Speech Pathologist Interview Preparation Guide

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The monotony. Everyday you kind of doing the same things, a lot of these patients have cognitive impairments, they don't have any short term memory so every day is like Groundhog Day pretty much.

► Minimum babbling during infancy
► Difficult in saying long or complex words
► Repeated attempts at pronunciation of words
► Stresses on certain words
► Excessive use of nonverbal forms for communication
► Distorting of vowel sounds
► Omitting consonants at the beginning and end of words
► Difficulty stringing syllables together

In an adult screening test includes standardized and non-standardized methods like

► To screen oral motor function
► Speech production skills
► Comprehension and production of spoken and written language
► Cognitive aspects of communication

I attended _____ university which has a rural focus, with an aim to retain country people in country jobs. It equips us to specifically deal with issues around indigenous health, and difficulties in providing health education, assessment and therapy to regional and remote areas. It also looked at alternative methods to achieve this, like training people within the community and telehealth, and different models of service provision.

I would tell them to specialize at the beginning you know, to choose either adults or children. I know it is kind of hard to do that but if they could specialize I think it would make it easier for them in the long run. Just make sure that you are working with the right population, be it adults or children, and realize that there is going to be a little bit of monotony. There is probably more monotony with adults but either way try to be as creative as possible to make each day a little bit more livable.

While doing an internship I was treating a man with aphasia, he had a girlfriend and wanted to be able to send her appropriate text messages because he had word finding difficulties, we began practicing with messages and appropriate phrases and after a few sessions he and I shared a conversations through text.

I allow my supervising SLP to do most of the formal communication other than general info and info such as what we did in the session.

It has exceeded my expectations because it is always interesting and far from boring. The field evolves through research, so there are constantly new techniques and approaches to learn. Additionally, the treatment sessions must be personalized to ensure success, because each individual is unique and has his or her own interests as well as strengths and weaknesses.

Orofacial Apraxia is a neurological condition that affects motor movement and functioning of facial muscles.

It is described as an individual's inability to initiate the movement needed to make a speech. This difficulty may persist despite the fact that there is no weakness in muscles.

Generally you need about 4 years of undergrad plus two years of a grad school to get your Masters I don't know about skills, you pretty much develop them all in college if there is such a skill.

People assume that Speech Pathologist only work with people who either stutter or have articulate problems and those are just sprinkles on the cake compared to what we really do.

The field of speech-language pathology involves the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of communication disorders. Speech-language pathologists work with adults and children with difficulties in the following main areas: language comprehension, expressive language, social language and pragmatics, the production of speech sounds, phonation (voice), fluency, oral motor control and swallowing disorders.

Aphasia: It is described as an individual's inability to understand or use of words due to brain injury or stroke
Apraxia: It is described as an individual's inability to initiate the movement needed to make a speech. This difficulty may persist despite the fact that there is no weakness in muscles.

The causes for speech disorder can vary, it may be

► Development disorders (e.g.; Autism)
► Genetic syndromes ( Down syndrome)
► Illness
► Neurological disorders (Cerebral palsy)
► Hearing loss

To treat a patient they use

► Adaptive communication switches like infrared switches, sound switches, touch switches, etc.
► Sound measuring apparatus like an ECG or laryngograph
► Stroboscopes
► Computer and tablet and the whole lot of app to treat speech impaired patient
► Therapeutic voice synthesizers and augmentative communication devices
► Various software likes speech analysis software, language analysis software and signal analysis software
► Medical devices like multi-speech device KayPENTAX, video voice, text to speech, etc.

I work 40 to 50 hours a week. As a self-employed professional, my work week includes: 20 to 25 hours of treatment and evaluation time; 10 to 15 hours of paperwork, blog writing, research, and preparation for sessions; six to eight hours of commute, since I perform home-based therapy; and two to three hours of communicating with clients, insurance companies, and other professionals outside of treatment time.

I sleep seven hours a night. Typically, I take four weeks of vacation a year.

I selected Montclair State University for several reasons. First, it is a well-established program with a great reputation and accredited by the ASHA. The program's professors are also well-published and recognized in the field. Second, they have an on-site clinic, which provides clinical training in various disorders and populations. Lastly, I wanted to practice in the area once I graduated, so attending Montclair State enabled me to make connections and contacts while attending the program.

Both, I am self motivated and have alot of initiative, but I like to collaborate with other slaps and slps.

I bring the diversity to the field also I am able to help students that speaks Spanish and also I am aware of different cultures.

Mixed success using this method. I find it can be really useful for patients in increasing overall awareness of their oral structures and articulatory positions during speech in those who are dyspraxic or dysarthric. This can increase speech intelligibility. I have found that functional speech tasks have proven more successful in speech intelligibility gains, also patients often prefer functional 'relevant' exercises.

Yes, you can have a patient that has both communication disorders. I would work first on the skills that would improve the functional communication of this patient.

Tongue exercises if it is with articulation like the sound /r/. Have the train the tongue to move in different directions.

Yes I do. I know that many insurance companies do not cover speech therapy or only cover a minimal amount of visits. I try to be aware of the coverage and do the best I can to provide services that benefit the patient in a cost effective manner as quickly as possible.

► What are your strengths?
► What are your weaknesses, and how do you overcome them?
► What prompted you to want a career in speech language pathology?