Anyone here a Speech Pathologist?

[Snow White]

What exactly does a speech pathologist do and if you are one, do you enjoy it?

 

[dhcoffey]

Let me start off by saying I'm not one but my cousin is and she works for the school system here at the primary (K-2) school. She has different groups of kids each day and helps them with their sounds and reading word wall words and such as that.
She loves it and has the same schedule as the teachers, so summer off for her.

Hope that helps some.


Heather

 

[TigerBear]

I'm not one either but I have worked with many speech pathologists in the schools. Speech therapists who work for special education diagnose and treat speech (articulation, stuttering, lisp - I'm blanking on the more technical terms) and language disorders (receptive and expressive language disorders). It has always looked like a fun job to me! Assesssments are done individually and therapy is provided either individually or in group. I know less about what happens in other settings, but I bet it still comes down to diagnosis and treatment.

You might get some more responses on the disAbilities board.

 

[slimplaw]

My original degree was in what was then called speech/language therapy, now known as speech and language pathologist. I have since added other certifications and do not work as such, but in a nutshell we work with individuals with speech and language impairments. Some clients may have stuttering, misarticulations, delayed speech/language, vocal chord damage, suffered a stroke and lost speech or the understanding of speech, and oral stimulation. You can work in schools, hospitals, or private practice. You could work with children or adults. If you do consider being one, you'll probably need a master's degree with what is called your c's(certificate of clinical compentency). I see you are in OK, surely OU or OSU have programs and maybe some of the smaller colleges. Don't know how close you are to the TX border, but TWU definitely has a program and I think UNT still does too. Both are in Denton. BTW, Jay Leno's degree is in speech therapy.

 

[Snow White]

Thanks! I'm STILL doing the great career debate, was going into nursing, but just don't know. Teaching is a great option, but Oklahoma pay stinks. I've been looking into speech therapy and it sounded interesting. UCO in Edmond has a program that I'm looking into. Thanks a bunch!