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As an SLP-A what is the most fulfilling aspect of your job? What aspects are draining and why?

I am interested in speech language pathology, both in a clinical and educational setting. What is good about working with children versus adults? How was your experience working in a school setting? How was your experience in a medical setting?

speech-pathology fulfillment
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Katie’s Answer

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I have worked as an SLP in medical, educationall= and now the newest setting, business, called corporate speech pathology. In the educational setting, I help children do better in school. For example when their pronunciation normalizes, they can spell more easily and are more comfortable with reading. When they improve their vocabulary and ability to follow directions, they can understand concepts better. In the medical setting. patients are eager to communicate and swallow better, so they can return to their normal lives. I have worked with both children and adults and in most aspects of our field. I especially enjoy working in the corporate sector, where we focus on communication enhancement, not disorders. For example, I may help clients with accent modification, public speaking, meeting management and much more. Clients make usually rapid progress and are highly motivated to improve. SLPs usually need to have earned their Certificate of Clinical Competence and have 2 years experience before working in the corporate sector and do a lot of self-study for this.. Most corporate SLPs are self-employed right now.

Katie recommends the following next steps:

www.corspan.org
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Martha’s Answer

I have worked in most settings, public education, nursing homes, skilled nursing units, outpatient rehabs, hospitals, home health, and teletherapy. My preferred population is pediatrics. I thoroughly enjoyed working with adults, but it was mainly in the nursing homes/skilled nursing units. The part I enjoyed was visiting with the adults and hearing their stories. The hard part was knowing that this was the last stop before they passed away. That was hard for me. Everyone is different and has their own preferences. The paperwork was easier with the adult population than in the educational setting. With pediatrics, I enjoyed working with the children, their different personalities, correcting their articulation or language, so that they were able to communicate with everyone the first opportunity and not repeat themselves. Children are just fun to me. Giving those on an augmentative communication device a voice, that was my favorite part. Their faces lit up when they figured out how to operate the device. It was then that they realized that they could control their environment and they were not being told what to do all the time. I enjoyed assessing children and diagnosing the problem. It was like being a detective trying to solve the crime. The difficult part was the mountain of paperwork. I would recommend working in different settings the first 10 years and see which one you prefer. Also, remember when you are assessing a work environment, you also have to take into account the people you work with. The setting may be great, but the boss or co-workers may not be. Or, it could the the other way around, great people, but the setting isn't right. I have been in this field for 35 years and still love working with the clients. I have to remember why I am there and my focus. It is easy to get distracted.
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