Why the Speech Therapy thing?

This is what I aspire to be. Click the image to get your own “World’s Best SLP” coffee mug from Peachie Speechie!

In all honesty, I go through moments when I ask myself this very question. Now, I think it is a way that I check in with myself and make sure that I am taking best practices as a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and putting my students first. But it wasn’t always this way. But sometimes things get challenging and answers to “how do I best support this student/situation” take longer to find. So read along to find out where my thoughts go (TLDR?) when the question arises…..

FUN FACT: A long long time ago I thought I was going to be a scientist and while I still like to say I’m a scientist of “speaking, swallowing, and communicating”, this is a very different job than what I originally planned. I was a biology major for my first two years of college. I wanted to get into stem cell research and find the cure for illnesses and make miracles happen. But in trusting God and the universe to lead my determined self in the right direction, I stumbled upon the field of Speech-Language Pathology.

In case any of my colleagues wonder who you are, now they know! Click the image to find this cute crewneck by Peachie Speechie!

Actually I heard somebody say those three words for the first time and was confused as to what that meant. I knew what “speech therapy” was because all through grade school I’d been aware of my peers leaving to go to the speech room - you know that room that nobody really understood or dare worry about where my friends would go work on their “r” and “s'“ sounds. So when I was 20 years old and volunteering in a resource specialist’s classroom to fulfill an undergrad requirement for my “small group communication” class, I heard the actual title for my future job. I heard it from one of the classroom aides who - after observing me for a couple of weeks- was encouraging me to look into getting my degree to work with kids with special needs. I will say, I felt that I had the knack for it when volunteering. I was able to get the kids motivated to finish their work when they were getting ready to pound their fists on the desk out of frustration. But I was sticking to my course. Even though the term “Speech Language Pathologist” sounded a lot more scientific than “Speech Therapist”, nobody could change my mind. Not even the most difficult chemistry class that had me in tears before every exam would detour me.

This was until one of the students I had established a wonderful bond with was having a hard day. He was a sixth-grade boy, let’s call him Michael (because I’m a huge fan of The Office and must remain confidential). Michael was always very eager to tell me about his day, what new information he was learning in science class (his favorite subject), and how much he didn’t like other subjects. On this particular day he had to finish an assignment for science and when I began prompting him to share it with me he grunted and put his head on the table. I was surprised since he was always eager to work with me. I tried to coax him into working with the classroom token economy system of earning stickers, which only made matters worse and I could feel the tension growing. He began hitting his head on the table and before I could freak out, something inside me helped me stay calm and put my chin down on the table, where I could be at his eye level. I began to calmly say is name over and over again to try and assure him that he was in a safe space. After what felt like the longest 5-10 seconds ever, Michael looked at me and said he didn’t want to work.

As a volunteer in the classroom, I didn’t want to disappoint the teacher by not requiring Michael to do his work, but my instincts were to hear him out. After asking him a series of questions, I found out that Michael was upset over a minor conflict with a peer during lunch. I mean… I get it buddy. Peer conflict can be a struggle and watching how this so deeply affected to the point that it was difficult to communicate his frustration to me was eye-opening. After the class period, I pulled his teacher aside to ask her how I could better handle situations like this. She told me I had done a lot of the right things and that Michael’s reaction had to do with his “disability” (A word I have a struggle using - explanation to come in a future post ;) ).

My “speech anatomy” shirt makes me feel most like a scientist ;). Click the image to find this at Peachie Speechie!

I went home that day, opened my lap top and typed in four words: “Speech Language Pathology, Autism”. Friends, I found myself falling down the rabbit hole of google in the best possible way. As I researched I found out that SLPs do a lot more than work on sounds and are, in fact, experts in the SCIENCE of communication and swallowing disorders (YAY). Now, I was on to something and I had the confidence of knowing I enjoyed working with a specific population linked to this career path.

For about a year after this, I went back and forth on where to go with my degree. I continued volunteering in the same classroom, after my requirement was over, because I felt so at home in that environment. The thing was, I still wanted to perform miracles and help save lives or enhance the lives of others through scientific discoveries (so fancy, I know). But as I researched, volunteered, and prayed for the answers, I realized that my path to becoming a scientist wasn’t ending, it was just changing.

Fast forward about 8 years and I am in my third 'official’ year as a SLP (or master of communicative science when I want to get back to my roots). Five total years, including graduate school clinicals, and every year I realize how much more I love this SLP life and the learning and growth it promotes for me as a human. I can’t say it enough, how much I have learned from my clients and my students. And this field is just a never-ending place for growth as scientific studies help teach new and improved treatment methods on the daily. I’m required to keep up my education which I ENJOY because stepping out of the student role was a struggle, at first. But now I have a new home, as a pre-school based SLP and I’ve found my niche working with some of the littlest ones on early language and speech.

This is my space. My little home away from home where my students and I work together to share their voices with the world.

Not only do the preschoolers bring fun and excitement every day, but I have consistent opportunities to collaborate and learn from their teachers and my SLP colleagues which provides me with an awesome foundation to hone my skills. In all honesty, I know I’m not the world’s ‘Best’ SLP, yet ;). But without all the signs and lessons over the last 8-10 years to get me here, I wouldn’t even be close.

And here’s the BEST part, I do get to perform miracles. EVERY day. Some examples? Last week one of my nonverbal students imitated the /p/ sound. MIRACLE. One of my students with severe speech-motor difficulties communicated to me in 3 words two days ago, MIRACLE. Last year I remember jumping for joy and crying when one of my students pushed a button to engage with her peers and then yelled when she wanted a turn to push it again. MIRACLE (and that one still brings tears to my eyes and gives me all the excitement as if it just happened all over again).

Friend, If you’ve made it all the way to the end of this long story, THANK YOU. Thank you for reading and supporting my rambling story telling tendencies. Thank you for being here and sharing in the joy of finding my ever-evolving place in this world. My clear cut goal of becoming a scientist was, indeed, the best possible thing. My hope is that you find the joy in whatever venture you are currently on!

With love and all the laughs,

Marie, the scientist.

P.S. Huge THANK YOU to my mom for encouraging me to follow my heart. Also thanks, mom, for helping find a volunteer position at your school - you’re the real MVP here.

Click image to find this tee by Peachie Speechie!