My SLP Story

What inspired you to become a speech language pathologist?  I’m linking up with the Frenzied SLPs to share my #SLPStory. My #slpstory started with a happy accident.

I’ve always loved interacting with children.  In sixth grade, I would sit in the front of the bus and talk to the kindergarten students.  I think I had friends on the bus, but I loved laughing with the kids and hearing about their day.  I remember when I got braces, I let one of the girls feel them with her likely dirty and germ infested fingers.

In elementary school, I hoped to grow up to be Miss America.  I remember getting the chance to talk about what I WANTED to be on the intercom in second grade.  I was so excited.  I shared how I was going to be Miss America with the entire school.  I think I really wanted to poofy dress.  

I started babysitting when I was about ten and continued until I got my first job. I would plan games and activities to bring to entertain the children.  Sometimes I would bring crafts or make a special snack with them. I got paid 1.00/per kid per hour which felt like great money at the time.  Thank goodness I don’t get paid 1.00 per kid anymore!  In Junior high, I hoped to be a dolphin trainer when I grew up.

In high school, I got a job working in a bakery.  I almost fulfilled my first dream when I was awarded Miss Wuollet runner-up and got to wear a sash made out of toilet paper.  I spent my days selling doughnuts and singing Memory from Cats.  I would act shy but loved when the bakers would ask me to sing in the store.  When career day came around, I thought maybe I’d like to go into communications or marketing.  I don’t know if this still happens, but I had to fill out a form that included a four digit code with your area of interest.  I meant to write in the code for speech communications-but ended up writing the code for speech therapy.

When I started getting literature in the mail, I thought this was a career that I could do.  I liked working with children, I was interested in communication, and my brother had a speech and language delay.  I didn’t really know what a speech language pathologist was-but I probably should have.  My brother had received speech and language services from preschool through middle school.  I remember he used to back his /m/’s.  My best friend was, “Gikel” instead of Michael.  (or maybe it was assimilation.)  Good for my brother for being so unique.  I’ve never experienced that particular error pattern.  

I got accepted early admission to Augustana College in Illinois which had an undergraduate programs in speech language therapy with a robust clinic environment.  My grandmother had Alzheimers so I wrote my thesis on this, worked part time at TJ Maxx buying Jones of New York suits and dresses for my new dream career working with adults with dementia.  One of my internships in grad school was at a rural hospital where I worked with children and adults.  I loved working with the children.  I remember working on “whee!” and “up!” while throwing beans with one of the clients.  Yes, I was THAT messy student clinician-and it took me a long time to clean up the beans.  I haven’t done it since.  

I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make the worksheets more fun for my clients with aphasia.  We would pull out telephone books, practice ordering food or tell jokes.  Finally, my supervisor told me that I was uniquely suited to work with children and that I was working too hard to motivate adults.  They were motivated to get better without these extra activities.  And that was that.  I love working with children and coming up with unique ideas to motivate them and help them learn.  Just not throwing beans in the air!  

I’m so excited to hear your #slpstory!  What drew you into this field?  Did you always want to a speech language pathologist or did you change careers?