individuals can also have a receptive disorder, in which they do not fully comprehend and understand information that is being given to them. They can experience problems making sense of things. “Children may hear or see a word but not be able to understand its meaning” (National Institutes of Health, 1993, p1). Whether children have difficulty articulating speech, expressing words, receiving information, or a combination of the three, there is no doubt that the tasks given to them in school cause frustration. These children experience anxiety when...
...ng and physically draining. Most speech-language pathologists work full time. The work places seem infinite for Speech-Language Pathologists. They are able to work in public and private schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, short- and long-term nursing care facilities and community clinics. More experienced SLPs can work at colleges and universities, private practice offices, state and local health departments, state and federal government agencies, and research laboratories. (Careers in Speech) With such an extensive assortment of settings, working conditions also vary. Facilities in most school systems and clinics are comfortable and adequately equipped. Likewise, most research facilities, colleges, and private practices are sufficiently equipped. Because of the increasing demand for SLP services, work schedules may be heavy and overtime is a likely option.