Question by pianogirl: Some questions for a speech-language pathologists?
Hello,
I am still considering a career in speech-language pathology. I already have a degree in communications and have good people skills, attention to detail, and organizational skills. Would this career be a good fit for me? Secondly, I am visually impaired and have been told that I would not be able to do the job. Is this true? I have seen posts that mention speech-language pathology assistants. Would this be a good alternative to speech-language pathologist? I thought I read that slpa’s do not perform evaluations and that they perform therapy based on the slp’s findings, so would this be something I could do with a visual impairment? Finally, are there any schools in ohio that offer a speech-language pathology assistant program? What is the job market like for slpa’s? Thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by jannsody
I’m not sure that there are too many jobs for speech-language pathology assistants. If there are any, perhaps they’re in more rural (country-like) areas.

I don’t want to sound discouraging or cause you to be disappointed, but I was looking at the “essential functions” at one college that offers the associate (two-year) degree program for slpa, but under “visual ability”, it’s mentioned that the student should have:

– Visual acuity (clearness of vision) sufficient for observation and assessment of safety, learning and development of client.

– Visual discrimination sufficient for shapes and colors.

– Setting up environments that facilitate effective intervention.

There are no accredited programs for slpa, but the “American Speech-Language-Hearing Association” (ASHA) has a recommended curriculum for training programs for the slpa. Just an fyi that I’d looked on the list of “operational” programs for slpa, and, unfortunately, there are none in Ohio.

ASHA has a page with “FAQs” (frequently asked questions) regarding slpa: http://www.asha.org/associates/SLPA-FAQs.htm

With regard to a career path, you may be aware, but the “County vocational rehabilitation center” may offer career testing and assistance with job/career training for those who qualify. (It may take a month or so before getting an appointment due to so many people utilizing their services.)

Pertaining to schooling (for any field), please do *avoid* those private For-profit schools such as devry, ITT tech, strayer, university of phoenix, capella, argosy, kaplan, grand canyon, everest, pima medical, brown mackie, ecpi, Colorado tech, icdc, penn foster, art institute, keiser, sanford brown, ashworth, concorde career and others. Their course credits usually do ** NOT ** transfer to other schools, even if the for-profit school is regionally accredited as opposed to only nationally accredited.

Please instead consider the more affordable (and usually more reputable) *community college* and/or the *state-public university* (or even the county vo-tech adult school) as long as the program is accredited within the industry. Just an fyi that “american public university” is a for-profit school.

For U.S. colleges: http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ

General career information (there are *no* entries for “slpa”): http://www.bls.gov/ooh and can search.

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