A Point of Conflict in Speech Pathology
The main point of conflict I foresee as a speech pathologist is the argument over "necessary and proper". While many of us are familiar with this phrase in terms of our government, I'm using it to identify the cases speech therapists make throughout their careers in regards to whether or not therapy is necessary and will be effective for individuals struggling to communicate in any way.
Topics of Invention in Law
There are many opportunities for persuasion when dealing with communication disorders. I want to quickly describe two different scenarios that will in one way or another affect each of us.Scenario One:
Imagine sometime in the near future. You're graduated, working, and you have one beautiful child. They are three years old and what you would describe as "extremely shy" Usual communication consists of pointing and making noises rather than word formation. The preschool teacher has noted that your child has a hard time joining other kids and often paces the room and simply watches. You're the parent and need to decide, is this behavior normal or is there an underlying problem?
Scenario Two:
It is much further into the future. Your parent or grandparent is aging and activities of daily living are becoming more laborious for them. They require extra care now, but the decline you are most concerned with is their ability to chew and swallow. What do you do?
Analysis
My field deals with highly charged, emotional situations such as these. Health of loved ones is something that is sensitive and dear to all of us. You want to do what is beneficial for those who are in your charge, you feel responsible. As a speech pathologist, I would take your concerns and do a little research. In order to identify the problem, I need to know the composition of the situation. For example, does the child have hearing loss or have an intellectual disability? Is the parent/ grandparent losing their teeth or had a stroke? Identifying these little parts help expose the whole problem. I would need to then compare these observations to what I know is standard or expected from someone in this age group. (You need to have a knowledge of what is "regular" in order to identify atypical behaviors.) Finally, I would help you see how therapy would be advantageous in improving the quality of life for the individual (helping your child eventually be able to interact with other children, or how therapy will help your parent/ grandparent safely be able to maintain independence and avoid a potentially harmful situation). The special topics of invention (parts/ whole, similarities and differences, and advantageous vs disadvantageous), will also then be used to help persuade your insurance that such interventions are necessary and proper. Those are the three topics of invention that are very common in my field. 
Your post was very clear and well done! Thank you! I liked reading about the two different situations because usually I only think of speech pathology with children.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you thought about the topic of advantageous/disadvantageous in your field, and so did I, and so did Hailee, even though Hailee and I are exploring teaching careers. I think that in these fields--where the focus is on others--that topic comes up quite a bit.
Great insight, Macey R, that careers that focus on serving others often deal with advantageous/disadvantageous topics. Other fields that use this as well might be business and social services, right?
ReplyDelete