It also can be very fun if you love working with people of any age. You can work with every age, from babies to the elderly. It is very challenging to become an SLP (Speech-Language Pathologist) and the job is hard at times, but the reward is incredible.

I have jotted down a few of the uses I could think of for speech therapy. I’m sure you will find more in the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

It is often used in schools to help young children — kindergarten, first and second grade – to develop proper speech techniques. A child with a lisp may be helped to enunciate properly. A child that talks through her nose may be taught better breathing techniques to improve the sound of her speech (although this can also be caused by adenoids or other physical problems). Children that learn English as a second language may need speech therapy to learn to make English sounds that aren’t present in their native language.

Speech therapy may be used in a medical setting when people with an illness or injury have to relearn to speak. A speech therapist would work with a person who has lost his larynx to cancer to help him learn to use the tools that substitute for a voice.

Speech therapists also work with deaf and partially deaf people who are learning to speak.

Good luck on your homework assignment.

Okay, serious now: if you’re a really caring person who’s patient and is committed to helping others and who embraces the idea that they can make a big change in somebody else’s life, a change for the better (curing speech defects really does up a person’s self-esteem), then yes – they could be a speech therapist.

No, I can’t see myself pursuing this career. I’m just not patient enough. Are you interested?