10 Awesome Reasons Being a Speech Pathologist ROCKS! {Friendship Circle Post}

I was over at the Friendship Circle Special Needs BlogÂ last week sharing with you why I love being an SLP. It’s already been shared quite a bit on social media (like over 38,000 times!)â€¦please check it out and let me know what you think. Anything you would add? Feel free to leave me a comment over there! Here is a teaser for you…

Back when I was in college and stumbled across the field of speech pathology, all I really knew was that I wanted to help kids communicate better. I had no idea that day when I changed from Liberal Studies to Speech Pathology and Audiology just how AWESOME the field really is. After almost 9 years in, here are 10 things I have found that ROCK about this profession.

10. Variety of Work Settings

Many people are unaware that speech and language pathologists are trained in communication and swallowing (yes, swallowing!) forÂ the entire lifespan: from birth until death! This allows us, upon graduating from graduate school, to have a variety of options open to us for employment including:

Early Intervention Programs
Public School Systems
Private School Systems
Private Clinics/Private Practice
Hospital Inpatient
Hospital Outpatient
Rehabilitation Centers
Skilled Nursing Facilities
Home Health Agencies
Corporations/Businesses (for services such as accent reduction)
Other for profit or non profit agencies that provide speech & language services

WHY is this just so awesome? Think about it: how often do you hear of people getting burned out on their careers? Going back to school for a new degree? SLP’s have the advantage of being able to stay in their field, yet working in aÂ completely different setting with aÂ completely different type of client.Â Burned out with the schools? Try early intervention! Feeling like you need a break from children? Try rehab! Want a little of both?Â You can! Many SLPs actively work in more than one setting at one time!Â

9. Working with Diverse Clients With Diverse Needs

In addition to having a variety of work settings to work in, being an SLP allows us to work with diverse clients across the different settings. No two clients, despite having the same “diagnosis” are ever the same. This part of the job isÂ challenging,Â yes but most SLPs I know find this to be one of the best parts of the job. Spending all day teaching kids to say r’s and s’s could getÂ really boring, really fast. Instead, we can be working with a child with Childhood Apraxia of Speech one hour, have a social skills group the next hour, followed by working with an adult stroke-survivor the next!

8. The Learning Never Ends

This can be seen as both a positive and a negative to the job, but I see it as a positive. The field of speech pathology is wide and ever changing. New research is constantly coming out on best interventions and let’s face it: You simply CANNOT learn all you need to know to treat all communication disorders across the lifespan in undergrad and graduate school. SLPs have to continually read up on current best practices, attend conferences, and learn new treatment methods.