Last month, I wrote a post about Better Speech and Hearing Month. For some unknown reason, I lost it! May is the month that Speech Language Pathologists educate the public on speech and language disorders and audiologists educate on hearing disorders.
June is dysphagia awareness month. Did you know that dysphagia typically makes up the largest percentage of the medical Speech Language Pathologists caseload?
No matter which path you choose in Speech Language Pathology, a job as an SLP can be a very rewarding experience. Many choose to work in the school system. Many SLPs find that it is rewarding working with children on areas such as articulation and the many facets of language.
Another career path can be as a medical SLP. Many times, SLPs choose to work in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), hospital, home health or an outpatient clinic.
Dr. Eric Blicker,MA CCC-SLP.D BCS-S, is a specialist in swallowing and swallowing disorders. Dr. Blicker holds his Board Certification in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders. In addition to his daily duties as an acute care SLP, Dr. Blicker also owns his own continuing education company, teaching SLPs all over the country about FEES and issues related to swallowing disorders.
FEES is an instrumental assessment for swallowing. Flexible Endscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) involves using an endoscope with a camera placed in the nostril and into the pharynx (throat) to assess the pharyngeal phase of the swallow.
Dr. Blicker also educates SLPs on patient’s that use a ventilator (breathing machine) or that have had a trachestomy (artificial airway with a tube in the throat to keep the stoma open).
You can find Dr. Blicker’s continuing education courses here. You can also find Dr. Blicker on Facebook and LinkedIn where he often shares great information regarding dysphagia (swallowing disorders).
Over the next few months, I will be posting a series of articles interviewing Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) in various settings.
Katie Smead is a semi-retired SLP who currently owns her own practice. What she didn’t state in the interview is that she is also the creator of some very innovative tools for dysphagia which you can find here.
Using her experience with the area of dysphagia (swallowing impairment) and evidence based practice, Katie has developed multiple tools at an affordable cost to assist Speech Language Pathologists in the treatment of dysphagia, in addition to providing journal articles to support clinical use of these tools for a variety of deficits.
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.
