If you are a Speech Language Pathologist.....

May is a Better Hearing and Speech Month. Here is a list of things you might relate to if you are a speech language pathologist- 

1) You are always at work- No matter if you are at your work site or not, you are always at work. If you meet this child of your friend at a social gathering, you are secretly analyzing his speech and language milestones. Is it age appropriate? Does he/she have all sounds acquired as per age? He/she shows tantrums; is it a behavior issue or just within functional limit for age? 

If you are listening to some one's voice, which is a bit different, the voice therapist in you starts working. How does the person sound? Is it hoarse, breathy? Any chances of vocal pathology? 

If some one aspirates at the dinner table, your MBS activates in your mind.

At social gatherings, you will meet at least one elderly person with some hearing issues, asking you for your advise. 

2) You are a SLP parent always- If you are a SLP and a parent, you can not separate your parenting and SLP skills. You will be providing extra speech and language stimulation at home using all your professional knowledge. You will be always doing a case study on your child parallel to being a parent. Thinking about your child's developmental patterns. Matching them with the evidence from research. trying and failing all behavior management techniques! At times even worrying about certain developmental milestones for no apparent reason. 

3) You can not shop without thinking about therapy- Whenever you go out for shopping, the toy stores, arts and crafts supplies stores always call your attention. You are always thinking which theme I can use this month to decorate my therapy room? What materials and games will be useful for therapy this week? Are these good reinforcers? 

4) Sharing is caring- When you meet or talk to your old SLP school classmates, even after you try hard not to talk work, you will always end up discussing that particular challenging case or that interesting article you read.It is almost unavoidable! 

5) You can make any shy kid talk- People tell you that this kid is super shy. Does not talk even if there is only one stranger around. It is never the case with you. You know how to make a shy child talk to you. After few hours, the child might be giggling and laughing with you. Never a surprise when a SLP is around! 

6) You can multi task- Whatever your work place is, school, hospital, skilled nursing facility or private set up, you have many roles to play. Assessment, therapy, counseling, documentation, record keeping are just a few of them. Multi tasking is something you will be expert at by the end of the day. 

If you are a speech language pathologist and I do not know if you agree or disagree with the list above, I think one thing you will always agree with me that it is always nice to be the part of this community.