Speech Pathology as a Career essays

Speech Pathology as a Career essays For the many people afflicted with a speech impediment, there often seems to be little hope. Many of these people are ridiculed as children, or cast out of society as a young adult. Many are sent to doctors and specialists who try to determine what is wrong with them. On occasion, they will meet a person who can help them, and ultimately, change their life for the better. This person is a speech patholgist. As one woman, the mother of three, said: I think the one thing I would like to make sure this articles says is that speech therapy is well worth the time invested, that these services are definitely out there (Greene). One of the most rewarding, enduring, and expanding professions is speech pathology. Speech pathology is a new profession. It is also a somewhat controversial one. Many believe that it has its merits; however there are a few noisy people who believe that speech pathology is a useless ambition. They believe that children suffering from a speech disorder will eventually grow out of it. However, that goes along with the territory of being a relatively new medical profession. It first surfaced in the late 1940s, after World War II. Many soldiers returned from the frontlines with head wounds that limited speech. Teachers, neurologists, and other doctors wanted to help the injured men, and a profession was born (Enderby and Emerson 1). Speech pathologists work with people who cannot speak clearly or at all. They also work with people who have problems with swallowing and eating. Working with a speech pathologist may be an audiologist, who works with the hearing impaired (Price). The speech pathologist tries to find what the culprit of a patients speech problem might be. These problems include rhythm problems, harsh voices, and problems with comprehending the language. Speech pathologists evaluate the patients needs by using formal tests to discover his or her ability...