I can't remember the exact moment I decided to become a speech pathologist, but it was sometime in high school. My mom has a voice disorder called spasmodic dysphonia which makes it difficult for her to talk and communicate effectively, especially in a noisy environment, and prevented her from singing which is something she has always loved. Because of the frustration I saw her deal with, it really inspired me to help other people who have difficulty with any aspect of speech and cognition.
One of the biggest misconceptions about my job is that I only help people talk- people with stutters or people who can't say their 'r's'. If I had a dollar for every time I heard "Oh, I talk fine I don't need you," I would probably have enough to take us on a nice vacation. While that is something speech therapists can work on, there is so much more. While my official title is Speech-Language Pathologist, a more appropriate title would be Speech-Language-Voice-Swallowing-Cognition Pathologist. Another common misconception is that speech pathologists only work with children. In reality, SLP's work across the lifespan, from tiny premature babies to geriatric patients.
For me, I chose to work with geriatric patients in a long term care facility (AKA nursing home). I really do love the privilege of working with senior adults. I get to hang out with the greatest generation every day, and I really have learned a lot from my patients. One of my patients asked me this week why I work in a nursing home and wasn't my job depressing. While I have had friends/family ask me this before, I had never had a patient ask me this, and really made me think about why I do what I do. First of all, my job is not depressing. I love it, I think one of the things I was meant to do is work with senior adults. I love getting to know and visit with these special people every day, not to mention they are hilarious. I have gotten some pretty epic one-liners since I have started. Here are a few of my favorites:
(Patient was told they had to sit down) "Why? This is America isn't it?!"
(Patient told me she liked to sing dirty songs) their example: "I like coffee, I like tea, I like boys, and they like me ha ha ha ha"
I had a five minute conversation with a patient about horses having only 4 legs. They were convinced that they could have 5. ("Seriously? You've never seen it? You just have to know where to look")
"I am going to pray you get pregnant"
(talking about family traditions during holidays) "I miss all that [stuff]"
(How are you doing today?) "Well, I haven't pooped yet.."
And lots and lots of inappropriate comments
You really never know what you're going to get every day. While mostly it is fun, the elephant in the room is that you do deal with death consistently, and you do have patients who pass away. This is just part of being a health professional. And this is the most paradoxical part of my job. I often wondered how I would deal with the death of a patient before I started working, and this is the closest I can get to explaining it. You have to be professional and not let death devastate you. Since you are around it you develop familiarity with death, but you never want to get to the point where you are completely immune to it and it doesn't bother you at all. You remember that these people are someone's dad, husband, wife, mother, aunt, etc and they are special and deserve respect and love. I know many of my patients I have had the privilege of working with I will see again someday, and I imagine us having a really awesome dance party together in heaven, finally free from physical and mental limitations. So no, my job is not depressing and full of sadness. My job is full of hope and reward for helping all these wonderful people.
One of the ways I approach my job is with the attitude of a servant. In high school, I read a book for a leadership class called The Servant by James C. Hunter and it really impacted the way I look at my job and relationships with other people. (Seriously, you should read it) When I walk into work, I really look at what I can do to really serve my patients. If they want a cup of coffee or a snack, I will get it for them. If they have an issue, I try to help them solve it. I am there to help and to serve them. I have always been a relational person, and I always try to build relationships with my patients so they know I care about them. People will always perform better when they feel you really and truly care about them, and don't feel that they are just another check off your list. I look at it that I am privileged to work with them and not the other way around. Loving my patients has really made me a much more effective therapist, and I think working with them has made much more of an impact on me than I have made on them.
There are definitely hard days, and there are definitely difficult patients who treat you poorly and cuss you out even when you are nice to them. But seriously, I love my job, and even on the hard days I try to remember the why behind the what- serving my patients the best way possible and helping them get better. It all is worth it when a patient says "I think God sent you to me", and I can't help thinking that the feeling is mutual.
