Sometimes, one of the toughest things we hear in a day is criticism. We never want to hear that we are not doing something the right way.
I mean, we get criticism our entire life. Our parents criticize us, which is how we learn right from wrong. Our teachers in school criticize our school work which is how we learn and how we improve our work.
In today’s world, we are learning most of our information through the internet. Google, Wikipedia and Facebook have become a source for much of our information. We use blogs and social media outlets to share information, new courses and journal articles.
So many people are turning to podcasts for information. It’s a convenient, easy-listening way to share information. With bluetooth and devices such as the Amazon Echo listening while at home is easy as ever. If you have long commutes to work or if you’re like me and spend most of the day in your car, you can easily listen to an episode or 2 while driving.
As I mentioned last month, you can specialize in 3 different areas of Speech Language Pathology and 1 area of Audiology, which more specialty areas coming. Specializing requires continuing education. The bad (or good) news is that whether or not you specialize, continuing education is a requirement.
After six years or more in school. you feel like you are ready to conquer the world. The reality is that you don’t learn everything you need to know in school.
Much of our learning comes from our jobs, from working with a variety of patients or clients and from our colleagues or supervisors.
I know what you might be thinking. You go to school for six years, earn your Masters degree and after you graduate, you STILL have to learn!
The field of Speech Language Pathology is quite broad. We have to know so much about so many areas that most SLPs tend to specialize. SLPs work in the areas of swallowing, language, motor speech, aphasia, cognition, reading, fluency and voice just to name a few.
If you have graduated from, are currently enrolled in or plan to enroll in a program to become a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP), you know that this program requires dedication and hard work. One of the best feelings is to pass your Praxis exam, finish your Clinical Fellowship Year (the 9 months of paid work after your graduate from your SLP program) and start signing your name CCC-SLP.
While you are in school, you have the world at your fingertips. This is the time you are trying to decide where you might like to work and what area you might want to specialize. This is also a great time to start shadowing other SLPs in a variety of settings.
As with most aspects of life, what you get out of a Speech Language Pathology (SLP) program is what you put into it. In other words, if you make the most out of your time in a SLP program, you will have a better chance of standing out in the sea of job applicants once you have graduated. Whether you are planning on attending or are currently enrolled in an online or traditional university, you can use these tips to help you succeed both in your degree program and in getting your career started.
If you’re considering a degree in speech pathology, it’s important to know what your day to day responsibilities could be, and how the career outlook will be. It can be tremendously helpful to learn from those who are currently working in the field. With experience comes knowledge of the challenges, and rewards, that a speech-language pathologist career can offer. Recently, we stumbled across an excellent interview with Jennifer Oelfke, a speech-language pathologist and alumna of the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) program in communication sciences and disorders. Kudos to UCF’s College of Public Health and Affairs for posting it!
Because all communication disorders carry the potential to isolate individuals from their social and educational surroundings, it is essential to provide help and support as soon as a problem is identified. Voice disorders may sometimes be divided into organic and functional disorders. Organic disorders are due to physical diseases like cancer and tumors that affect the way the vocal folds work. Functional disorders are due to the misuse and abuse of voice. Frequently, the cause is unknown, which often calls for the support of a speech pathologist. While many speech and language patterns can be called “baby talk” and are part of children’s normal development, they can become problems if they are not outgrown as expected.
