The ability to communicate and convey our thoughts and feelings to others is one of the most important skills that we as human beings can develop. Speech-language pathology is a field that revolves around facilitating speech, language, and overall communication. Being a speech therapist is a wonderful way to serve humanity.
If you enjoy working with preschool language development, there is a place for you. If you enjoy helping senior citizens recover from a stroke or other neurological injury, there is a place for you. The areas of speech therapy and providing services is so diversified. A speech pathologist can specialize in many populations, whether it is voice disorders, stuttering, autism spectrum disorder, Down’s sundrome, aphasia, apraxia, etc.
I enjoy the aspect of being a detective. A person comes to you with a language delay, articulation disorder, or other communicative deficit. By asking questions, and applying speech and language assessments, you come up with a possible solution. Sometimes the problems aren’t simple and you have to do ongoing adjustments to help the client achieve the best communication possible. Understanding the different communication skills and how they work together, then helping your client make those adjustments to improve speech and language is most rewarding. Parent education and inclusion is another way to facilitate speech and language development. Helping others learn better communication skills is truly a wonderful profession.