Any speech pathologists or audiologists on the Dis?

[DisneyBeagle]

If any of you are speech pathologists or audiologists, I would love to hear from you. I am considering going back to school and am currently looking into these two programs. I would love to hear the pros and cons of your job and if you'd recommend your career to others.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Wonders10]

I'm a speech path!

I work in the schools, mostly with autism, and I will be starting my 3rd year in a couple weeks. I'm also working 4 days a week after school and in the summer in a private practice, mainly for some extra money.

I would definitly recommend my job. I am very lucky. I technically have 2 jobs and I still get calls/postcards from companies wanting to hire me. The biggest perk of working in a school setting is the hours...I have set hours and am off all summer, holidays and weekends. There are negatives to working in the school - mainly you often feel like you never see your students enough because of days off, meetings, and special school functions. That's what I like about private practice - individual, one on one sessions. BUT you lose out on any benefits, usually.

Let me know any specific questions and I will be glad to answer them!

 

[Julia M]

I'm also a speech path. I have been working about 20 years. It;s a great field to be in. I worked part time while my kids were younger.

I have been a speech path at elementary and middle schools and have worked with preschoolers with disabilities. Then I did assessments on our oreschoolers (kind of the entrance into intensive special ed services). Now I run a preschool program for children with autism...we have 5 preschool teachers, one K, ABA, speech and OT. We have about 55 kids and expect to be at 75 by the end of the year.

I think it's an escellent program to be in

Julia

 

[Pembo]

Here in Ohio school speech paths are in extreme demand. You can about name your job. I have a friend who works in a school, does some work for a hospital and does private speech out of her home. It's a great field...I think.

 

[Kriii]

Another Ohio SLP here! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job! I've been around the country a bit, since dh's job transfers him periodically, and have NEVER had difficulty finding a job, and my last job hunt was during spring 2009. I've worked in hospitals, schools and home therapy. If your college is like mine, the bachelor degree is in speech and aud so you have time to experience both before making the final choice at grad school time. Also, there is so much variety in our field. You have a lot of options for what you want to specialize in or can sample a little bit of everything! Good luck !

 

[Teacher03]

Thanks OP for the question! I am in Ohio, and my daughter is entering her junior year of college majoring in speech pathology. I'm hoping the job market will still be good when she graduates (2 1/2 more years!)

 

[Judy from Boise]

as far as I know entry level for a SLP is a masters, and for an audiologist is a doctrate.....are you looking for that level of committment?

 

[Cat0727]

If any of you are speech pathologists or audiologists, I would love to hear from you. I am considering going back to school and am currently looking into these two programs. I would love to hear the pros and cons of your job and if you'd recommend your career to others.

Thanks in advance.

Thanks for posting this question! I recently graduated form school with a minor in speech path and I'd love to hear everyone's feedback

 

[Wonders10]

as far as I know entry level for a SLP is a masters, and for an audiologist is a doctrate.....are you looking for that level of committment?

I know they were changing the qualifications for AuD to require a doctorate but not sure when or if it has gone into effect yet. For SLPs, a Master's is required in most cases. Some schools down here will hire you with just a bachelors I think as long as you are planning on/or are currently earning a Master's. You also need a Masters to become state licensed (in FL) as well as nationally certified through ASHA.

Someone with a bachelors only could become a SLP-assistant. Not nearly as much money and you pretty much are stuck working only in a private practice that is willling to take on that responsibility since they need lots of supervision (by law) and can't evaluate/diagnose. Plus they can't legally treat medicaid and some other insurances like that unless under direct supervision of a SLP with her CCCs.

 

[Forevryoung]

I'm an SLP too!

I'm in NY and the jobs are NOT easy. I've been out of school for 2 years (with my masters) and it took me nearly that long to find a job that wasn't agency work.

 

[Wonders10]

Wow, love that there are so many SLPs on the DIS!

Is there a thread just for SLPs? Like the teacher or mom threads? I'm only 2 1/2 years out of grad school and still feel like I'm learning every day...it would be great to have an outlet to ask questions, get ideas and just vent with people who really understand what its like to be a SLP!

 

[belle&beast]

I'm an SLP too. I have worked with adults in rehab, school aged children, early intervention and now work with preschoolers. LOVE my job and I have all kinds of flexibility to work in many different settings!

 

[mjkacmom]

My friend has been an audiologist for over 15 years, and had to go back to school to get her doctorate last year, to keep her certification.