2/14/12

Great Tips to Become a Speech Therapist

By Sarah Elise


Speech therapy is a wonderful and growing field with room for many patient and caring individuals who desire to help children correct nuances in their speech.

Another term for a speech language pathologist is speech therapist. Speech therapists meet with potential and current clients, provide assessments, diagnosis, and treatment plans. Whether it be a little stutter or possibly a child who cannot roll their "r's," a speech therapist can assist. These speech therapists also can talk with clients on tone, pitch, clarity and rhythm. Different skills including swallowing, fluency and vocal sounds are handled. Speech therapists can also work with clients on removing accents as well.

The educational path to learning to be a speech therapist can begin as early as high school. High grades undoubtedly are a plus when deciding on speech programs at various universities. Given that you will be handling children, now would definitely be considered a good time to volunteer for a school to make sure you shall be comfortable dealing with kids, and also to ensure that you have something great to use on your resume.

You have quite a few options when you are looking into speech pathology programs. Do your research and choose the school which includes the focus you are looking for. For this career, you should have at least a Bachelor's degree, and also your school probably will have to be regionally accredited to be able to operate in the school system. Some classes you will probably take in your program are foreign language, science, audiology and phonetics. Language development and skill will fill in the remainder of your curriculum.

Speech therapy or speech pathology can be a career that may be very lucrative, both financially and emotionally, nevertheless, you should be focused and disciplined, given it might not be easy. In all probability you'll will need to earn your Master's degree, pass national exams, and interview with teachers and school districts to begin this career. Just as teachers need to complete many hours of student teaching, a speech therapist will have to complete many hundreds of clinical hours to pass certifications.

In addition to all of the different tests and certifications, there are also a number of professional organizations you will need to participate in. You will must renew your credentials and keep up-to-date on the latest therapies. These are definitely all tasks and expenses to make note of. You may even need to earn a teaching certificate to work inside a public school. Almost half off speech therapists are employed in the education realm, however, you can also be employed in a hospital, elderly care, doctor's office, or even in a non-public setting.

This is a rewarding and fulfilling career with numerous opportunity for financial and emotional reward. This career path is anticipated to grow increasingly more, with almost twenty percent rise in the coming year.




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