On Monday Jan. 27, Saint Mary’s National Student Speech Language and Hearing Association (NSSLHA) hosted a speech language pathology (SLP) department panel in Regina Hall. The panel consisted of three professionals in the field who specifically work in schools and with adolescents. The panel aimed to provide an opportunity for Saint Mary’s students interested in the SLP program, especially those interested in practicing SLP in a school setting, to gain insights into the career path and the every-day practicalities of the profession.
The three speakers were Rebecca Baert, who assists preschool students in the Elkhart community schools, as well as Shannon Harrington and Fred Goldstein, who are both speech language pathologists in South Bend.
Katie Theriault, the president of NSSLHA and a senior in the Saint Mary’s SLP program, wanted to “give people the opportunity to ask questions, reach out to some of these SLP [panelists] because a lot of them are local and offer their expertise.”
She continued to explain that students can earn observational hours which are required for the SLP major by connecting with the panelists.
Over the course of the panel, the speakers discussed the beauty, flexibility and variety in their line of work.
“The beauty of your career is you can do so many different things in so many different places and in so many different lives,” Baert said.
She furthered her discussion on the beauty of her career by reflecting on the surprise she experiences on a daily basis which is the “resiliency of the human spirit.”
“We have some kids who are physically compromised but their spirit is so intact,” she said. “It’s just really, really cool to see that, to be able to help them on their communication journey.”
Harrington shared her perspective on witnessing her student’s grow and exceed expectations.
“Don’t ever put your client, or the students you’re working with in a little box and say ‘Oh they’re only going to do X, Y and Z,’ because they’re going to completely surprise you.” Harrington said.
The panel then turned their attention to the wide range of responsibilities that speech language pathologists experience in a school environment.
“You wear the social worker hat, sometimes the psychologist hat, sometimes you’re a second parent to the student, depending on the environment that they’re growing up in,” Harrington said.
Based on the responses from the panelist, speech language pathologists' field of work is centered around relationships with their clients.
“Therapy really doesn’t happen in your evidence based procedures. It happens in the relationship.” Goldstein said. “I like to think of therapy as you’re sitting there, you’re not sure what you’re going to do, but you know your client will give you an opening and that's when you go in and do your therapy.”
Because it is important to build relationships in the SLP field as expressed by the speakers, Harrington explained that it is also essential to be flexible.
“You’ve got to be able to pivot and be flexible and be spontaneous,” Harrington said. “So don’t, especially when you first start out here, be like ‘I’ve got to do it this way.’”
Throughout the evening, Harrington, Goldstein and Baert shared various therapy methods like circle time and obstacle courses in order to engage students.
Some panelists shared their thoughts on working with Saint Mary’s students as interns.
“People I’ve had from Saint Mary’s blow me out of the water,” Goldstein said.
Theriault explained Saint Mary’s is special in that it offers an SLP “4+1” program which allows SLP majors to get their bachelors and masters degrees in five years.
“You get to know everyone and you really just lean on each other to learn more which is really nice,” Theriault said.
Catherine Reynoso, NSSLHA’s treasurer and a student in the SLP “4+1” program, further articulated the aspects of the SLP program she enjoys.
“The program really values diversity, inclusion and providing resources to allow us to put into practice what we are learning,” she said.
