Speech therapist profession: one who teaches to speak correctly

What is a speech therapist? What is his job? What is his salary? What exams do you need to take to study for it? We will try to answer these and many other questions in detail below. Indeed, many people who think about working in the field of pedagogy are also worried about the question of a possible job as a speech therapist. This profession is in great demand, and there are preschool institutions in almost every city and village.

At all times, there was a natural human need to speak competently. This was important both for doing business and for maximum mutual understanding in communication between people. A certain quality of speech could say a lot, up to the nobility of a person's origin. But in the old days, the profession of speech therapist simply did not exist. People communicated to the best of their ability and did not pay much attention to distortions in speech. This was not considered something shameful, especially among the common people.

For the first time, people began to think about the need to correct speech in Europe in the 17th century. And the first to do this were, of course, the teachers who worked with hearing impaired children. At that time, speech distortions were classified as purely physiological abnormalities, they tried to correct it with the help of medicine. But, as you can guess, such methods did not lead to the expected result, but only caused a number of side effects.

It is worth noting that the vast majority of young children have some deviations in the pronunciation of certain sounds. As a rule, these defects disappear closer to five years. If this did not happen for one reason or another, then it makes sense to visit a speech therapist. You do not want your child to feel worse than others at a more mature age? And deviations in speech will create serious problems for him in communicating with others in the future.

Why is it important?

The point is that man is a social being. It is important for him to communicate with his own kind, it is important that he is correctly understood and accepted by society. If this does not happen for one reason or another, then he may easily develop an inferiority complex. He will be lagging behind in training, will not be able to get a job in many positions. Therefore, of course, the work of a speech therapist is of great importance for society. The need to pronounce sounds and words correctly is legitimate, and for many reasons. At the very least, this is an opportunity to understand each other correctly in the process of communication.

Such work makes certain demands on specialists. At a minimum, a good speech therapist should be theoretically grounded, know the structure of the vocal apparatus and speech, be knowledgeable in psychology and pathophysiology. In addition, a speech therapist is obliged to be persistent, because it is not so easy as it seems, from day to day to work out the same thing with your wards. All of this requires tremendous diligence and true love for your work.

More about the work of a speech therapist

This specialist tries to work with each ward personally, delving specifically into his problem. It is important at the beginning of cooperation to establish good contact with the client. Why is it important? The fact is that those who have distortions in the spoken speech are very shy about this and are reluctant to reveal themselves in a conversation with another person. In view of this specific nature of the work, a specialist has the habit of almost always communicating with other people sympathetically and carefully.

The interaction process begins with specific speech training exercises. Of course, it is the responsibility of a speech therapist to tell his clients how best to achieve the desired result, how to hold the tongue and lips. After these exercises, the classes pass into the phase of stage-by-stage sound correction. Then the corrected sound is combined into syllables and then into separate words. Along with this, classes can be conducted aimed at improving auditory attention, fine motor skills. All this necessarily takes place mainly under the guise of a game. As a rule, sound correction takes about 3 months, but this period can be longer.

Who exactly is this specialist? Immediately, we note that to become a speech therapist, you do not need a specialized medical education. You can get the specialty of a speech therapist after graduating from the institute of a pedagogical profile.

About the difficulties and work schedule of a specialist

1. It would be a mistake to believe that the activity of a speech therapist is associated with only private lessons. In addition, his duties include maintaining documents such as: a speech card for all patients, plans for personal sessions, a diary for recording the process of work, etc. And after all, this entire list is necessary for reporting to the relevant authorities. You need to be prepared for the fact that at any time the auditor may come, and in which case not only the specialist, but also his superiors may suffer. As a rule, it is from the monotonous process of drawing up reports that a specialist can be worn out more than from training with his wards.
2. A speech therapist can work in institutions such as kindergartens, hospitals, and specialized circles. It can be assigned to a particular group or to all groups at the same time. His salary depends on the length of service and the specific place of work.
3. In medical institutions, speech therapists have to deal with patients who have speech impairments due to previous injuries, certain diseases or operations.
4. And the last option for a speech therapist to earn money is to create your own small business, namely, to offer your services to a private contractor. If your priority is a good salary, then this will be the best option for you.

A speech therapist can officially formalize an individual entrepreneur or LLC, having received written approval from the state. But there are pitfalls here, because in this case you will have a lot of spending. These are the costs of renting the relevant premises, advertising, and tax deductions.

For this reason, in reality, everything is arranged much easier. The specialist simply accepts clients at home. In this case, you can still separately draw up an agreement with municipal structures, such as a kindergarten. This will allow you to combine official work and your own business. Over time, if you manage to accumulate a large enough customer base, you will be able to earn decent income from your craft.

What subjects need to be taken by applicants who have chosen this type of activity and want to study to be a speech therapist? First, you need to pass exams in the Russian language and literature upon admission to a pedagogical university.

In conclusion, I would like to wish our readers, as always, success! Follow the chosen path firmly, do not be afraid of difficulties and pitfalls, improve your skills. Do not forget that in any business you can endlessly learn something new. And then any business will be within your reach. We hope that the description of this kind of activity attracted you, and, perhaps, the profession of a speech therapist will become your lucky ticket to life. In addition, you will be guaranteed a high salary if you become a truly worthy specialist.