Do I need perfect speech

[mal2589]

I am a junior undergraduate student currently majoring in psychology.  I have recently became interested in the speech language pathology field.  I like the wide range of career options, the possibility of working one-one-one with clients of all ages, and the topics of study.  The only thing that worries me about entering this field is my speech is not perfect.  People often ask me if I have an accent, but I am always understood.  When I was little I went to see a speech therapist about articulating certain sounds.  Today, I speak pretty well, but sometimes my 'r' sounds are not perfect.  I know the field is not completely about speech articulation and deals with swallowing and other aspects of communication but I am just wondering how much of a hindrance not having perfect speech would be?

[queenleblanc]

A phonetics professor I had last year was asked this question by another student, and I was impressed with the answer -- it was something to the effect of "no and yes."  You don't have to have perfect speech all the time, but when working with clients, you need to be able to model the sounds you are looking for them to produce, and model correct / standard speech.  For a southern girl like me, that means bringing out my "teacher voice" (I've been teaching 6 years now), rather than my "friends" voice.  I switch naturally between them now, but sometimes I do catch myself switching and it's really interesting to think about the fact that I didn't have to mentally TELL myself to correct my speech to fit the situation.  

[Astrid Coleslaw]

Pretty much what kcald said! You should be fine. It should hardly be an issue in a medical/adult population but even if you do want to work with artic/children, as long as you CAN model a correct r and use it in therapy, you should be fine. 

[sugarmilk]

According to the code of ethics, an SLP should not take a case he/she doesn't feel comfortable with. And SLP is so much more than just articulation. I definitely believe you can become an SLP without "perfect speech" and choose the area and population you feel adequately capable to work with.

[mal2589]

Thank you for your responses.  It helps me to feel a little bit more relaxed and more excited about my interest in the field.