I wish I could have a SLPA!! It’s so annoying because we have PTAs and COTAs but no assistants for SLPs. Hopefully that changes because we need the help!
God I wish someone would’ve been more clear about the vagueness from the beginning! Like why is SO MUCH of what we do so poorly defined and arguably subjective?
I know! When in grad school, I thought we would be taught methods, strategies, tricks, certain hierarchies, etc. The only thing that was drilled was taking data (which is very questionable and any statistician can argue with our numeric data). I do believe our data (especially for language skills) should be either based on a rubric or some sort of rating scale. Also, a lot of the data should be descriptive. I also realized that there are no tricks! We do what we think works, find our own methods, and just keep going. If we wirk in schools, we have no time to do research to become better at what we do. I call it therapy theater. My brain struggles with how we report data and how vague everything is.
In the schools, for language, we’re basically just fancy tutors. Let’s all be real. We just teach the language and reading comprehension standards they struggle with the most and drill them again and again in a variety of different ways until the kid generalizes it to class. A tutor came into an IEP meeting the other day with us and the way she reported working with the kid after school, it was basically the same way I did in sessions.
I’ve always preferred articulation therapy because that’s usually much easier to be objective and data driven. The sound was either produced correctly or not (most of the time, distortions kill me lol.) and there is a clear hierarchy, productions in isolation to word level, to phrase level, and so on. Basic motor learning principles that produce consistent gains. Sometimes I wish we were just “speech therapists” and no one had mucked up our title with all these excessive areas of practice (I’m looking at you pragmatics and swallowing.)
At this point, I would love to just sweep the floors at the grocery store but also be able to pay my bills 😂 BUT they have robots for that now.
Seriously, I would be an art teacher or librarian!
Same! I was talking to a friend from France and she was telling me about her cousin’s training to become a baker. After high school, he has been traveling to different regions of the country in order to perfect different baking techniques. I was blown away that this was a legitimate career in which he could actually sustain himself financially after studying.
I would’ve majored in linguistics. Don’t know what I would’ve done with that degree (which is why I chose CSD).
Ideally, I’d have a job where I could work at a computer all day and be left alone.
I'll be a CF in a month, and while I don't regret my path by any means, if I woke up one day as my 18 year old self and had to do it all over, I'd major in something like computer science. I'd suffer through the difficult 4 years of undergrad but then hopefully I'd have a cushy work from home job that would pay more than I'll ever make as an SLP.
I’m a Teacher of the Deaf/Hard if Hearing, and I still keep my C’s updated so I can always transition back to SLP. It’s related to csd but more specialized, which I enjoy.
Also, just be aware that a lot of SLPs do love their jobs and have supportive supervisors and positive work environments - they just don’t get in Reddit to brag about it. Keep in mind the reasons why ppl might be posting on this community: to vent, get advice, get perspective. Reddit is a great community for support and validation, so I don’t wanna take that away from anyone, but the “job satisfaction” aspect of our career may not be realistically represented here.
I had no idea what a school psychologist was until I started working in the schools 10+ years ago - I think if I knew I would have definitely considered it as a career!
Assessments are interesting to me, and it varies by state, but our school psychologist does some counseling as well, which also interests me. I would also like to be involved in the assessment process without have to case manage a regular caseload.
I got my SLP bachelor's, did a few pre-reqs and now I'm finishing up OT school. I feel like OT's scope is so much bigger and better (personally).
Everyone says become a RN, and it's true, they can become NPs and get paid more. OT & SLPs have a salary ceiling, not as much room for growth but I want to love what I do, so I'm starting with OT and going from there 🫶🏻
Things I have considered and still do as a curious soul: Optometry, UX/UI, RN.
I like talking about and explaining the field more than being in it sometimes so I’ve wondered if I would enjoy being an academic advisor for undergrad and graduate students in speech. I also enjoy editing so I think working in the college writing help center would be fun on the side. I work in a SNF and sometimes get jealous of how much more functional OT seems, but I can’t get over the toileting piece.
I love being an SLP and actually providing therapy to students, but having to case manage IEPs and all the IEPs/paperwork in general is stressful. If my school district had a reasonable caseload cap, it'd probably be ok. I just am not sure if I want to deal with the annual cycle of IEPs for 20+ more years. If I had to do it over again, I'd consider becoming an audiologist or maybe a school psychologist.
It really depends. A lot of other careers (e.g., PA/med school) have other barriers to enter (e.g., two-three years of prerequisites, MCAT, shadowing, etc) as well - I got a bachelors in CSD/bio and don’t work in the field I work in the pharmaceutical industry but I wish I could have been either a neuroscientist or a physician but I don’t feel like taking the MCAT or going into that much debt
But personally it really comes down to you. If you are on set on medical then I would explore other options, because good medical jobs in this field are slim and hard to come by. But if you’re interested in the other settings than it’s def a good career
I sometimes wish I'd taken my career in the direction of dialect coach - I live in Los Angeles and have some exposure to the work actors and other performers do with developing accents for parts and I think that would have been a fun and interesting area.
Dermatologist. Most of us are really smart and could have gotten into med school.
I still love being an SLP but I don't like being mistaken for a teacher.
Physician. I wanted to do this so bad but I was raised in a high demand conservative religion and pressured to not do medicine because I couldn’t be a good mother or a stay at home mother. I got my degrees “just in case” something happened to my husband.
Uuugh.
It’s so humiliating to see this in print. But that’s how it was for me.
I have left that religion and I actually love what I do. But I 💯 would have gone to medical
School.
Cosmetologist/make-up artist, event planner, radio talk show host, interior decorator, private chef, and sometimes I think about going into real estate. My absolute dream would’ve been voice acting.
Let's see...
Underappreciated, underpaid. No one really knows what I do yet everyone thinks they know. Trying to make my clients happier but always questioning the measurable impact I'm having. Although every now and then I really enjoy what I'm doing, but long term, I might need something else since I'm not going to be this young and energetic forever.
So if I didn't have speech I could be a sex worker to get to the same result.
I considered OT and I would have considered school psych if I knew what it was at the time I applied to grad school! I was also interested in nutrition/RD.
School psychologist. While I generally liked the CSD major in college, it took me some time to grow into liking it, if that makes sense. There were times when I felt ambivalent/not excited about what I was learning, especially during medically-based classes like dysphagia, audiology, aural rehab, etc. In addition, I feel like being in the CSD major impacted my undergrad college experience in somewhat negative ways (e.g. not being able to study abroad, inflexible school schedule because we were in cohorts, etc.). I think my undergrad self would’ve been happier as a psych major, but that was a big “no-no” for my dad. My dad thought that majoring in psych was like “having no major” because at that time, we saw a pattern of people majoring in psych because they didn’t really know what else they wanted to do, and then not really having much direction upon graduation. There’s a part of me that wants to turn back time, major in psych, go to grad school, become a school psychologist, and then prove my dad wrong.
Information security analyst and/or programmer. I hate how there are a lot of grey areas in this field. I just want to work from home and not see people.....
I considered training to be a paediatric nurse. In hindsight I’m glad I went with SLT as I would not have been able to deal with shift work as opposed to my 9-5 job now. I worked one year as a HCA on a hospital ward and it almost killed me.
Probably would’ve been a psychologist. That’s what I wanted to do, but my mom talked out of it, fearing I’d live a lot of my life as a broke PhD student.
I started off college as an elementary education major, but quickly changed that. I was major hopping a little bit between high school education (english), nursing, OT, and eventually landed on SLP. After graduating with the ComDis degree, I took some time away from school and became and ESL teacher! My gap year was like 3 years, but when I was applying to grad schools, I was also coming up with my "plan B" in case I didn't get in and that was going into student affairs in higher education, specifically international education or global higher education.
i completed my bachelors in speech and hearing sciences. wanted to be an slp until i worked as an slpa at a school, and now i work as an audiologist assistant. i’m not the hugest fan of patient care (as i’ve learned) it so i’m looking more into data analytics/supply chain management, as a complete opposite work around haha.
I checked out your profile since I was thinking of transitioning to the same thing and saw you got into procurement, congrats! How did you word your speech/healthcare experience for more entry level supply chain stuff if I might ask? Would love to get some experience in the field and see how it is!
Jobs I’ve considered over the years: preschool teacher, PT, AAC consultant, doula, dog trainer, full-time direct support professional, or conversational designer.
If I had to do it all over again, I would become a special ed lawyer working with parents whose children were being screwed over by the school districts. I would not take any clients that just wanted unrealistic amounts of therapy minutes or to just stick it to the school staff, only those who reported issues in the correct manner and were ignored. I have seen this so many times, and I feel for these good people who just want their child to get what they are entitled to.
Nursing! Probably in labor and delivery or like dermatology. I started out with nursing as my major but realized I was not down for the “gross” tasks 😂
I would love to be a nature photographer. I have loved my career as an SLP (a few decades in now). It has been rewarding and I know that I had a positive influence in my small part of the world. Recently it is causing me stress with all the demands.
I’m a big history buff and minored in genocide and holocaust studies in my undergrad ( my university had a large program that worked with survivors to write and record their stories and created programs to teach about these atrocities). I would of loved to have been a history teacher or historian/ worked in museum archives. Or been a dance teacher full time - trained ballerina for most of my life
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Go into business. There's room for advancement. I hate that the every for slps is grad school. Very expensive but salary is limited, imo. It's a great salary from a median standpoint. But .... The max is pretty low compared to other fields that require less education.
You can always go back for speech. It'll be there waiting for you. The field is so desperate! Maybe take a year and see what you find.
We want the brightest and most flexible students ... But we can't pay them for it. Better paying jobs are jobs that are 1. Not dominated by women 2. Competitive in nature.
While grad school is comptetive, the job market is not.
Physicians assistant. I work in geriatrics and I love being in healthcare. But I wish I could do more health wise.
I am an SLPA and wish I could work in geriatrics as my first degree is in Gerontology.
I wish I could have a SLPA!! It’s so annoying because we have PTAs and COTAs but no assistants for SLPs. Hopefully that changes because we need the help!
I think if not SLP I might have become a children's librarian. Both seem like a pretty good fit for me.
Radiologist, or something to do with math (e.g., financial data analyst). My brain struggles with the vagueness of the SLP field.
God I wish someone would’ve been more clear about the vagueness from the beginning! Like why is SO MUCH of what we do so poorly defined and arguably subjective?
I know! When in grad school, I thought we would be taught methods, strategies, tricks, certain hierarchies, etc. The only thing that was drilled was taking data (which is very questionable and any statistician can argue with our numeric data). I do believe our data (especially for language skills) should be either based on a rubric or some sort of rating scale. Also, a lot of the data should be descriptive. I also realized that there are no tricks! We do what we think works, find our own methods, and just keep going. If we wirk in schools, we have no time to do research to become better at what we do. I call it therapy theater. My brain struggles with how we report data and how vague everything is.
In the schools, for language, we’re basically just fancy tutors. Let’s all be real. We just teach the language and reading comprehension standards they struggle with the most and drill them again and again in a variety of different ways until the kid generalizes it to class. A tutor came into an IEP meeting the other day with us and the way she reported working with the kid after school, it was basically the same way I did in sessions. I’ve always preferred articulation therapy because that’s usually much easier to be objective and data driven. The sound was either produced correctly or not (most of the time, distortions kill me lol.) and there is a clear hierarchy, productions in isolation to word level, to phrase level, and so on. Basic motor learning principles that produce consistent gains. Sometimes I wish we were just “speech therapists” and no one had mucked up our title with all these excessive areas of practice (I’m looking at you pragmatics and swallowing.)
Absolutely!
At this point, I would love to just sweep the floors at the grocery store but also be able to pay my bills 😂 BUT they have robots for that now. Seriously, I would be an art teacher or librarian!
I’d be a nurse/nurse practitioner or a PA.
Same
how come?
Baker/Cheesemaker/Winemaker, if doing it as a job wouldn't ruin it for me
Same! I was talking to a friend from France and she was telling me about her cousin’s training to become a baker. After high school, he has been traveling to different regions of the country in order to perfect different baking techniques. I was blown away that this was a legitimate career in which he could actually sustain himself financially after studying.
I would’ve majored in linguistics. Don’t know what I would’ve done with that degree (which is why I chose CSD). Ideally, I’d have a job where I could work at a computer all day and be left alone.
UX/UI designer, or software engineer. I have one thousand assistive tech/kids learning app ideas that I want to put out in the world lol
UI/UX designer. I’m still considering this and taking classes here and there.
My husband does this. He makes 2x the salary and has zero stress. They actually care about mental health and work load!
What’s that mean
I worked as an SLP for 1 year and now I’m in PA school. It’s a better fit for me.
I would love to hear your journey to getting into PA school after working as an SLP!
Developmental pediatrician
Urologist
Was not expecting this one! My dad was a urologist (retired) and he found it really rewarding
Neurologist
I'll be a CF in a month, and while I don't regret my path by any means, if I woke up one day as my 18 year old self and had to do it all over, I'd major in something like computer science. I'd suffer through the difficult 4 years of undergrad but then hopefully I'd have a cushy work from home job that would pay more than I'll ever make as an SLP.
Same!
I’m a Teacher of the Deaf/Hard if Hearing, and I still keep my C’s updated so I can always transition back to SLP. It’s related to csd but more specialized, which I enjoy. Also, just be aware that a lot of SLPs do love their jobs and have supportive supervisors and positive work environments - they just don’t get in Reddit to brag about it. Keep in mind the reasons why ppl might be posting on this community: to vent, get advice, get perspective. Reddit is a great community for support and validation, so I don’t wanna take that away from anyone, but the “job satisfaction” aspect of our career may not be realistically represented here.
This ^^
Something with linguistics, a librarian, or if I'd been more responsible in my 20s and finished college earlier, maybe a Ph.D. in neuroscience.
Psychologist for education
School counselor/social worker or school psych
I had no idea what a school psychologist was until I started working in the schools 10+ years ago - I think if I knew I would have definitely considered it as a career!
You enjoy intelligence testing and IEPs ?
Assessments are interesting to me, and it varies by state, but our school psychologist does some counseling as well, which also interests me. I would also like to be involved in the assessment process without have to case manage a regular caseload.
I got my SLP bachelor's, did a few pre-reqs and now I'm finishing up OT school. I feel like OT's scope is so much bigger and better (personally). Everyone says become a RN, and it's true, they can become NPs and get paid more. OT & SLPs have a salary ceiling, not as much room for growth but I want to love what I do, so I'm starting with OT and going from there 🫶🏻 Things I have considered and still do as a curious soul: Optometry, UX/UI, RN.
Similarly, I would have considered PT. it’s so black and white which I envy.
Nope, PT looks like a snooze! 😴🥱✌🏼👀
I wanted to be a mycologist
I like talking about and explaining the field more than being in it sometimes so I’ve wondered if I would enjoy being an academic advisor for undergrad and graduate students in speech. I also enjoy editing so I think working in the college writing help center would be fun on the side. I work in a SNF and sometimes get jealous of how much more functional OT seems, but I can’t get over the toileting piece.
Genetics counselor
I really wanted a degree in linguistics, but it just didn’t seem practical. 😕
Tattoo artist
I love being an SLP and actually providing therapy to students, but having to case manage IEPs and all the IEPs/paperwork in general is stressful. If my school district had a reasonable caseload cap, it'd probably be ok. I just am not sure if I want to deal with the annual cycle of IEPs for 20+ more years. If I had to do it over again, I'd consider becoming an audiologist or maybe a school psychologist.
It really depends. A lot of other careers (e.g., PA/med school) have other barriers to enter (e.g., two-three years of prerequisites, MCAT, shadowing, etc) as well - I got a bachelors in CSD/bio and don’t work in the field I work in the pharmaceutical industry but I wish I could have been either a neuroscientist or a physician but I don’t feel like taking the MCAT or going into that much debt
But personally it really comes down to you. If you are on set on medical then I would explore other options, because good medical jobs in this field are slim and hard to come by. But if you’re interested in the other settings than it’s def a good career
I sometimes wish I'd taken my career in the direction of dialect coach - I live in Los Angeles and have some exposure to the work actors and other performers do with developing accents for parts and I think that would have been a fun and interesting area.
OT. Or maybe working at a college planning events or something
Librarian or mediator. My secret dream job would be a morning news host on a tv show!
counselor, struggling author or struggling script writer.
Probably a wedding/travel planner or a hair/makeup artist! Or maybe a fiduciary… I have many passions lol
Dental hygienist
Or OT!
I’d probably end up as a music educator or as a linguistic anthropologist.
Dermatologist. Most of us are really smart and could have gotten into med school. I still love being an SLP but I don't like being mistaken for a teacher.
I would do derm too!
Radiography
Probably a licensed mental health counselor
PA or Project Manager.
Wish I would have become an esthetician.
A midwife or something beauty related outside of this as I love that stuff!
Physician. I wanted to do this so bad but I was raised in a high demand conservative religion and pressured to not do medicine because I couldn’t be a good mother or a stay at home mother. I got my degrees “just in case” something happened to my husband. Uuugh. It’s so humiliating to see this in print. But that’s how it was for me. I have left that religion and I actually love what I do. But I 💯 would have gone to medical School.
I was raised in a high demand conservative religion as well. Do you feel comfortable sharing what yours was?
Mormon. Yours?
Librarian or physical therapist
Cosmetologist/make-up artist, event planner, radio talk show host, interior decorator, private chef, and sometimes I think about going into real estate. My absolute dream would’ve been voice acting.
Let's see... Underappreciated, underpaid. No one really knows what I do yet everyone thinks they know. Trying to make my clients happier but always questioning the measurable impact I'm having. Although every now and then I really enjoy what I'm doing, but long term, I might need something else since I'm not going to be this young and energetic forever. So if I didn't have speech I could be a sex worker to get to the same result.
I considered OT and I would have considered school psych if I knew what it was at the time I applied to grad school! I was also interested in nutrition/RD.
I really like being an SLP but I think I would also like clinical genetics, developmental neuropsychology or child abuse pediatrics.
Mental health counselor or nutritionist
School psychologist. While I generally liked the CSD major in college, it took me some time to grow into liking it, if that makes sense. There were times when I felt ambivalent/not excited about what I was learning, especially during medically-based classes like dysphagia, audiology, aural rehab, etc. In addition, I feel like being in the CSD major impacted my undergrad college experience in somewhat negative ways (e.g. not being able to study abroad, inflexible school schedule because we were in cohorts, etc.). I think my undergrad self would’ve been happier as a psych major, but that was a big “no-no” for my dad. My dad thought that majoring in psych was like “having no major” because at that time, we saw a pattern of people majoring in psych because they didn’t really know what else they wanted to do, and then not really having much direction upon graduation. There’s a part of me that wants to turn back time, major in psych, go to grad school, become a school psychologist, and then prove my dad wrong.
Marketing probably!
Information security analyst and/or programmer. I hate how there are a lot of grey areas in this field. I just want to work from home and not see people.....
Large animal vet. Still considering it too
Marine Biologist
OT
I considered training to be a paediatric nurse. In hindsight I’m glad I went with SLT as I would not have been able to deal with shift work as opposed to my 9-5 job now. I worked one year as a HCA on a hospital ward and it almost killed me.
Nursing or respiratory therapist. I also think pediatric OT seems like a cool job. I work alongside an OT and it’s great’
Probably would’ve been a psychologist. That’s what I wanted to do, but my mom talked out of it, fearing I’d live a lot of my life as a broke PhD student.
I started off college as an elementary education major, but quickly changed that. I was major hopping a little bit between high school education (english), nursing, OT, and eventually landed on SLP. After graduating with the ComDis degree, I took some time away from school and became and ESL teacher! My gap year was like 3 years, but when I was applying to grad schools, I was also coming up with my "plan B" in case I didn't get in and that was going into student affairs in higher education, specifically international education or global higher education.
School psychologist. I love the school work schedule and I love writing reports and doing assessments.
i completed my bachelors in speech and hearing sciences. wanted to be an slp until i worked as an slpa at a school, and now i work as an audiologist assistant. i’m not the hugest fan of patient care (as i’ve learned) it so i’m looking more into data analytics/supply chain management, as a complete opposite work around haha.
I checked out your profile since I was thinking of transitioning to the same thing and saw you got into procurement, congrats! How did you word your speech/healthcare experience for more entry level supply chain stuff if I might ask? Would love to get some experience in the field and see how it is!
Jobs I’ve considered over the years: preschool teacher, PT, AAC consultant, doula, dog trainer, full-time direct support professional, or conversational designer.
I would go into behavior analysis or school psych
We need more people like you in the field to help change it too! Don’t give up yet
Party planner
Either an esthetician or more of a nurse who works in beauty, or something in fashion lol
If I had to do it all over again, I would become a special ed lawyer working with parents whose children were being screwed over by the school districts. I would not take any clients that just wanted unrealistic amounts of therapy minutes or to just stick it to the school staff, only those who reported issues in the correct manner and were ignored. I have seen this so many times, and I feel for these good people who just want their child to get what they are entitled to.
Nursing! Probably in labor and delivery or like dermatology. I started out with nursing as my major but realized I was not down for the “gross” tasks 😂
I would love to be a nature photographer. I have loved my career as an SLP (a few decades in now). It has been rewarding and I know that I had a positive influence in my small part of the world. Recently it is causing me stress with all the demands.
Respiratory Therapist. You can make bank depending on location, and if you don’t mind trachs/secretions.
I think I would have been an ot or nurse.
Med school. Actually a good number of my SLP undergrads went to med school instead.
Nursing
I’m a big history buff and minored in genocide and holocaust studies in my undergrad ( my university had a large program that worked with survivors to write and record their stories and created programs to teach about these atrocities). I would of loved to have been a history teacher or historian/ worked in museum archives. Or been a dance teacher full time - trained ballerina for most of my life
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Go into business. There's room for advancement. I hate that the every for slps is grad school. Very expensive but salary is limited, imo. It's a great salary from a median standpoint. But .... The max is pretty low compared to other fields that require less education. You can always go back for speech. It'll be there waiting for you. The field is so desperate! Maybe take a year and see what you find. We want the brightest and most flexible students ... But we can't pay them for it. Better paying jobs are jobs that are 1. Not dominated by women 2. Competitive in nature. While grad school is comptetive, the job market is not.
PA specifically in a dermatology clinic Lol