You’re a Speech Pathologist?

What do you picture when you think of a Speech Pathologist? Something medical? Someone who treats lisps and stuttering? It’s a bit of a confusing title, but for a very interesting and diverse job.

Speech Pathologists work in a variety of settings. You’ll find them at schools, giving therapy to students and working with classroom teachers. Or in hospitals, providing assessment and rehabilitation for communication and swallowing.

Some Speech Pathologists visit clients at their home or in the community, like at the park or shopping centre. Others, like me, work from an office.

One Speech Pathologist’s day can look completely different to the next. But we share a common goal; to help people communicate, or swallow, better.

As a community Speech Pathologist, I work with people from all walks of life; like the neighbour who wants help navigating conversations better or the employee who needs to find the right communication device for her work.

I support the teacher who needs training to sustain her voice throughout the school term and the student who needs extra help processing their language-based homework.

I treat the parent wanting to re-learn their children’s names after a stroke and the young adult wanting to learn how to communicate on social media.

Recently, our association held their 2022 National Conference in Melbourne.

I listened to a number of different talks, from the impacts of whiplash on voice and swallowing functions, to supported decision making for people with intellectual disability.

It was a surprising reminder that Speech Pathologists can help so many different types of people.

Who knows, maybe there might be someone in your life who could benefit from Speech Pathology?