Speech pathologist jobs are those that teach people how to speak properly. While the job may seem fairly straightforward, different types of speech language pathologists may work with different types of speech problems. Furthermore, some speech pathologist jobs may focus on dealing primarily with otherwise normally-developing children. Others may deal with children who have special needs. Some may even deal with adults who have suffered brain trauma, and may need to learn how to reform their words.
Those who work with children may do so in many different settings. The most common speech pathologist jobs that involve working with children take place in schools. The school may have a full-time pathologist to help students who need a little additional work on the speech skills, or a speech therapist may rotate around to multiple schools as needed. Thus, schools and even school districts can share the expenses of having a speech pathologist.
Hospitals also offer speech pathologist jobs, especially for those who want to deal with trauma patients. These jobs may be among the most difficult from a technical standpoint, because, in many cases, the speech language pathologist will be dealing with an adult who has already learned to communicate once. The fact that his or her body is not allowing that speech to take place may be extremely frustrating and discouraging. Therefore, this type of job requires a great deal of patience and understanding from the health care professional.
Speech pathologist jobs are also offered in private practice, where parents may decide to send their children if they feel they are not getting the help they need at school. As many services are handled in the schools, these jobs may not be as easy to find as some of the other ones, simply because most parents will opt for a free choice already available through existing means, rather than venturing out on their own. Still, the speech pathologist in private practice will likely see many children, as well as adults. Those in private practice may have the greatest amount of flexibility regarding schedules and earnings potential.
The other place to find speech pathologist jobs is in a university setting. Often, universities will hire individuals not only to provide therapeutic treatment to clients who may come through the university's hospital system, but also to conduct research and perform experiments. The goal in such circumstances is to come up with better treatment techniques, and to better understand why these speech difficulties may arise. Further, the some speech pathologists will also teach in the classroom as well.
