Hey guys, I'm going to be a senior in high school, and I've been looking at colleges that mainly have special education and/or speech-pathology. My brother has autism, so I kind of have a feel for working with mentally handicapped children. I've known for years that I would want to work with kids like my brother, but I kind of need some sort of background info, like someone who is already IN one of these careers or majors... so I know what I'm in for.
I'm already starting my college application process, so I don't know if i want to put down "special education" major, or "speech pathology" major.
Also, if you guys know some schools that are really good for these fields, that would be great! Thank you.
2007-08-22 14:00:15 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Special Education
It's great to see someone so devoted to his brother. How kind you are!
My brother has disabilities as well. I think that speech pathology major would offer you more and you can then work in private practice, a hospital and ALSO with the school district! You could accomplish ALL with a Speech Pathology major. Best of luck to you and all your future plans. Patti
2007-08-23 03:16:35 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you are concerned about money, I would go for SLP. I feel like the courses for SLP are much more in depth and difficult; however, I loved it. Your best chance at making good money will be to go into the health care field (hospital, nursing home) due to the increase in the elderly population. There will be an increased demand for this type of work. Unfortunately, special education teachers do not get paid nearly enough for their hard work and dedication. Having a background in special education does not mean that you are stuck working with kids. There are other opportunities to work with adults as well. Both jobs are highly rewarding. You should go to the Job Outlook website. It will give you specific information regarding each of these careers and the projected need for them in the next 10 years. Just go to yahoo and type in job outlook in the search box. That should help you greatly.
2007-08-23 23:01:38 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Special ed for that deep- in the heart feel of really helping. Speech Path for diversity; ability to work private setting or clinic as well as schools.
Just remember in schools there are shortages of both but schools will not pay what private clinic will pay. Also paperwork and case loads very high. My district is like 11 SLPs short so they can only be at my school 2 days a week. How effective is that?
Special ed means you will have a lot of diff types of students and that can be real interesting! Also as others say always needed.
I'm proud of you for already knowing where you want to "go" best of luck!
2007-08-23 00:19:29 · answer #3 · answered by atheleticman_fan 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I started as a special education major but then switched to speech pathology. I just felt that as an SLP I can help more people. Teachers only work w/ kids, SLPs work w/ everyone. Also if you're an SLP you aren't committed to a school, you can work in hospitals or private clinics where you're not only paid better but also people are usually more into the therapy putside of school, away from influences of peers. Both majors are stressful but 1 thing that I like w/ speech is that you see a client progress for many yrs where as teachers may only spen 1 yr w/ students. I recommend going to a school where you can have a major & minor or concentration to expose yourself to both majors, that what I did, it really helped me w/ my decision.
2007-08-22 22:37:11 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Depends on what you want to do in the future. What population do you want to work with and what kind of flexibility do you want? I am a special ed teacher, but only worked in a school for a brief time. I spent many years working with children with Autism in their homes and schools...and then moved on to manage a program for children with Autism for a private agency. I loved both positions and being an educational director was a fantastic experience. Now, I am a stay at home mom and work with parents of children with Autism a few hours a week. It is a good fit for me.
SLPs work in a more specialized environment, work with people of all ages and can be in privae practice as well.
good luck with whatever it is you choose!
2007-08-22 23:06:47 · answer #5 · answered by kgsmom 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well special education works with more then just autisic children it works with a whole line of children (LD, Autistic, Mentenal Challagend) but Autism is going to be come a huge need for people so i think that is an amazing field to go in to. But i think in speech to you would also be having different types of people even know that you can specialize in serton field i would try and intership and see what really what your heart wants, also since your brother is autisitic i would ask his theripis if he has one if you could do an intership with her or go to a speech patholagest and ask to do a intership with her. good luck Sorry for the spelling
2007-08-22 21:50:40 · answer #6 · answered by crazyone 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋