How to become a Speech and Language Therapist
A person needs to have a few skills to become a speech and language therapist. A good speechtherapisthas compassion for his clients, a desire to speak and learn all about how speech originates and lastly, a love for school and study. The student makes good grades and enjoys learning.
Most clients that seek out a therapist have some handicap. Hearing impaired persons are some of their most likely clients. Others include people with cerebral palsy and stroke victims. These people need and will respond best to compassion, not pity. A person develops that by spending quality time with these types of people at Skills Centers and other community centers that they frequent. The therapist develops kindness and patience by empathizing with the needs of these people.
By speaking and studying how people make sounds, the therapist learns how to direct a client in his speech. The brain transmits messages to the larynx and moves the mouth to form the sounds and words that make speech. The therapist needs to know loads about communication. This includes knowing how to read lips, body language and facial expression. The more a person exposes himself to these patterns; the more likely the therapist can help in the recovery process.
Most therapists have either a master's degree or a doctorate in Speech Therapy. This means that a person needs to spend many years in school. It also means that the student works a lot to provide the tuition or he earns a scholarship. Good grades will help the person complete the process. The courses are not easy and often include those that a medical doctor takes.
Start by earning a bachelor's degree from an accredited school taking classes in psychology, special education, or sociology. After graduation, a student enrolls in a master's program for speech therapy. After completing the master's program, a candidate can get a license to practice, the most crucial part of the process. Eventually, the person will want to get a doctorate, but that person may want to start practicing right away and save the necessary funds to earn the doctorate.
Campusexplorer.comlists 124 colleges where students may study speech-language pathology. The ten most popular colleges are Texas Woman University, Townson University, Nova Southern University, Fort Lauderdale, Valdosta University, Georgia; James Madison University, Northern Arizona University; Universidad Del Turabo, Puerto Rico; Ball State University, Indiana; University of Northern Iowa and Saint Xavier University, Illinois.
