32 Years of Speech-Language Pathology

Next week, I’ll start back to school, working as a speech-language pathologist in an elementary school.  I have been in this field for 32 years now.  I am so blessed to have a job that I love so much.  When I was in my second year of college, I had never met a speech-language pathologist (SLP).  I was running out of classes and electives to take without  declaring my major and I was loosing steam.  Why was I in college if I didn’t even know what I wanted to do?  Then, one day, it clicked.  I don’t know why.  There was no SLP major at the college I was attending.  I remember a photograph of a child in speech therapy and I had a friend who was majoring in deaf education, but I remember no other connections to the SLP world. 

Once I decided, though, I was sure.  I would have to transfer to a college out of state, but it still close to my home.  The plant where my dad worked was in the process of shutting down.  My dad was very serious about never promising anything if he couldn’t follow though.  One day, he would say he thought I might be able to go; then next, he would say that he wasn’t sure.  He found work successfully and I was able to transfer.

My first semester at my new school, I started my SLP classes and loved them.   I could not wait to finish and use my new skills.  A few years ago, when I was at a workshop and walking across a college campus, I had a flashback to all those steps I walked across my old campus and all those hours I worked.  I thought that I really did give it my best during those years.  It was a good feeling.  And 32 years later, the field still fits my personality.  There have been moments when I was frustrated with a job site, but I have never wanted to leave the field.  Being an SLP, requires problem solving, organization, behavior-management, and continual learning.   It demands that you give to others.  I have worked in hospitals, nursing homes, and in private practice.  I have taught at the university level.  For the past 11 years, I have been in the public schools (working only 9 months a year is great fun also).   I work with a wonderful administration now and have a certain amount of autonomy.  Our school is very inclusive, i.e., students with special needs are in the regular classroom as much as possible, and watching the students’ progress is amazing.  Since I’ve been at one school for so long, I’ve started evaluating the nieces and nephews of former students.  I’m seeing the next generation!

Some people my age are thinking about retirement.  There are moments that it sounds like a good idea.  But I can easily imagine myself working for many more years.   Over the years, when I’ve heard of an SLP retiring, or changing careers, I’ve always wondered why.  What a lucky SLP I am!