I love hospitals. My interest sparked when my mom would take me to visit people who were sick and I would watch the hustle and bustle of the hospital floors. The go-go-go atmosphere drew me in from the beginning and I enjoyed asking everyone about what they did. Consequently, when the time came to choose a career I looked for something that provided the option to work in a hospital providing one-on-one care to people. This is how I discovered speech and language pathology. Through observations and watching many therapy sessions I saw how much speech and language therapy could change someone’s life, and I knew I wanted to be a part of that change. Not only were the speech and language pathologists facilitating the learning of new skills, but also helping others regain skills they had lost. Seeing the “aha” moment where something clicks for the client, or the …show more content…
I have been able to work with a multitude of different populations, including preschool children who are deaf or hard of hearing, young children and teens who use augmentative and alternative communication devices (AAC), and adults with various neurogenic communication disorders. My involvement in the Helping Adults Talk to Children (HATCH) Lab at Idaho State University has provided me many opportunities to apply the knowledge I have learned in my CSD courses through taking monthly language samples for a deaf and hard of hearing preschool class. It has also helped me cultivate new skills that will be applicable as a clinician such as taking the language samples and using the SALT program to analyze and collect data from them. I have worked with professionals at a hospital to cultivate adaptive craft ideas for a local AAC summer camp and had the opportunity to attend the Meridian Intensive Adult Program (MIAP) as a volunteer, where I watched different approaches to therapy for adults with a stroke or traumatic brain
I realize that it is ironic that I, of all people, am taking classes in American Sign Language and am a CSD major. Devoting my future to working with people who have communication and hearing disorders is more than likely going to present a unique challenge to myself due to my low vision, but I have
I knew I wanted to work with people; I wanted further involvement, I wanted to see the results of my hard work, I wanted to make a difference in others lives. I went back to school to become a Surgical Technologist. As a student, I accepted a job at the hospital I interned at. After being in the operating room all day, I constantly was asking to stay late to finish a case or help with whatever needed to be done. I fell in love right away with this new profession.
These studies revealed that students with moderate to severe disabilities have the potential to benefit from phonemic awareness and phonics instruction. The ELSB curriculum supports these studies by providing phonemic awareness and phonics instruction. In addition, it provides an option for students who need to use augmentative communication, who do not have phonemic awareness skills and who may need more repetitions to learn. The ELSB can be used either with a small group of students or individually. Additionally, teacher scripts are provided so that teachers know how to word the introduction of each skill and to keep the lesson moving at a quick
I also volunteer, assisting students with various developmental and learning disabilities complete their educational tasks (e.g. homework and test preparations). In the past, I’ve worked as a teacher’s aide in the Buffalo, NY public school system and as an undergraduate assistant in the Buffalo State Speech-language and Hearing Clinic. I plan to become a school-based SLP preferably in the Washington, D.C. area. I have great interest in working in the public-school system because I believe that it will allow me to reach and assist a large array of children with a wide variety of unique needs. I am particularly passionate about assisting children that come from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds because I come from one myself. I also believe that children are often misdiagnosed with language or speech impairments because they use a vernacular that is different from mainstream English or because they fail standardized tests that are not culturally appropriate for them. Correspondingly, a child’s language or speech impairment can be overlooked because they use a vernacular that differs from mainstream English. As a school-based SLP, I will strive to ensure that all children receive the appropriate services they require, warranting that they become proficient communicators and will be able to use their skills to enhance their lives and contribute to society. Nothing will give me more gratification than to help children make greater use of their communicative
At Clarke I currently teach in a self contained classroom of four year old children that are deaf and hard of hearing who are learning to listen and speak. I assist under the direction of the classroom teacher in planning, preparing and executing lessons in a listening and spoken language approach. I have the opportunity to record, transcribe and analyze language samples on a daily basis. In addition, I facilitate the child's communication in the classroom and ensure carryover of activities between the classroom and individual speech therapy sessions. Every week I contribute and participate in meetings with the educational team to discuss each child's progress using Cottage Acquisition Scales of Speech, Language and Listening (CASSLLS).
I became inspired to become a speech-language pathologist when I first watched the film, Paulie. This film depicted a small girl, named Marie that had a speech impediment, which caused her to stutter. In order to improve Marie’s speech her mother would pronounce certain sounds and practice daily with her. While watching this film I began to realize that there is a number of individuals in our population that have different speech impairments. As I noticed how the character of Marie struggled with her speech impairment I sought to research the different treatments for individuals similar to Marie, and came across speech therapy and speech-language pathologists. I have always been fascinated by language and how it is essential in communication. I view speech-language pathologists as having a major role in helping
Lee, Hepburn, Mares, Hoffman, Squire, and the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association all dove into the topic of how important speech pathology is, especially in the school systems. Lee and Hepburn brought up the important fact that speech programs have actually been taken out of more schools instead of being spread throughout the systems. Mares, Hoffman, Squire, and the American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association all gave us more insight to the world of speech pathology. Now we must go out and use that insight to spread, not take away from programs that are built to aid those in
An interest in the field of speech-language pathology was ignited in my mind and my heart at the young age of 9. It was career day in Mrs. Garrett’s third grade class and our school speech pathologist was speaking to the class about her profession. I knew at that moment that this was my calling. I was fortunate to have a support system that focused on helping my passion flourish, so my wonderful teacher arranged for me to spend a week with our school speech pathologist, during this time I was able to see how she helped students communicate. During high school, I was given the opportunity to spend two days per week volunteering with the elementary school speech-pathologist in our district. These experiences continued to shape my goals and dreams for the future. Unfortunately, my dreams soon came crashing down around me. As I prepared to apply for college, I realized that my parents had spent my entire college fund during a financial hardship. I was devastated by the setback, but decided to attend a community college instead, planning to transfer after two years. During my time at community college, I faced yet another setback, my parents were getting a divorce and soon I found myself without a place to live. Consequently, my grades and GPA suffered as I bounced
When I was younger, I always wanted to pursue a medical career. Whether is was helping humans or animals, I always wanted to save lives. To this day I want to have a career in medicine, but I did not have a specific job in mind until recently. My mom was the one who introduced me to the idea of becoming a nurse anesthetist. After talking to my grandma, a retired registered nurse, I found that this could be a possible career choice. One of the things she loved most about her job was being able to get to know the patients personally. Nurse anesthetists are able to develop a relationship with their patients, but they don't have to do the dirty work like bathing patients and changing their bed pans. Another reason becoming a nurse anesthetist appealed to me is because I like to challenge myself. The classes are tough and several years of school are required. Some days are very stressful, but the rewards are well worth it.
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
National Institute of Health. (2011). National Institute on Deafness and other communication disorders: Improving the lives of people who have communication disorders. National Institute on
My journey to pursue an education in physical therapy actually originates from my early childhood. I endured a very impoverished upbringing and my family’s socioeconomic status was below the poverty line. At a very young age, money became the central issue of my life. I found myself worrying about mortgages, health bills, and grocery money. As I grew older, I vowed to myself that I would not endure my family’s financial burdens into my adulthood. I knew the best way to accomplish this was by obtaining a college degree and having a professional career. However, I was unsure what career I wanted to pursue. I experimented with many different career ideas, but during my sophomore, I discovered my passion and skill for physical medicine. For my
From a young age, I was drawn to the healthcare field, not because the amount of money doctors, nurses and other health professionals made, but because of the dedication and contentment I saw on their faces helping someone in need. Growing up everyone wanted to become a doctor or a nurse and as a little child being a doctor or a nurse was a profession many parents wanted their child to pursue as a career. Needless to say, I fell into that category because I had high hopes that one day I will become a nurse. However, that dream came to a halt.
From a young age, I was drawn to the healthcare field, not because of the amount of money doctors, nurses and other health professionals made, but because of the dedication and contentment I saw on their faces helping someone in need. Growing up everyone wanted to become a doctor or a nurse and as a little child being a doctor or a nurse was a profession many parents wanted their child to pursue as a career. Needless to say, I fell into that category because I wanted too. However, that dream came to a halt.
To accommodate the needs of my hearing impaired students, I took two sign language classes. I learned ASL (American Sign Language) and how to teach hearing impaired students by using a philosophy called Total Communication. I have chosen to do a case stud...