My name is Marie Johnson, and I am a speech-language pathologist and clinical
supervisor in the department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology.
This department is part of the College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health
Sciences here at ETSU. I have worked in this department for five years on top of
attending graduate school here the three years prior. I've
obviously enjoyed the field, the department, and the University seeing as
how I've stayed on. I see clients and supervise graduate students and therapy
on campus, in the school age clinic and at the NAVE center in
Elizabethton, Tennessee, where we work with children with autism spectrum and
other related communication disorders. The field of speech language pathology
originated in the early nineteen hundred's, beginning with addressing fluency
issues with stuttering and proper production of sounds. Later bring in
World War II veterans, after they returned with brain injuries and
communication difficulties, in need of care. Our field continues to consistently
emerge with new and exciting therapeutic approaches for working with
individuals with a variety of disorders. Speech-language pathologists work with
individuals with speech, language, including how languages both expressed
and understood, and communication, including the social and cognitive
aspects of communication, swallowing and feeding disorders. The most exciting part
of our field is that we are able to interact with various types of people and
various types of disorders.
It's hard to become bored in this field. Our field includes young children, who are not
talking, to children who cannot produce those infamous R's and L's, to those
children with reading disorders, to children who are resistant eaters, to those who are
learning speech and language from the beginning, after receiving a cochlear
implant, to children with autism, who experience the world uniquely and a
little bit differently from us, to adolescents who need to work on social
interaction skills, to adults recovering from stroke or brain injury,
to those with aging cognitive communication issues, to individuals with
vocal cord nodules, and those with fluency issues, to individuals like
myself who work in training others to become future professionals and
colleagues. The list goes on and on.
Speech-Language Pathologists work in hospitals, schools, private practices, nursing homes, home health
systems, early intervention systems, universities, and non-profit clinics.
Another unique aspect of our field is the focus areas. Although graduate
students in speech-language pathology are required to learn and be trained in
a full spectrum of disorders, speech pathologist can typically focus in on
specialty areas in their job. It did not take me long after my first year of
officially working to find my loves in the field: autism and hearing loss.
I've had the unique opportunity to work with young individuals on the autism
spectrum in a clinic that promotes as a naturalistic setting as well as we part
of ETSU's cochlear implant commitee and work with children with
cochlear implants and their families in closing the language gap. It is an honor
and a pleasure to work with these individuals and their families. It is the
combination of a challenge and a rewarding experience, almost every day. On
top of that, I get to share my enthusiasm with graduate students who are new in the
field.
The field of speech-language pathology requires a master's degree for licensed
and practicing clinicians. Prior to obtaining this degree, some universities
offer a bachelor's degree in communicative disorders. ETSU offers
a minor in communicative disorders, which encompasses the prerequisite
courses that are required for application to the graduate program here
and to most graduate programs in the field. In addition our program offers
opportunities for individuals already working in school systems as speech language
pathology assistants to return for their master's degrees. The competitiveness continues to
increase each admission period here at ETSU,
as more people are learning of this field and the diversity it offers. This
past year we approach 300 and out of these applicants we admit 30 students,
an increase in the previous couple of years from 25. When applying to this
graduate program, as is with many, it's advised to gain experience in working
with individuals who present with any types of language or communication
disorders. Unique experiences prior to graduate school
highlight the applicant skills and help them stand apart.
Our current graduate students are enrolled in three to four courses each semester, including some lab
experiences in voice and swallowing, and they're also placed within a
clinical rotation in each of the five semesters in the program. Something I often
hear students say is how much they appreciate the value and the variety of
clinical opportunities that our program offers. We have in-house clinics with our
ETSU supervisors. The clinical opportunities here at ETSU range
from high-risk clinic, to school aged clinics, feeding clinic, to voice clinic, and
fluency clinic, as well as the cochlear implant clinic that I mentioned
previously. We also have some external supervisors who are working in the
community and hospitals, nursing homes, school systems, and private clinics.
It's always neat to have many of our ETSU grads in the area
supervising our current students in clinic. In speech-language pathology, a
supervised fellowship year of nine months is required prior to certification. This
is a paid position. Following this clinical fellowship year,
the clinician then applies for a particular state's license-whatever state
is relevant for where the applicant will be living, and they also apply for
certification through ASHA. ASHA is our Speech Language Hearing Association. It is
the national professional association for audiologists and speech-language
pathologists, which originated in 1925.
The salary for speech-language pathologists varies depending on the
setting and the population. Graduates in the field of speech-language pathology
typically find jobs easily and many have jobs lined up prior to graduation. For me,
I was offered a job when I happened to be on an elevator at a hotel in
Nashville, right after graduating. I happen to be wearing a shirt with the
ETSU speech-language pathology class of 2010 on it. Obviously, I did not take that
position as I'm here, however I always loved sharing that story with graduate
students to help in highlighting the need in this field for more
speech language-pathologists. For more information about the field of
speech-language pathology as a whole, I would recommend referring to the ASHA
website. ASHA is what I stated earlier. I also recommend locating a speech
language pathologist that you could possibly shadow and inquire directly
with about the field. For more specifics regarding the ETSU program, please visit
our website or select the A-Z index on ETSU's home page and search under "A"
for audiology and speech-language pathology. Furthermore, you can contact
the Department for more information directly by email or phone, or a speech
language pathologist, such as myself. Please refer to the slide at the end of
this presentation for more contact information. Thank you for the
opportunity to share my love for this field, and go bucs!