Understandably, many people are confused about what it means to be a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). You may picture a nice lady sitting with a child and helping him say the letter “R”, but Speech-Language Pathology is actually a very broad field. Much like physicians, SLPs can specialize in different areas. In graduate school we explore these possibilities through coursework and rotations in various clinical or school settings. We then take a professional licensing test, and go out into the world, hoping to find our place in the therapeutic world. Some of us end up in schools, some in hospitals, some in skilled nursing facilities, and some in private practice.
When I first graduated, I thought I was going to work in a hospital and perform swallowing evaluations. I had completed a 6-month internship in the “Speech and Swallow Department” at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and was informally offered a position to stay on after graduation. I learned so much there, and this was tempting, but in the end I decided it was not for me. I did not want to just see people a few times and then not know what became of them.
What I do now is sometimes referred to as “cognitive therapy”, “cognitive rehabilitation therapy” or “cognitive-communication therapy”. It is sometimes confused with cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a form of psychological therapy which aims to shift thought patterns or negative cycles. There is probably a little overlap in terms of subject matter, but I do not do any psychological therapy. I address cognitive-communication disorders. These are problems with communication that have an underlying cause in a cognitive deficit (e.g., attention issues or memory impairment), rather than a language or speech deficit. For example, one’s ability to focus will impact the ability to effectively participate in conversation.
My specialization allows me to get to know people in a way that was impossible in a hospital setting. It allows me to understand the way they think, the way they live, and the way they want to live. I get to know their strengths and their struggles. Losses and victories. The path isn’t always easy, but I consider myself very lucky to be a part of each person’s journey - whether it is toward recovery from a brain injury, or toward better job performance. We get to work as a team, and that is what fulfills me.
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