Speech-Language Pathology: A Personal Statement

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I first discovered speech-language pathology back when I was in high school, in a very unexpected way. I was talking with my grandmother, who had told me she received her Masters degree in Speech-Language Pathology after my father was born. My father has had hearing aids since the age of five, and had to continuously attend speech therapy while growing up. My grandmother told me stories of how she would sit with my father every night, away from his six other siblings, with the lights off and talk to him. She would say words to him, which he would then have to repeat back to her, without relying on his normal trick of reading lips. After hearing these stories and learning more about the field, I was intrigued and hooked. Within the field …show more content…

Being able to work with both children and adults has allowed me to broaden my view of what the field of speech language pathology will consist of. During my freshman year, in the spring semester of 2014, I was able to volunteer in Marquette’s clinic and take data for an SLP graduate student who was working with an adult with an intellectual disability. This experience allowed me to broaden my basic knowledge of the field of speech-language pathology. Also this past fall semester of 2016, I was able to work with an SLP graduate student in Marquette’s clinic, where we provided therapy to a preschool-aged client. We worked together in creating activities to target his speech language disorder, using both hybrid and clinician-directed approaches throughout the semester. By the end of the semester, we were able to observe very positive results concerning both his receptive and expressive language, which was highly rewarding to see. I am also going to be working in Marquette’s Clinic again next semester where I will be working with clients who have aphasia. This opportunity will allow me to further my knowledge and interest of individuals who I have a special interest

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