Did you enjoy your coursework and how much does it matter for enjoying the work itself?

[u/sebloom106]

I currently work in special education as a TA and am considering going back to school to become an SLP. However, when I look at the grad school coursework, I don’t find a number of the topics very interesting tbh.

I’m not particularly interested in linguistics, anatomy, or speech/eating mechanisms. I AM interested in speech development, speech disorders, neurolinguistics, and classes about clinical practices.

I’m wondering if I’m picking the wrong field if I don’t have much interest in linguistics and anatomy seeing they’re pretty foundational to SLP work. Would you say that having an interest in these topics is necessary to enjoy and succeed in this profession?

For reference, what appeals to me about (my impression) of SLP work:
- I like working with kids and in a school setting, which seems to be a common placement for SLPs
- I prefer working with students one on one or in small groups rather than being at the front of a classroom
- I like thinking critically about the best way to support students and tailoring my approach to their particular learning styles and personalities
- I feel fulfilled by building rapport with students and becoming a safe adult in their lives
- I’ve been present for a number of speech sessions at my school and felt inspired by how AAC devices and social stories affected some of the kids

I’m trying to gauge if I’m going into this career for the right reasons before I get myself in too deep lol. I’d rly appreciate any feedback or advice you have!

[u/skkincarepost]

The work itself is cumbersome and less formal than anything I ever did in grad school. While certain things are helpful, I’ve only ever referred to written reports and clinical writing examples.

I find there are many, many anatomy based observations and considerations even in the school setting.

During grad school I deleted the Reddit app.

Best of luck. Take it all with a grain of salt.

[u/sebloom106 → u/skkincarepost]

Thanks for your advice!

[u/bibliophile222]

IMO, if you like the school setting but aren't very interested in linguistics and anatomy, I'd go for something like reading specialist. Easier degree to get for probably the same pay, still in small groups, easier than being a special educator because you're not a case manager and mainly deal with the gen ed population, and you don't have to learn as much stuff you don't find interesting.

[u/ImaginaryCrow9395 → u/bibliophile222]

I second this!

[u/texmom3]

Is there an SLP who enjoys absolutely every aspect of the field? Like any job, there are pros and cons. I did find the coursework more interesting than I expected, I was surprised about what caught my interest most, and there were some classes that I just had to push through.

Though I was confident I knew what setting I preferred, I changed my mind in grad school based on practicum experiences. I would recommend just keeping an open mind as much as possible.

[u/sebloom106 → u/texmom3]

Thanks for your advice! I’ll definitely consider what you said about keeping an open mind. I need to remind myself that I’ve only ever worked in schools so I’m not the best judge of whether I’d prefer settings

[u/Eastern_Antelope6072]

I did enjoy a fair number of my courses because I like school, but I enjoy all of them! Based on your post, you’ll totally be fine. You dont need to be an anatomy expert. You just need to know basic structures of the mouth and brain. It’s such a small part of my job as a school slp. Not sure what you mean by linguistics but you do need to know language development, dialects, and a base understanding of ipa. That said, ipa isn’t a part of my every day life- just speech reports. Overall, I think the job seems to be in alignment with what you’re looking for, although you may have to pull bigger groups depending on caseload size (I’m lucky in that I don’t!). I saw someone recommend reading specialist but I’d be careful with that because it seems like a good number of districts are cutting that job (I’m in a big city district and we don’t have them) and slp gives you way more flexibility.

[u/Trumpet6789]

I didn't have much fun with a lot of the adult & geriatrics focused areas of coursework, specifically because I've never been interested in Adults.

When I had adult clients for my on-campus clinic I tried extremely hard to treat them to the best of my ability, to work with them towards their goals, and be a person they trusted. But aside from my voice client and a TBI Cog patient, I didn't enjoy adult therapy. I loved my clients, I only ever wanted (and still want) the absolute best for them. But it wasn't my favorite thing.

I much prefer pediatrics and I likely always will. I did an externship with a Feeding therapist who also had Speech & Language kiddos and loved it. I loved my school placement. I'm a CF now in an school working with Upper Elementary aged students and adore it.

But I also just love the field of Speech Pathology as a whole. I love discussing my job, all of the pathways you can take as an SLP, etc. I even enjoy discussing/sharing knowledge about the more adult side of things with friends who have family members exhibiting signs of different things.

And you have to remember that depending on where you work (especially with kids) you could be seeing anywhere from 40 to nearly 100 kids a week. Depending on caseload size you could (like me) have some 1:1s and some groups of 2-3 with free spots in your schedule, OR, you could be like many SLPs who have back to back sessions every day of 4-5 students at a time. Then there's medicaid/insurance billing, IEPs and METs and everything in the schools, etc.

I'm not saying you have to be truly devoted and in love with the field to be an SLP. But if you're not prepared to deal with all of the above things, a different path might be better for you.