Defectologist-speech therapist: what kind of specialty, where to study

A speech pathologist is a highly qualified specialist working with special children. As all colleagues of such professionals agree, their work is more difficult than that of most teachers. We have to interact with a variety of children with vegetative and functional disorders. The task of a speech therapist is to work out the ability to speak with kids who have not been taught this basic skill for a person at a time when this is due to age.

Modernity and education

The requirements of our everyday life are such that we have to interact with machines more and more time. This has a number of positive aspects, but it was not without its minuses: the field for the work of defectologists-speech therapists is becoming wider. Many children, being excellent with technology, have difficulty mastering speech skills, suffer from speech pathology and tongue-tied tongue. This leads to social problems and interaction difficulties, as a result, internal psychological problems. The child becomes withdrawn, uncommunicative, unsure of his own abilities, afraid to expand his horizons. Such a child rarely allows himself curiosity and learning new things, but often feels unhappy.

It so happens that many modern children learn to live by spending time in front of TV screens, and then they try to copy the behavior and manner of speech of the actors, heroes of the series. Parents, too busy with work, simply do not have the opportunity to control this process.

Everything will be taught! Or not?

Many adults are accustomed to thinking that at school a child will be taught everything necessary - to speak, count, behave correctly. The opinion is erroneous - such obligations are not assigned to the school. The period of studying the primer is strictly limited by the time frame, and teachers simply do not have the opportunity to adjust the program for individual children who do not keep up with the main group. Simultaneously with the study of the primer, the baby is taught to read in syllables. Sometimes parents, having at some point discovered the unsatisfactory results of such training, clutch their heads in horror and start looking for a defectologist-speech therapist who can correct the situation.

It is known from pedagogical practice that incorrect speech perception is possible in intelligibly speaking, congenial children, if there are phonemic difficulties. This is more typical of the preschool age period. Lefties are more likely to have problems. If you do not pay attention to this in time, by the middle school the problem will cause a backlog in various humanitarian disciplines.

How to help?

The defectologist-speech therapist has specific knowledge and approaches that allow him to successfully interact with special children. Such a specialist practices extraordinary approaches that are relatively generally accepted in pedagogical practice. Its main task is to help the child get involved in the educational process. To do this, you need to look at the individual characteristics of a particular child, understand what are the causes of the problems, what help is needed.

An experienced defectologist - a speech therapist and a psychologist, as they say, "in one bottle." Such a specialist should be able to create friendly relations with the child, organize the atmosphere during classes, find points of contact with the student, and enter into close contact with him. Professionals in this category work with children of preschool and school age groups. To do this, you need to be able to use different programs, choosing the best one for a particular case.

As part of the workflow, a speech pathologist (and a compatibility psychologist) teaches a child to write, read, forms the correct pronunciation, and works intensively to eliminate sensory difficulties using individual programs.

Do I need it?

A children's speech pathologist-defectologist seems to many parents an incomprehensible specialist, whose help their children definitely do not need - all of a sudden, others will think that the child is lagging behind in development! As professionals say, this approach is incorrect. There is no need to be afraid of a defectologist, to be shy if you need the help of a qualified specialist. On their own, an average person is unlikely to be able to teach a child who has problems with speech and reading, since there is no access to specific methods that speech therapists use in their work - and this has been taught in universities for more than one year.

Poor reading rules out a child's future literacy. Illiteracy, inertia of the language does not allow a person to fully think. Teaching speech is a difficult task, and the work requires a lot of time. A children's speech pathologist-defectologist painstakingly works on all the difficulties inherent in a particular case, but in a week or two classes with a new specialist, the baby will not learn everything as if by magic - you should not count on this, the course will be long.

Problems and reality

In recent years, the breadth of the field of work of a speech pathologist has also increased due to an increase in the number of children suffering from various disorders, deviations due to the peculiarities of the psyche and physiology. The help of a specialist is needed in case of cerebral palsy, visual impairment, hearing impairment, with deficiencies in language culture and the decay of cognitive activity.

Not everyone understands how big the difference is between a speech therapist and a defectologist. These two concepts are similar, so they are often combined into one. It is only necessary to remember that defectology is a science designed by pedagogical methods to correct the behavior of a patient who has certain developmental deficiencies. For this, restorative approaches and educational methods are used.

Speech therapy is one of the branches of defectology along with typhlo-, surdo-, oligophrenic pedagogy. A defectologist-speech therapist teacher is a specialist who uses defectology methods to correct pathologies associated with speech culture. Among defectologists there are also deaf-, typhlo-, oligophrenopedagogues. All of them are highly specialized professionals who are able to cope with a specific problem inherent in the child.

What is the job?

A speech pathologist-defectologist will help if the child has language imperfections. You can contact such a professional through a specialized institution. Sometimes speech therapists are on the staff of mass educational institutions, but this is the exception rather than the rule. A speech pathologist-defectologist will help if you seek help from a correction center, a developing circle, as well as a private practice.

Before starting work with a child's speech therapist, you need to show the commission of psychologists and doctors. Here they will make a diagnosis, evaluate the causes of deviations. The speech therapist, having a conclusion in his hands, determines the features of the case and the tools that will help in a particular case.

Many are accustomed to thinking that the profession of "speech pathologist-defectologist" is a specialization aimed at correcting the pronunciation of sounds by a child. In fact, this representation is very simplified. The main task of a speech therapist is to improve the patient's speech, form the ability to speak coherently, accumulate a vocabulary base, develop phonemic hearing, master grammar and begin to pronounce words correctly. A speech therapist teaches the art of inflection. Correct and regular classes help to eliminate written violations, improve memory and activate thinking, stimulate fine motor skills and perception of space.

What to work with?

The specialty "speech pathologist-defectologist" is available in a number of universities in our country, and for many applicants it seems attractive, since in the future there are unlikely to be any difficulties with employment. Before entering such a direction, you need to familiarize yourself with the duties of a defectologist so as not to be disappointed in the future.

In many ways, the functions depend on the specific workplace, there is no universal job description, but it is possible to formulate the scope of work in general terms. A speech therapist is contacted when the child's deviations are such that it is impossible to cope with them within the framework of a general education program. A defectologist helps with deviations in vision, hearing, and intelligence.

The specialist works on the formation of sensory skills, taking into account individual disorders, and also instills hygiene standards, teaches to play and shows game techniques - if there are developmental features, children often have playing abilities below the average level. Through speech, the child gets the opportunity to expand his horizons and get acquainted with the world around him, and through writing - to analyze. The child is taught to speak and write, giving an idea of the sounds, their sequences.

Do I need?

Reviews of speech pathologists-defectologists are different. Some parents whose children needed such specialized help admit that the specialist helped a lot. They indicate that within the framework of the work the child received general ideas about objects, the space around him, learned to interact with them. Others note that a long course improved motor skills, coordination of movements, and the child herself became more inclined to creative work.

It is noted that professionals pay special attention to the development of cognitive skills, thanks to which the child remembers better, the ability to concentrate attention increases, mental activity is activated. For this, different methods and approaches are used.

There are other reviews about speech pathologists-defectologists. Some say that working with such specialists is futile, and the education of the child cost a lot of money and became only a source of self-doubt in the child. As a rule, this is possible with an unsuccessful choice of a specialist. In order not to get an unpleasant experience, you should first study independent feedback on the work of various specialists in your area, only after that send the child to preschool.

When is a specialist needed?

It is not always clear to parents, the time has come to turn to a professional or the child is developing normally, a speech pathologist is not required. As experts say, the child should be sent for correction, if there is evidence for this, from a very early age. To a speech therapist is recorded from the age of three. The difference in time is explained by the characteristics of a particular condition, the presence of deviations (hearing, visual impairment, etc.).

When planning to send a child to a defectologist, it is important to do it on time - better sooner than later. Getting a qualification at a university, a speech pathologist-defectologist learns firmly - work must begin already when the disorder is accurately diagnosed. Speech skills in a baby develop gradually, improvement occurs step by step. In order for a child to start speaking, he needs a well-formed speech apparatus, mature centers in the cerebral cortex. An important condition is being in a society. This does not allow the speech therapist to start work before the patient reaches the age of three - only by this time all the prerequisites are finally ready. If, before reaching the age of 3, it is clear that the child is far behind, it is necessary to contact the commission for the selection of a defectologist - probably at first it will not be a speech therapist, but a specialist of related qualifications.

I want to become a professional!

To get the appropriate qualifications, knowledge and skills, you need to choose a place where to study. Speech pathologist-defectologist is a specialization, which is taught in several educational institutions of our country. In many ways, the quality of a future specialist depends on the institution in which a person receives an education. So, universities located in the central region are traditionally considered prestigious, but the number of places is limited, so not everyone can study here. Mostly speech therapists are trained at pedagogical universities.

When planning to get an education, you can enter the Ural GPU or the Leningrad Pushkin. Training of speech pathologists-defectologists is practiced in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen and Kurgan State Universities. You can enter the Ivanovo State University, the First Pavlov Medical University in St. Petersburg or the Herzen State Pedagogical University. They study as a speech pathologist at universities in Moscow - at the Institute of Psychoanalysis, Moscow State Pedagogical University, City Pedagogical University, Pedagogical State University.

Learning features

You can enter the specialty "speech pathologist-defectologist" after school. Educational institutions that have a defectological department have the right to study in such a specialty. Here they teach not only narrow-profile disciplines, but also general child psychology, pedagogy, and also explain how to interact with children who have developmental disabilities. The defectologist in the process of learning receives medical knowledge about the structure of the speech apparatus, organs of vision and hearing.

People who have already graduated in various pedagogical and medical specialties are often interested in whether it is possible to qualify as a speech pathologist-defectologist, having passed a corrective accelerated education, a short course program. This is currently not possible. Defectologists are trained only in You can enter the second higher education. In this case, the training program will take no more than three years.

General view

Defectology is a scientific direction devoted to the laws, features of the development of children with mental, physical deviations, imperfections. Science deals with the peculiarities of not only education, but also the upbringing of such an audience. Specialists working with children are called upon to develop the child, help him adapt in society, life, study, get a profession and realize himself in other areas of life.

In addition to a wide-profile speech therapist, designed to help with a variety of speech disorders, there are deaf teachers. These specialists work with children with hearing problems. The contingent is very different - from those who are simply hard of hearing to completely deaf. If it is necessary to teach a child who has deviations, a lag in the development of the intellect, an oligophrenopedagogue will help. With visual impairments, a typhlopedagogue will come to the rescue.

At the initial appointment, the specialist examines the child, determines the features of the violations, talks with the parents and clarifies the circumstances in which the deviation was formed and developed. If necessary, the defectologist may advise you to undergo additional examinations, take tests. Then the specialist will analyze the information received.

Defectologist-speech therapist: what is he?

It is believed that a highly intelligent and purposeful person with a developed intuition can become a good specialist. In this area of work it is necessary to be observant and communicative, mentally and emotionally stable. For a defectologist-speech therapist, sensitivity, the ability to empathize, responsiveness and tact are important. This work is suitable for patient and philanthropic people, sociable, with a good memory. To master all professional skills, it is necessary to have increased communication skills. It is important for a speech therapist to speak clearly and distinctly, to be resistant to stress and to have strong nerves. An important personal feature is a well-trained voice.

To cope with their tasks, a speech pathologist-defectologist must be able to diagnose the child's condition, teach him, taking into account individual deviations, help the child develop. An important skill is the technique of getting in touch with the trainees, regardless of their age. A speech pathologist should be responsible, friendly. It is impossible to imagine a successful person in this field if he does not have a high level of responsibility. In addition to ideas from pedagogy and medicine, a defectologist needs psychological preparation, knowledge of the mechanisms for correcting deviations. It is necessary to be able to assess the picture as a whole, determine the possibilities for correcting individual disorders, predict the development of the child, taking into account the changes made to his psyche and skills.

After receiving higher education, you can find a job in educational institutions for the preschool and school age groups. There are also specialized correction centers - private, public.