Summer Reading List for New SLP Grad Students

I’ve posted statistics, tips, ideas, and resources for applying to Speech-Language Pathology graduate school. For those of you who read them and used the ideas, thank you! For those of you who did not, that’s OK, we can still be friends. I will get us one of those friendship necklaces. BFFs. I digress.

This post is intended for those who were accepted into an SLP graduate program and are anxiously and excitedly awaiting to start. Those were the days. When you wake up without a constant twinge of nervousness, contemplating if you will get in anywhere. TallyHo! Now you can breathe a little easier knowing you have a place to call home for the next 2-3 years. A place that will shape you, mold you, make you into a real-life Speech-Language Pathologist. Yippee!!

Now, you have a few months before you start. Don’t sit like a bump on a log for the next 2-3 months, but at the same time, take time to enjoy graduation, freedom, and summer time. Graduate school isn’t all unicorns, rainbows, and meadow frolicking. In preparation for the  deluge of information that will soon ensnare your mind, consider the following Summer Reading List as you lay on a beach or veg-out on the couch. As you consider and use the list below, keep in mind to review the big areas in SLP:

• Articulation
• Phonology
• Dysphagia
• Voice
• Fluency
• Language Development and Disorders
• AAC

Free Summer Reading List

1. Undergraduate Notes - The jumbled mess that is your undergraduate notes, look them over. Remember what was tough to remember. Recall the topics which you first skimmed, and look more closely this time around.
2. Undergraduate Textbooks – Especially the ever-lovely Anatomy text for a review of the facial, swallowing, and laryngeal musculature necessary for speech and swallowing.
3. SLP Scope of Practice - Now I’m sure at some point a professor pointed you in this documents direction, and you glanced over it with an eye of disillusionment. I said to myself, “How in the world will I ever know all of this?!” Now, break it out, look over the sections, and take note of things you don’t know or have never heard of. Google it. Research it. Don’t let your newness get the best of you.
4. ASHA’s Compendium of EBP Guidelines and Systematic Reviews - Mind. Blown. I was introduced to this resource way too late in my SLP graduate school journey. Bookmark it. Tattoo it to your arm (obvious exaggeration). Look through the topics that interest you. Aphasia, dysphagia, dementia, feeding, and more. The guidelines documents are great for overview when working with the disorder – a starting place – and the evidence for the topics are equally helpful for preparing for future clients.
5. ASHA’s Practice Portal – This is a new venture for ASHA, but promises to be my future go-to spot when a difficult client comes my way (still in Beta trials). Currently, there are only 4 topics available, but there is more coming in 2013…stay tuned!
6. Previous years’ ASHA Convention Handouts - If you have a specific area of interest or can’t find information in a given area, search handouts and see what you can find. People work hard when presenting, so use the resource.

I am planning a Part 2 to this reading list which highlights paid options for those wanting more resources than are available online. For now, this will get you started.

Happy reading fellow SLP graduate students!!

Letter of Intent: The first date of SLP Graduate Admissions

If you are applying to a Speech-Language Pathology graduate school program anywhere in the country, you may need to submit a statement (or letter) of intent. Did you already Google “How to write a letter of intent for Speech Pathology graduate school? ”There are limited, relevant results. First off, what is a statement of intent? In my opinion, it’s like a first date with a total stranger. Only you are trying to convince them to marry you, blindfolded, based on a test score, GPA, and resume. Talk about pressure. *Applies Makeup* But truly, the statement/letter is your opportunity to highlight strengths and weaknesses, explain your passion & interest in the career, and answer questions they may pose. First dates are always awkward, so let’s wade through this one together.

Part 1: Online SLP Graduate Programs

There are a million things about the Speech-Language Pathology profession that I love, yet there remains this small inkling of disappointment when it comes to SLP graduate schools. There just are not enough schools with too few spots for some amazing would-be-SLPs out there (I know they are out there). I won’t delve into the reasons  for shortages in this post, but one of the ways Universities have started to expand their reach is by offering completely online Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Programs.

For more information about these programs, Christie over at “38 Things…An SLP Graduate Student’s Ramblings” has written a very helpful post on searching for accredited universities, including a comprehensive list of  current SLP online programs, so check it out and head on back for more!

I wanted to gain a first-hand experience with these programs since they have become increasingly popular among other SLP2B students. To do this, I have enlisted the help of current graduate students or recent graduates to answer some common questions regarding online SLP Graduate Students. My first interview is with Heather from Indiana; this is Part 1 in a multi-part series over the next few weeks, so stay tuned!

About Heather:

She is 37 years old and SLP is her first career. She completed her undergrad in SLP in 1997, and worked as an assistant for 4 years before taking an 8-½ year “maternity leave” to be home with her kids. She has 3 wonderful kids—now 11, 8 ½, and 5.  She is a recent graduate from Western Kentucky University  with her Master’s Degree in Speech-Language Pathology.

Direct Hire vs. Staffing Company – My Crossroads

I am at a crossroads. 

In May 2012, I traveled 5,000 +  miles  from Atlanta, Georgia to Kenai, Alaska (details in a previous post).During my 12 day stay, I observed 3 different SLPs – 2 in schools and 1 in private practice. After this visit, I was hooked. Now I want to live and work in Alaska as an SLP. Here we go.

On a beach in the Kenai Peninsula

Since then, I’ve flipped-flopped between waiting to work in Alaska until I finish my CF or actually doing my CF in Alaska. At the moment, I want to complete my CF in Alaska; so I’ve been looking into positions and exploring my options as both a direct hire or via staffing companies. Below is my experience with both school districts and staffing companies so far.

Trends and EasySpeak Magazine

In 2010, Lemke and Dublinske published “Designing ASHA’s future: Trends for the association and the professions“. One of the 19 trends that stood out was the projected Generational Trend; specifically, how Generation Y (aka Millennials, born after 1982) are characterized as digital, “civic,” and connected. So they suggested professionals and ASHA should “relate to Millennials, who are expected to be a major force for social change as they enter their young adult, professional, and family stages of life development.” Talk about pressure on my (Millennial) generation.

I fit right into many of the stereotypes of the Millenial generation – clinging to technology and huddling to stay connected. As I read the article and proceeded to write my topic paper, my mind kept going back to EasySpeak Magazine.

What are my chances of getting into grad school for SLP?

When you decide to pursue an undergraduate degree in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) or Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD), you must consider that you cannot work independently with just a Bachelor’s. You must pursue a masters or doctorate in order to be considered a fully independent Speech-Language Pathologist (CCC-SLP).

Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders

So, what are the chances you will get into a graduate school for speech-language pathology? Here are some statistics:

Patience

Ann Voscamp, author of A Holy Experience,  recently wrote a post on “When you feel like pulling your hair out“. While her perspective is from a mom of 6 and successful author, I read her insightful post and thought of Speech-Language Pathology.

Her post centers around a well-known verse in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Who moved my SLP cheese?

Have you ever read the book Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson?

While the book’s reviews on Amazon.com are less than flattering, I found the book to be simple yet powerful. It is 94 pages of “realiz[ing] the need for finding the language and tools to deal with change–an issue that makes all of us nervous and uncomfortable.”

The book centers around these 4 mice characters – Sniff and Scurry, and Hem and Haw. As you might imagine Sniff and Scurry are ones who deal with change quite easily, while Hem and Haw wallow in their unexpected and unwanted change. Their adventures through a maze center around someone continually moving their ‘cheese’; how the mice handle it makes you really analyze your own behavior.

The Wizard of Oz and SLPs

Have you ever thought ASHA was similar to the great Wizard of Oz? I gathered my thoughts, and I have found I enjoy a great many quotes quite relevant to my life:

“Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven’t got: a diploma.”

“Back where I come from there are men who do nothing all day but good deeds. They are called phila… er, phila… er, yes, er, Good Deed Doers.” 

“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”

- Wizard of Oz

Why Kenai, Alaska?

“It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves – in finding themselves.” ~Andre Gide

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing” ~Helen Keller

“My life and career is my own adventure” ~Dario Argento

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold” ~Helen Keller

We so often get our ideas from the sayings and teachings of others; better yet, ideas come from our own actions, words, and experiences. So where did my idea to trek to Alaska come from? I like to think the story begins with Tracie Peterson’s book series The Song of Alaska.