Any Speech Pathologists and Teachers?

[coolshannie]

I have always thought that I wanted to be an elementary school teacher, I've loved my observations and I go and help my mom, who is a first grade teacher, when I can, but now I feel very unsure. My last observation assignment, was to view inclusive practices for students with disabilities in a general education classroom. During this observation I was able to see some of the things a speech pathologist does in the school district setting. I came back a different day and observed the speech pathologist for a few hours, just to have more knowledge about the profession. My plan was to major in elementary education and get my masters in speech pathology so that I could eventually go into that career path if I wanted to. Now, I am beginning to wonder if it would be better to change my major to speech pathology and master in it, ruling teaching out altogether.

I feel so conflicted. Both of my parents are in education and they are so passionate about their jobs. I think it is part of what really inspired me to want to go into education, but at the same time I'm wondering if that is still my dream. I feel so lost.

Anyways, I would love to hear from those of you in both professions. I know this is a very personal choice that I have to make. I just thought it would be nice to hear what others had to say about the profession they chose.

 

[FredinFL]

I have a sister in Speech Pathology and she loves it. There is a LOT of room for Speech Pathologists, ESPECIALLY new saavy ones who are up on the latest information and practices. Unfortunately, there are TONS of dinosaurs still left that just aren't meeting the current need.

If you feel this is what you want, go for it. I heartily suggest learning the Linda Mood Bell Phenome system, the Metronome and the Fast Forword programs. They are like angels sent from heaven for a lot of kids, and most schools just don't offer them.

I think if you go this route, you will be able to find a great job doing something you like. Isn't that the best thing? To find something you love to do and do it?

Best of luck to you, whatever you decide. I'm just sayin' the field is WIDE OPEN.

 

[Goofyluver]

I'm a school-based SLP. And I love my job.

I'll be honest and say I could never teach. I've never had the want or desire to do it. I always joke around and say the great thing about being a public school SLP is that I get to see the kids for 30 minutes, and then I get to send them back to their classrooms.

I enjoy working for the schools because I get all of the benefits that come with working with the school system...summers off, shorter work hours, holidays off. But, I still get to do what I love...which is to make a difference in the lives of children who need speech services.

My recommendation would be to choose one major or the other. If you're planning on going in to speech, then get your Bachelors in speech as well. It will be easier for you to go on to get your Masters. And make sure you get that Masters! Many more opportunities for Masters level therapists than there are for Bachelor level.

The great thing about being a Speech Path is that you can choose where and with whom you want to work...all the way from NICU to geriatrics...from public schools to nursing homes or rehab. Your skills make you extremely marketable and desirable to a variety of employers and in a variety of settings.

Of course, I'm slightly bias.

 

[coolshannie]

Thank you for the replies! It's nice to know how much others love their jobs and want to make a difference in a child's life.

 

[Robindianne]

I have a sister in Speech Pathology and she loves it. There is a LOT of room for Speech Pathologists, ESPECIALLY new saavy ones who are up on the latest information and practices. Unfortunately, there are TONS of dinosaurs still left that just aren't meeting the current need.

If you feel this is what you want, go for it. I heartily suggest learning the Linda Mood Bell Phenome system, the Metronome and the Fast Forword programs. They are like angels sent from heaven for a lot of kids, and most schools just don't offer them.

I think if you go this route, you will be able to find a great job doing something you like. Isn't that the best thing? To find something you love to do and do it?

Best of luck to you, whatever you decide. I'm just sayin' the field is WIDE OPEN.

Sorry if this is a thread jack
Sped teacher here. We use Fast ForWord at my school and I love it! I have a 2nd grader who's now talking, another who's now writing pages long realistic fiction, complete with a problem and a resolution!

 

[tasha99]

I'm in my last term of graduate school to get my Masters to be a speech language pathologist. I would say go for it--I know people with teaching degrees who have been subbing for years, but my cohort of future slp's are all mostly hired, and we won't graduate for 2 more months! There are so many opportunities for slps--acute care, subacute care, home health, schools, accent reduction, voice disorders, voice work with the transgendered--it just goes on and on.

I'm doing my medical externship in a skilled nursing facility now and LOVE it. I've got a job as a school slp starting mid-August, but I think after my clinical fellowship year, I'm going to do summer and weekend prn work in a nursing home in addition to working in a school.

I would not recommend getting a bachelor's in teaching if you plan on being an slp. I don't think you could even get into a Master's program with that unless you took all the required communication disorders and sciences courses. My BA is in English, and I had to do a year of postbac work just to make the minimum requirements to apply for grad school. None of the slp prep classes are teaching classes--they're more like a year of audiology courses, anatomy of speech, phonetics, various language development classes, acoustics of speech, phonetics, etc. The only other major besides communication disorders and sciences I've seen among my cohort is linguistics.

To work as an slp, you need a Masters. You could be an slpa with a Bachelor's degree. Not every area hires slpa's, though, which could really limit your options geographically.

Good luck, whichever way you decide to go.

 

[amyy]

I believe ASHA 2014 is in Orlando

 

[PlutoPony]

There are also options for SP's outside of working with young children. We recently had a consult with SP's at a major university for my teenage son. He was diagnosed by them as having vocal chord dysfunction, which is limiting the amount of air he takes in while running. They see a lot of this in teenage athletes (especially female) and have a nice little practice going with therapy for it. In talking with the SP's (including grad students) I was amazed at the different ways they were using their degrees. Sounds like there's currently a strong job market.