👩🏻⚕️ Who is a speech therapist: doctor or educator?
💬 A speech therapist is an expert in correcting speech defects. She teaches beautiful speech and clear pronunciation of sounds using special exercises. A speech therapist is both a doctor and a teacher at the same time. He works as a doctor in medical institutions and as a teacher in educational institutions.
♻️ Who can consult a speech therapist?
Anyone who wants to improve their speech can be a client of a speech therapist. For example:
🔰 Young children. Young people who have slow speech development, stuttering, and difficulty pronouncing sounds correctly are the main clients of a speech therapist.
🔰 Applicants. Young people seeking admission to art institutes that require speaking skills also feel the need for speech therapist advice.
🔰 Adults. Professionals whose work involves constant communication also frequently consult a speech therapist. Sometimes it happens that if an employee's ability to hold a position is prevented by deficiencies in his pronunciation, the company's management sends the employee to a speech therapist.
🔰 Patients. Patients who lose their speech as a result of a brain injury, such as after a stroke, also need the help of a speech therapist. In such cases, special methods are used.
What does it take to be a speech therapist?
💠 Speech therapist is engaged in teaching in the course of his activity, it is impossible to do without pedagogical knowledge.
💠 This specialist must also have basic medical knowledge, as he or she deals with the treatment of a specific disease (pathology). It is important for a speech therapist to be familiar with the basics of neurophysiology, neuropathology, psychopathology, physiology of the organs of hearing, speech and vision, and genetics.
💠 A speech therapist should also be a good psychologist as he or she should have a unique connection with both children and adults.
💠 In addition to being a psychologist and educator, this specialist must have a good knowledge of the native language and be familiar with psycholinguistics.
💠 These professionals are required to have some specific characteristics. These include loving children, calmness and patience, resourcefulness and acting.
💠 And, of course, the speech therapist himself should not have speech problems.
