Traveling Language Pathologists – Common Misconceptions
Like any other health related profession, such as nursing, medicine, or physical therapy, the speech language pathologist career track offers great opportunities for advancement not only in the monetary aspect but also in the whole scheme of things of one’s life. With that in mind plus the current trends that persist in the health care world, the traveling speech language pathologists would fare even better as compared to their more stable counterparts.
Despite the fact that the health care industry is booming and as the level of awareness of the consumers of the health services increases, there still exists some common misconceptions regarding SLPs and their work. It is a stinging truth amidst the existence of the information highway and all the technological advancements in our current society. A few common false assessments or opinion of the general public regarding the traveling speech language pathologists will be discussed on the following paragraphs.
One common assumption of an uninformed person is that traveling SLPs are particular with the speech sounds produced wherein they are most concerned with the articulation ability of their clients. That is not always the case as SLPs are most concerned in assisting a patient to regain their speaking or communicating abilities that were lost by way of their condition. What they do is that they help these individuals with existing difficulties in speaking work around their limiting condition and overcome them in the process of reintegration to the general society.
Another false belief pertaining to these professionals is that they are commonly found in schools or those institutions who deal with children with limitations. Contrary to that, traveling SLPs have a wide array of job posts available to them and they usually help physicians treat patients who have poor gag reflex due to prolonged intubation. They assist their patients regain their communication faculties as in the case of stroke victims or those who have undergone a surgical procedure that disrupts the normal functioning of one’s pharyngeal structures (area concerned with speech sound production).
One thing that people say about traveling SLPs is that they only play with children all day long and are not that significant in whatsoever. The thing about this area of practice is that SLPs treat these children such as the autistics or those with ADHD for them to be able to integrate to the public by way of improvement of their communication skills through speech. In addition play is a form of work for children; it allows them to learn things about their environment by engaging them in a rather entertaining way.
Lastly, the public sees that the SLP practice has no scientific groundwork from which to base their practice. What is rather surprising is that it does have its own scientific basis. Practitioners are doing research in an effort to further develop the theoretical foundations of the practice so as to increase productive results and thus change the lives of most people.
Such are the common unfounded views regarding SLPs and with the high demand for these specialists across the nation, it would be a great decision to get into the traveling speech language pathologist industry. This would allow them to exploit that great need and garner huge monetary rewards in their practice of their craft.
