Interview with SLPA

Within my online interview with Jamie Klimek, an SLPA (Speech Language Pathologist Assistant), I asked four questions with hopes to gain a better understanding of what she does. The questions I asked consisted of;

#1 What do you see as the pros and cons of SLP?

#2 How did you land your job with District 206?

#3 Have you always seen yourself working with in a school?

#4 What is an important lesson you have learned throughout the time you've been an SLPA?

#1 Jamie said that a huge pro of SLP is that there is so much opportunity within it. She told me that because of this I shouldn't put blinders on and have tunnel vision, but instead go where my interest leads me. She said a con of SLP is that you have to be very flexible and often times roll with the punches the students are giving you. She said that sometimes this can be very challenging and lead to a lot of problem solving.

#2 She said that if she could do it all over again she would have gotten her masters, but due to timing and having kids that wasn't the case for her. With that being said she went the ATCC for the SLPA program. She said that getting a job within the district wasn't hard. Hiring staff from district 206 went to ATCC and did on the spot hiring. Due to this hiring experience being very similar to Karri's, my mentor, I feel is supports the idea of there being a lot of demand for this profession and field as a whole.

#3 She said that she didn't always know that she wanted to work within a school, but she had always had a passion for kids. This passion is what lead her to the school setting.

#4 She said that an important lesson she has learned is that every child deserves an education. By this she means that as a SLP you should provide the time and effort for each child, even though some students may be harder then the other. She also said that speech, language, and communication and all such valuable life skills and it is so powerful to be able to share and teach these skills with students.