Speech-Language Pathologists have arguably one of the most important jobs: helping people communicate. Communication is essential to everything we do and being able to do so properly is key to our jobs, education, and personal relationships. So why should you want to become an SLP? It's actually quite interesting!
1. You can work almost anywhere
SLPs can be dialect coaches in theatres (my dream job), speech therapists in schools, have their own practices, work with patients who have swallowing disorders in hospitals or teach nonverbal kids sign language to communicate. The opportunities are endless.
2. You can work with anyone
The great part about this job is that there is no limit to who you can treat. Clinicals purposely expose students to a variety of patients so they can gauge which populations they want to work with in the future. SLPs can help children with autism learn social skills and pick up on nonverbal social cues, work in nursing homes with elderly who have swallowing disorders, be a part of early intervention in children's specific language impairments, and more.
3. It's a fascinating field
There are so many different subfields to focus on in speech therapy: child language development, autism, speech disorders, articulation and phonology, improving accents, learning proper articulation and voicing in a new language, and more. They're not just confined to one field or space of work. Plus, if they don't want to treat patients, they can easily do research and contribute to new findings in their studies that clinicians will use in future practices.
4. Personal connections to patients
Speech therapists can develop close relationships to their patients from frequent sessions, working towards their established goals, and assessing their progress with each visit. It allows them to form a sense of cooperation, mutual respect and a sense of accomplishment when patients can notice their improvements after many sessions. It's a 1-on-1 kind of work, where the patient and provider are equally responsible for their actions to achieve success. Accountability is key.
5. It's a rewarding career
The great part of working so closely with people is that SLPs see their work pay off in front of their own eyes. It no doubt a confidence booster and a way to gradually assess their own practices, how they can improve in patientcare, then change up their methods of practice to suit their clients better. When actual physical procedures or medicine is involved, it's easier to see what works and what doesn't in between sessions without worrying about any severe consequences. Every healthcare professional wants to see improvements in their practices, so it's great to see those transformations up close and personal, as communication or talking for the affected individual becomes easier.
All five reasons above make me hyped to pursue SLP in graduate school and further my studies in Communication Sciences and Disorders. There is so much more to this field than I ever thought possible, and I cannot wait to see what this next year and a half in undergraduate studies has left to teach me! Here's to future SLP's!
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