jomyers.online

Thread for those interested in gaining work experience working as an assistant before applying to grad school. Advice/tips/info/questions/etc. So that all of the most relevant information is easy to find, I've compiled some resources for you all. I'll add to it over time as people respond: ASHA's state-by-state licensing/certification requirements. (click your state, then support personnel to figure out what is required for certification in your state. Keep in mind, this is only updated annually so your state's regulations might have changed) Important to note: State licensure takes precedence, you can hold ASHA's C-SLPA and still be unable to practice in your state if you have not met the state's requirements. On the other end of the spectrum, you might be able to practice without the rigorous requirements of the C-SLPA certification if your state does not yet require it. (Some states only require a high school diploma.) This is because state laws and regulations govern the schools and medical facilities where you'd be working. That being said, it is likely that states will align themselves with the new ASHA certification in the near future, but legislating these changes and adding them to state budgets will take time. Have any states already moved to require ASHA certification (C-SLPA)? ASHA's certification program requirements (C-SLPA): ---again, this is voluntary unless your state (or job) requires it Completion of a 1-hour of ethics course Completion of a 1-hour course in universal safety precautions Completion of a 1-hour patient confidentiality training course Clinical field work: A minimum of 100 hours (observation hours cannot be used), to include 80 hours of direct patient/client/student services under the supervision of an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist (SLP) and 20 hours of indirect patient/client/student services under the supervision of an ASHA-certified SLP One of the following education requirements: 2 year SLPA program OR 4 year CSD undergraduate OR other Bachelor's degree along with Introductory or overview course in communication disorders, Phonetics, Speech sound disorders, Language development, Language disorders, Anatomy and physiology of speech and hearing mechanisms, and ASHA’s online SLPA education modules Completion of the exam Apply here FAQs (this is really helpful info) If, for example, you have a Bachelor's degree in something other than SLPH but you've taken the required courses (looking at you, out-of-majors taking levelling courses), how on earth are you supposed to come up with 100 hours of clinical/fieldwork? Why offer it as an option if it's impossible? Looking for people to commiserate, mostly, but if you have advice that would be great. How have you all found positions, other than searching on glassdoor or linkedin? In Kansas, there's a workaround where you only have to have a high-school diploma to be a Speech-Language Para-professional in schools! Relevant work experience without the impossible hurdles to jump through!?!?! I was floored when I figured this out, I didn't know paras could specialize. Is this true in your state?

Dr. Suzanne Swift is the Professor of Communicative Disorders, Department Chair, & Graduate Program Director and Coordinator at ENMU.

An overview of Lewis University: GPA: 3.0 minimum for admission, 2.75 for provisional admission, range of GPAs for students admitted: 2.69-3.94 Interviews are conducted after applications are reviewed, a writing sample will be collected during this interview Total Cost for 73 hour program (required coursework; program fees, university fees): $61,510 (not including living costs or books) Coursework Faculty (pretty wide range in faculty research topics) Average GRE stats: Verbal - 146, Quantitative - 144, Analytical writing - 3.8 Less than an hour drive to the Chicago Loop, there is also a metra line that goes all the way to the city but couldn't find info on how long it takes Not much in the way of restaurants, cute coffee places, or scenic study spots. They do have the usual fast food/starbucks/etc. You have to drive for a bit outside of the town for good shopping or restaurants. Not many decently priced apartments in the town that I could find, over $1200 for studios or 1BRs. You could check roomies.com for ppl moving in soon looking for roommates to see if you can find something cheaper, or you can look at student housing. You'd have to email and ask for information on clinical placements. Email addresses you could try for more info: grad@lewisu.edu the SLP department's administrative assistant is Chastity Check, I'd guess that her email is ccheck@lewisu.edu Tina Veale, tveale@lewisu.edu (faculty chair)

In addition to @meadymalarkey's advice, you could also try some of the following ideas! Jobs/Volunteer Positions: Volunteer or apply at a preschool: this experience will improve your knowledge of child speech and language development Volunteer or work with adults with intellectual disabilities: working with adults with communication differences will ready you for work in the field. In this sort of a position, you will likely gain experience with data tracking and goal setting as well. The process that we use to create and track goals at the company I work for is incredibly similar to the IEP process that SLPs use in school settings. Clubs/Student Organizations: Best Buddies Start your own CSD or Pre-SLP club! Nancy over at the Sunshine Speechie podcast had some good tips on how she got a Pre-SLP club going at Clemson University, but I can’t find the exact post. Leadership positions are highly sought-after, but they really do offer you a leg up if you can get one! Observations/Job Shadowing: It’s always worth it to cold-call Speech Pathologists in your area to see if they’d be willing to let you job shadow for a day or two. Try to branch out: ask SLPs in medical settings, at schools, and in private practice settings. You could also sign up for the Master Clinician Network (I think it's $50ish) for informal observations online. I did this during Covid-19, as the observations that I had set up fell apart as soon as the pandemic hit. *keep in mind, these will NOT count towards the 25 guided observation hours required by most programs* CEUs/Professional Organizations: There are TONS of free and low-cost CEUs available since the start of the pandemic! They usually offer certificates for completion. Doing a couple of these will show your school that you are dedicated to learning more about the field Join the NSSLHA! If you can, ask a local university that does offer an undergraduate CSD program if you can sit in on their meetings. Undergraduate Research: See if one of your linguistics professors offers volunteer positions in their research labs. Most master's programs really want to see research experience, even if it isn't directly related to Speech Pathology. I can't speak to the specific things that George Washington University is looking for in applicants, but I'd recommend emailing their admissions office (gwusphr@gwu.edu) and asking! I'd say that most universities are looking for well-rounded individuals, specifically the unique contributions that you’ll make to the incoming class, academic ability, communicative ability, level of professionalism, analytical skills and research experience, and cultural competency. I'll probably write a full blog post about this soon.

Piggybacking off of @futurespeechpath1, I'd look into your current university as well. You might be able to use some of your undergraduate degree credits or current MS-SLP credits if your university offers an SLPA (or SPA) 2-year program. After looking into the requirements, most gen-ed and introductory courses seem similar for most programs and might be transferrable. Get in contact with an advisor from some programs that look good to you at community colleges as well and see if they will allow you to transfer credits you've already received. I doubt you'd need to do much more than the fieldwork requirements. Another idea: you could look at teletherapy options. Some states only require a bachelor's degree in CSD in order to qualify as a SLPA. I'm fairly certain that you'd technically be practicing in the state you're providing teletherapy in, so you'd only need to satisfy that state's requirements for licensure. For example, California only requires a Bachelor's degree + 70 hours of clinical experience (ASHA) and here's a current opening for a teletherapy SLPA in the state of CA. From https://www.ishail.org/illinois-licensures: Individuals must complete a two-year IDFPR-approved program in speech-language pathology assisting in order to qualify for a speech-language assistant license. In addition, speech-language pathology assistant candidates must successfully pass the licensure test and pay the application fee. A speech-language pathology assistant license is required in order to work in any setting in the state of Illinois. Speech-language pathologist assistants can work in the school setting, private practice, healthcare settings, and early intervention under the supervision of a licensed speech-language pathologist. Speech-language pathology assistants must complete 10 hours of continuing education every two years (renewal cycle).

Hi! I'd like to write specifically on Speech Pathology. I don't have a lot out there yet, but I'm going to start pushing more consistent content and think that this would be a great place to start with interested readership. The SLP forum is incredibly active, so I think I'd be able to speak on a number of things that people here would be interested in. Posts in the works: Tips for getting observation hours completed for SLP applications Managing working multiple part-time jobs while going to school National scholarships for SLPs Why you should join ASHA as an undergraduate or master's student Incredible free or low-cost resources to get CEUs How to use active communication strategies in parent/guardian meetings to improve your practice Interview advice and questions to ask in your MS-SLP program interview How to ask for letters of recommendation Thank you for your consideration!

I can't speak to these exact programs, but I'm in a similar predicament. I'm applying for a SLP program and a grant opportunity, and didn't want to ask for multiple letters from my recommenders because they are all pretty busy. I think that having letters that specify your dedication to a specific program is beneficial, but not necessary. Plenty of people apply to multiple programs, and through looking around on here there are more than a few people that apply for SLP and AUD. Take this with a grain of salt, but I'd say that you could ask your recommenders to write two letters for you, and specify why you'd like the information to be different. This would only be possible if you have a bit of time left until you need the letters to be completed and you've built a close relationship with your recommenders, though. I would have done this if I'd had more time, instead I chose to have two sets of recommenders.

Hello! I'm starting a thread for KU, as I haven't seen much in here regarding this program. I'm currently applying for the Fall 2021 cohort, but I don't think that my application is very competitive this year. I will apply for the following year if I'm not accepted, and make changes to my application depending on what the admissions committee suggests. A little about KU: The University of Kansas has a dual-campus program: Some classes are in Lawrence, and some are in KC, at the KU Med Center. From what I've gathered, classes are held at KU Med on Monday/Wednesday and at the Lawrence campus on Tuesday/Thursday. I'd be willing to carpool to save on costs, if anyone is interested. I have a new-ish vehicle, I'm from Lawrence, and live part-time in KCMO so I'm used to the commute. Both campuses are gorgeous! I've never had a problem finding parking, but the tickets are insaaaaane. I think this is true of most campuses though. Most recent student achievement data: http://www.kumc.edu/Documents/shp/ipcd/MASLP-Praxis-employment-summer2020-v07222020.pdf Clinical opportunities: http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-health-professions/hearing-and-speech/clinics/clinical-opportunities-speech.html Research opportunities: http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-health-professions/hearing-and-speech/research.html Because of the commute, you could choose to live in Lawrence or KC. I'll be honest, I was not a fan of the student housing options for undergrad so I've been living in apartments. I moved around a bit in Lawrence but I found a spot in KCMO that's really nice. Keep in mind that it's Kansas, but there's actually quite a bit to do in the area. I like KU basketball games, shopping in the country club plaza, going to the River Market, and the nightlife in KC can be pretty fun in Power and Light and Westport. Not a fan of Lawrence college bars. Pretty decent vegetarian and plant-based options at KC restaurants, not so much in Lawrence. There is a grant program available for SLPs who want to work in schools after they graduate. You'd apply for your first year, so I believe applications for this cycle are due soon. Other financial assistance is available: http://www.kumc.edu/school-of-health-professions/hearing-and-speech/speech-language-pathology-(ma)/tuition-costs-and-financial-assistance/scholarships-and-financial-assistance.html Tuition: $49,648 for non-residents and $23,028 for KS residents. Estimated textbook cost is $1,321/year I'll probably make a blog post soon going into detail, because I haven't seen much information on the program outside of KU's site. I'll post it as an update when it's up! A little about my application: Out-of-major: My undergraduate degree is a B.S. in Elementary Education, also from KU. I'm working on levelling courses. KU has a program for out-of-majors that is sort of like a post-bacc but I don't believe that the program is actually considered a post-bacc. It's a full year of classes. If I'm not accepted this cycle, I'll likely finish it up in fall 2021 as an undergraduate degree in CSD as I'd only need to complete one extra semester to meet the requirements. Work experience: I have 5 years experience as a preschool teacher, 3 years as a Direct Support Professional working with adults with Intellectual Disabilities, I spent 1 year as a substitute teacher working primarily with children with autism, and 1 year as a first grade elementary school teacher. I think that my work history will work in my favor, as I worked multiple part-time jobs in undergrad in related fields. My undergraduate GPA was around 3.4, but I have a 4.0 in my CSD courses for Summer 2020 and Fall 2020. My undergrad GPA will not be working in my favor. KU does not require the GRE for this cycle, so I didn't take it. I don't know if this will help or hurt. I don't believe that they'll accept LSAT scores in lieu of the GRE in future cycles so I will probably need to take it in the future. I don't have any research experience in time for this cycle, though I will be starting my experience in Jan 2021 I would like to work as a SLPA if I am not accepted this cycle, but I've noticed that there are not very many opportunities available. I'm looking for something, please let me know if you have seen anything around the KC area! I don't have a ton of observations under my belt. I signed up for the Master Clinician Network ( mcnslp.com ) for informal observations, but Covid threw a wrench in my in-person observation plans. I'm hoping to do some in Jan-Feb at a local school. KU has a 25 hour observation requirement for admission, but they allow this to be completed during the first semester. I've been pretty involved in student organizations, and started one that offers diversity trainings for pre-health majors. I think this will definitely be beneficial to my application. I have a student portfolio website - https://www.jomyers.online - I don't think it will be particularly beneficial, but I don't think it will hurt, either. KU has a holistic review process, and I don't have much in the way of social media anymore so I wanted to make sure that I have a digital presence. Anyone else applying this cycle/next?