Beyond Lisps -- The life of a Speech Language Pathologist (via SpeechBop.com)
As in many social situations, I am often asked what I do
for a living. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of times I hear “oh so
you fix lisps?” as a response. I often times laugh this off and try to explain
as best I can that there are an array of communication disorders that I treat
throughout the day. People are often shocked by the extent of a Speech
Pathologist’s work. “You do FEEDING?” or “You work with STROKE victims?” Once
in awhile, I will come across individuals who empathize with my line of work
and will add how a family member or friend is seeing a speech pathologist for
one reason or another. I started to think, “how can I get the word out there
about what we as SLP’s really do?” I guess that this blog and the help of
fellow SLP’s can be a good way to start! Let’s begin with a list of just some
of the things that SLP’s do on a daily basis:
Work environments include: hospitals, schools, clinics,
private practices, home based therapy, organizations, agencies, colleges and
universities, nursing-care facilities, state and federal government agencies,
rehabilitation centers, research laboratories.
Bedside Assessment of Swallowing
Establishing safe diets for clients with oral-motor weakness
Feeding Therapy
Articulation Therapy
Voice therapy
Fluency treatment (stuttering)
A variety of formal and informal evaluations/assessments
to determine language impairment.
Hearing screenings
Treating individuals with cleft-lips and palates
Accent Modification
Decreasing speech impediments (lisps) or increasing speech intelligibility
Treatment in a variety of communication disorders and
medical conditions including but not limited to: auditory processing disorder,
comprehension deficits, hearing impairments, oral-motor disorders,
myofunctional disorders, phonological processing disorders, Autism, Down
Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Apraxia, Aphasia, ALS (Lou Gherigs Disease),
Dysarthria, Dysphagia, Traumatic Brain Injury, AAC (Augmentative and
Alternative Communication), Huntington’s Disease, Laryngeal or Oral Cancer,
Dementia, Stroke, Tracheotomy patients, ADHD, Selective Mutism.
I am hoping that by sharing this information, people can
better understand the work of a speech pathologist as well as the settings that
they work in. The next time you are asked at a party, “what do you do for a living?”
I hope you take that opportunity to spread the importance of speech pathology
and how this treatment can change many peoples’ lives.
~SpeechBop.com
