Schools that have specialty tracks or focus in school setting vs. medical?

[clenative]

I would like to work in a school setting ideally with children who have LDs such as autism or kids with craniofacial anomalies, working on speech rehabilitation. I honestly have no desire to specialize in swallowing or feeding disorders or even to work with adults. While looking at grad programs, it seems a lot are research focused, which to me leans much more towards the medical side of the field. Are there any programs that anyone has looked into or have heard are especially good for someone who wants to pursue a pediatric school-setting career?

[MagentaMacaron]

Have you checked out the University of Virginia? The program is housed within the Curry School of Education and you recieve a M.Ed.  When I applied, I got the feeling that the program was especially strong in pediatric/school populations.

[katieliz456]

I didn't come across many schools that advertised themselves as having a school emphasis, but you might want to ask prospective schools about electives & clinical placements (if a semester or 2 in the public schools is required/optional placement).  If you want to work with severe populations (or schools in general), i'd recommend trying to take extra electives on AAC, autism, developmental disorders, and even aural rehab-- as the school SLP, you will be the go-to person for fixing hearing aids and AAC devices  Oh, and another up-and-coming area in the field is literacy, which is primarily concerned with school-aged kids, so maybe look into schools with an emphasis in that?

[smccau3]

University of Houston has a Peds track that used to be called their School Age program. I came upon it when looking for specialty tracks with a medical emphasis. 

[GandalfTheGrey]

Emerson College is one that comes to mind.

 

However, keep in mind that craniofacial anomalies (at least the ones affecting speech) are rare enough that if you are working in a school, you will probably not see more than one child every few years with a craniofacial difference, if it is even that frequent. Children with craniofacial anomalies and children with autism are also more likely to have feeding disorders, and once you take a feeding/swallowing course you may find that you like it more than you thought.

 

What is it about the school setting that makes you certain you want to work there? Many children's hospitals have entire staff teams dedicated to autism and to cleft palate, so if those are really the populations that interest you most then I wouldn't close the door on a hospital career just yet. You will certainly see lots of children with autism in a school, but if you want to work with children with craniofacial anomalies your best bet may be a private clinic or a hospital.