Synthesis

Synthesis

There is no getting around it, I want to be a speech therapist. This means that I need to study hard in the communication field and advance my caring personality. According to the American Speech and Language Association, to have a career in speech means I have to be “professionally competent” and “follow an ethical code” (American Speech and Language Association). These are both extremely important concepts that were further pronounced to me during my blogging process.

Blogging about my perspective field has shown me just how important it is to work hard in my communication and writing courses. To be “professionally competent” means I have to continue learning effectively so that I will be able to “do the best of your ability” and use “training and instruments properly” (American Speech and Language Association). Every source I have read over the time I have spent blogging leans to just how important having a solid education is in speech therapy. This only inspires me to work harder at becoming a ST. Further, my blog has provided me with numerous examples of how a professional in the communication field writes. Professionals write a fairly impressive amount each day between “emails to [her] department, charity organization planning, and human resource paper work [she] writes every day” (Ray). This made me realize that I need to work to improve my writing in all styles. I practice writing somewhat informally for my blog, and practice formality with my college courses. My schooling is helping me prepare to be a professionally competent speech therapist.

Along with the proper education, my blog has emphasized how important being sensitive to other’s needs is for a ST. I plan to work with children who have special needs. This is a task that is especially crucial to be caring. Attempting to help teach ways to communicate will be a different process for each child. Knowing the client’s needs and how to accommodate to their needs is a job cut out for only a person who is caring. Articles I have read for my blog from the American Journal of Speech and Language Pathology all somewhat describe the type of personality needed to work in speech. A main example of this is that an entire study was conducted to see if children who were self-conscious of their speech were the children who saw a SLP. The language of the article on this study sounds almost sympathetic to the children (mainly those actually with a SSD).  Online sources also direct people who are sympathetic to other people’s needs toward speech therapy. The Speech Path quiz I took even took if I was caring or not into consideration to determine if I would make a good ST. Throughout my blog, evidence of my caring personality is clear. I express sympathy and desire to help children with SDD frequently. This is one properly done part of my blog, which is also important because it helped me realize how sympathetic I actually am. Rereading my posts has reassured me that I am sensitive to other’s needs. This fact also somewhat alarms me, because I now worry I may be too compassionate. My blog may be overly sensitive, to the point where I show biases. I overwhelmingly side with anything speech related. This may not be all bad though, because it is further self-prof that I may make an able ST.

Blogging has prepared me for my future career, and I hope this blog will help readers learn similar lessons. I will use improved writing skills, new awareness of caring traits, and new motivation to learn to guide me into a successful career of speech therapy.

Works Cited

"Should You Become a Speech Pathologist?" Speech Pathologist Quiz Results. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013. 

   Mcleod, Sherryann. "Speech Sound Disorders in a Community Study of Preschool Children." American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 22 (2013): 503-22. Print.

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2010). Code of ethics [Ethics]. Available from www.asha.org/policy.

Week #10-Free Post

Speech Pathologist Quiz

Today I took an online quiz entitled "Should You Become A Speech Therapist?". Normally, I would have scrolled right on by this search result but for the sake of this blog I figured I might as well give it a go. Many of the questions were completely predictable. As I took the quiz I recorded the questions that stood out to me.  

1. Do you like your work to be structured or do you prefer to make things up as you go through your day? Interesting question, I like structure but not monotony  So I answered a varied structure. 

2. Which statement best expresses your opinion about honesty? Here I responded honesty is the best policy  It seems like that is the right answer however the other response is if I get my work done, why should honesty matter? This questioned concerned me.

3. Would others describe you as sensitive to their needs? Personally, I think I am extremely conscious of other's needs. I myself have always had the overwhelming need to make others happy. This is my favorite question because it means a SP should be sensitive to other's needs.

So, after all the questions I got this result:

"You have many of the characteristics needed to work in this field, but not all of them. Before you go any further, you will need to do some more research."

Immediately, I knew what I was missing. I answered I'd prefer to not take a test to become a licensed professional. I have always know that the big test was looming over me, I just didn't think it would be an online quiz that would knock sense into me. Just because I have what it takes to be a speech therapist, does not mean I can ignore something as important as the test to get my license until the day I take it. I have been thinking about the big test now, and realize it is time to take every single lesson as serious as the next if I ever hope to be a professional speech path. 

Works Cited

"Should You Become a Speech Pathologist?" Speech Pathologist Quiz Results. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

Week #10-Prompted Post

Remixing Knowledge

http://www.speechtherapysolutions.com/brochure.htm 

RAIDS analysis of the Speech Brochure 

• Revision: Significant thought has been put into this brochure to make sure there is just the right amount of information. I am sure the writer revised sections to leave out any wordy or indirect information.
• Arrangement: This brochure is arranged in a way the makes it an easy read for parents with children who may need the extra help. There is use of flow between the separate topics, which makes the brochure's information seem less dry.
• Invention: The information regarding their facility is all invented. Here, namely the slogan on the left hand side is important to point out. That slogan is entirely invented and is completely effective. 
• Delivery: Using concise paragraph in a short and sweet brochure, the delivery style effectively gets readers attention and provide sufficient and useful information. 
• Style: The style is educational, yet friendly. By using educational language Speech seems reliable, yet by not using too much scholarly language they are not off putting.    

Analysis of Rhetorical Strategies

I noticed this brochure uses Pathos. The writers touch the audience's emotions by using pictures of cute children. Some logos is also used in that the writers speak educationally and give definitions of different therapies and disorders. The brochure made an effective argument to have the reader use them as their child's therapist.  

Works Cited
"Speech Therapy Solutions Brochure." Speech Therapy Solutions Brochure. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

Week #9-Free Post

Setting and Achieving Goals

Goal competence is important in every setting, but can become most useful in a work environment. A large part of my field (communication) is the ability to set goals and strategically achieve them. In this post I want to share what I have learned about goal competence, how it should be used in the work situations, and how to better your goal competence. 

Goal Competence

Goal competence is the ability to set and achieve goals strategically. There are several types of goal competence, the most common being: informational (want to share information), relational (want to work on relationship), affective (want to focus on emotions), and most prominently influence (want to get someone to do/think something). 

Work Goal Competence

Having goal competence in work is extremely vital. In work as either a typical employee or type of boss, you must be able to appropriately use influence goals. Being able to influence your coworkers allows you to take work into your own hands. There are several different types of influence goals that are important to know about. Influence goals include: Directives which are just telling someone to do something, this technique may not always be best suited for a work environment. Persuasion which is trying to have the other change there mind. This goal has a long lasting effect, which may prove useful for an authority figure to use. Lastly, there is compliance gain, this is in the middle of directives and persuasion. Here strategic influence is used and the user considers the instrumental, relational, and identity issues.     

How to Improve Your Goal Competence

There are several techniques to improve goal competence. I will list them and say a little about how I've noticed them work/fail. The techniques include: getting someone to like (dressing nice is key), attempting to show authority (seen working best in people who actually hold authority, hard to be faked), to show scarcity (lack of time is best technique here), and to have to other prove consistency. The more liking, authority, scarcity, and consistency you can prove, the better your goal competence will be. 

Works Cited

   

Week #9-Prompted Post

Importance of Speech Therapy

http://www.down-syndrome.org/practice/171/?page=1

Speech therapy is viewed as a progressively more important career. With more advances in techniques and technology, the field actually is expanding in importance. It was not particularly difficult for me to find a news report on the importance of speech therapy. I chose the article (link above) because it talks about the importance in the exact career I desire, being a ST for children with special needs. This article explains exactly why speech and language significant.

"It can be argued that speech and language therapy is the most important part of intervention services for children with Down syndrome if we wish to promote their cognitive (mental) and social development" (Buckley 2). In just one sentence the importance of my discipline is explained. In short, language is vital to humans. Without some way to communicate, very little other can be accomplished. Because language is so important, helping people without is too important. 

"Speech and language development are absolutely central to the cognitive development of all children" (Buckley 3). This is true in two key ways. One, vocabulary eventually will become knowledge. Two, a language leads to thinking and reasoning.These mean that cognitive development goes hand in hand with speech, making my future profession so important. 

"Language is equally important for children's social development" (Buckley 4). To further prove the significance of my career, by helping children with language it is also helping their social skills. Not only are these social skills used to make friends but to also allow them to have their needs, wants, and feelings heard.

The work I will do, is so important because it is helping children improve their lives.         

Works Cited

Buckley, Sue. "Speech and Language Therapy for Children with Down Syndrome." Speech and Language Therapy for Children with Down Syndrome. Down Syndrome Education Internationa, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

Week #8-Free Post

Mindlessness Versus Mindfulness

A large part of communication is having interpretative competence. Interpreting the world around you, namely messages, appropriately is no easy task to achieve however. As people we carry around several biases, effecting our interpretive competence for good and bad. One main bias we hold is using mindless thought versus mindful thought. Knowing the difference, when to use, and how to appropriately do so can help with proper communication. 

Differences: 

Mindless 

• typically mindless thought
• not observing all info around you
• on 'auto-pilot' 
• use old categories of thought

Mindful

• focused
• alert
• never be fully mindful

When To Use:

Mindless

• everyday situations
• typical social interactions
• to generalize situations/people

Mindful

• when trying to learn
• when trying to remember specific instructions

Tips

1. Recognize what you're doing: be aware when you are on auto-pilot and that you have biases

2. Be aware of contextual trigger for our behaviors: watch for things that trigger bias

3. Examine thoughts/actions

4. Avoid self-censorship

After learning all this information in my communication lecture, I have been trying to be conscious and keep track of when I am being mindful and when I am being mindless. I've found that in almost every social situation, I am completely mindless. Being mindless allows me to not get overwhelmed. Mindlessness also helps me be lazy, and use preconceived notions to direct my social situations, which is not always a bad thing. I find that everyone's brain needs a little relaxation now and then. I am most mindful in class, specifically when listening to directions for an assignment. I slowly process the information, interpret it, evaluate it, note it as well as the professor emotions. This thought can get tiring however, and I typically revert back to mindless thought soon after being mindful.     

Week #8-Prompted Post

Hands-On Activity

Autism myVoice App

This week i was requested to do any sort of 'hands-on' activity that pertains to my perspective career goal. I have been interested in apps that help children with special needs for some time so I saw this as the perfect opportunity to explore one. Professionals in the SLP field use apps as a way to help their clients. I choose the app Autism myVoice, downloaded it and began to experiment.

Autism myVoice application is cheap at only $2.99. This makes it a good application to suggest to parents/care givers. The app is programmed to help mainly nonverbal children with communication skills. myVoice has a unique design that uses pictures of verbs and nouns as buttons, which the user can press to form simple sentences. 

The main verbs include:

• I want
• I enjoy
• I need
• I feel

Some noun categories include:

• Food
• Feelings
• Toys
• Numbers

The only flaw to this app is that it is not easily customizable. It took a rather long time for the app to upload and process my personally added pictures and words. I did find the application came with many pre-programmed words, probably enough to get said what needed.

After playing with the application I tried to put it to use, like a professional would. I had my roommate, Taylor, try and communicate with me using only the application and only words pre-programmed and already added by me. After just a few minutes, sh got pretty frustrated with her lack of proper communication. I, innately  tried to keep her relaxed and coheres her into working with the app more. Eventually she got accustomed to the application and began to understand more what she would be trying to communicate. 

Applications like myVoice can be extremely useful for people with special needs. It is clear why the use of technology is becoming so prevalent in the SLP field. Being able to work with myVoice gave me some insight on what it will be like to work with similar applications as a professional.     

   Works Cited

"MyVoice | Communication Aid Apps for Speech and Language Disorders." MyVoice. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.