20+1 reasons why to become a Speech and Language Pathologist

Are you considering becoming a Speech and Language pathologist but you’re not sure about it? Well, here you have 20+1 reasons why you should definitely do it…with a twist!

1. You get to say things like “sibilant fricatives” and “nasal vowels” all day and feel really smart.
2. You have a good excuse for correcting people’s grammar at parties.
3. You get to make silly faces and sounds to encourage your clients to imitate you.
4. You can finally use your “inside voice” all the time.
5. You can use tongue twisters as an excuse for your occasional stumble over your words.
6. You can help people who talk too much learn to “zip it.”
7. You can tell your clients that they need to practice “chewing the fat” as part of their therapy.
8. You can appreciate the beauty of a well-formed phoneme.
9. You can use the phrase “articulatory placement” to describe the perfect pout.
10. You can finally answer the question “What do you do for a living?” with a fun and intriguing response.
11. You can get really excited about the differences between voiced and unvoiced consonants.
12. You can make lots of fun noises and get paid for it.
13. You can explain to people why the word “crayon” is pronounced differently in different parts of the country.
14. You can impress your friends with your knowledge of the International Phonetic Alphabet.
15. You can help people learn to talk without sounding like they have a mouthful of marbles.
16. You can explain the difference between a dialect and an accent, and why they both matter.
17. You can help people learn to speak with confidence and authority.
18. You can use funny voices to entertain your clients and make therapy more enjoyable.
19. You can make jokes about “speech therapy” being a mouthful to say.
20. You can make people laugh by telling them that you’re a “word doctor.”
21. You can help people who have trouble with word retrieval by saying “It’s on the tip of your tongue!”