Conflict Issues and Special Topics of Invention in Speech Pathology

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.   

Men vs. Women

Because men and women are so different, men cannot
understand women

Like they all say, “Women are from Venus, men are from Mars” [Maxim/Proverbs].  It is therefore impossible for men to truly know the mind of a girl [Possible/Impossible] because men and women are so different.  Women are like mystery novels with the conclusions ripped out [Similarity/Difference].  Although men may act clueless while “reading these novel,” they are not completely clueless [Contradiction].  However, if women don’t even know how to understand themselves—and they don’t—then men certainly cannot comprehend women [Degree].  The word women might have the word men in it, but they are completely different creatures [Notation and conjugates].  God made women and men with different purposes and personalities [The supernatural] for a reason.  These divine purposes separate men and women quite a bit.  Because women and men are so different, men obviously cannot understand women.  Even registered psychologist Dr. Noam Shpancer agrees that men find it incredibly hard to understand women [Authority].  No wonder that when you have to take a standardized test, they make you mark whether you are male or female [Documents]; testers are figuring out all the differences between women and men to better understand them.  I have always seen how my brothers cannot seem to understand my gender, so their lack of understanding will extend long into the future  [past fact/future fact].  Women are made of 1000 thoughts all at once, bundles of contradiction, and pretty faces; men are made of 1 thought at once, practicality, and muscles [Whole/Parts].  No wonder men cannot understand women, but women can pretty much understand men.  Men are not complex; they are simple [Contraries], but women are the exact opposite.  The feasibility of men understanding women is incredibly slim [circumstances].  Therefore, because men are so different from women, men cannot understand women.