Sciences Participating with Arts & Culture in Education

Speech Language Pathologists: The Missing Key

Illustrated by Vivianne Mackenzie

Why me? Why wasn’t I good enough? Guilt overwhelmed me. The fear of any type of communication made my body tremble and sweat. The fear of laughter or rejection made my anxiety ever more noticeable. I found myself stuck in an eternal loophole.

The same exact routine day after day.

School was never something I looked forward too. At 8 a.m. I would come to school and would sit down at the back of the class. I don’t think the teacher actually knew my name, but it didn’t bother me. I didn’t want to be seen or heard.

At noon we had lunch. Once again I had my specific corner and I ate my lunch quietly. I would not talk for the whole day, or at least, I would not speak to the outside world.

This routine kept going until mid-November when suddenly my world was turned upside down in a totally positive way. A young woman came knocking on the classroom door. Suddenly I heard my name. It was odd because the teachers would often not even bother speaking to me. When I first heard my name I didn’t think much about it. But then I heard it a second time and decided to lift my little head up. There she was, standing and smiling. She was beautiful. She had the brightest brown eyes I had ever seen. They were bright as diamonds. Her smile was electrifying. I could feel myself gravitating towards her.

I stood up and followed her into a small room with an abundance of toys. The walls were all white. The room had a big window facing the streets. I could see the leaves falling to the ground. The end of fall reminded me of death. Inside I felt empty, numb to the pain my speech impediment brought me. I gazed up. I read the label on the door—Maria: Speech Language Pathologist (SLP).

A Speech Language Pathologist identifies and treats any kind of speech disorder; additionally Speech Language Pathologists advocate for the prevention of speech impediments (Speech-Language & Audiology Canada). Oh great, I thought, another unwanted experiment on my speech! She sat me down and said, “Look Esfir, I will do my best, but this, what we will go through, will not be easy; but it will be worth it.” For once in my life, I believed her. I just remember my eyes filling up with tears. I tried to contain myself, to not show my emotions. I was tired of being alone and feeling hopeless. Looking back, she gave me some sort of hope because inside me I had none left. She had this sparkle in her eyes and I smiled, wiping my tears away. For the first time in my life I was optimistic for the future.

Over the next months and years my speech blossomed like a flower. Maria was the sun to my flower. She was the source of all of my happiness. Not only was I doing better in school but I was an all-around different person. I learned French in six months. I finally had confidence in myself. I was an overall happier child. I was officially the new Esfir. To this day I will never forget Maria. She not only gave me hope but she was a shoulder to lean on. She was my best friend. I confided in her all of my difficulties. Because she believed in me I felt the power to better myself. I pushed myself until I understood that my stuttering did not define me. I did not want to be defined by my difficulties anymore but by my strengths.

Overcoming stuttering or any other speech impediment is nerve wracking and emotionally draining. It is like climbing Mount Everest. The elevation is 9,000 meters, but once you get to the top, you’ve conquered it. At the summit you’ve proved how strong of an individual you are.

But to overcome a speech disorder you need the necessary tools? Language is one essential tool to have. But what exactly is language? Communication?

Rania, my brother’s Speech Language Pathologist, describes language as: “a tool to communicate with yourself and others. If you can speak, you will be happier and more successful. It is part of the bigger picture of communication.”

Communication is like a deposit box full of valuables. However, sometimes an individual doesn’t have the necessary keys to open it. They try and try, but nothing happens. They become frustrated and eventually give up. But wait! This all can be fixed. You can go to a specialist, in this case a Speech Language Pathologist, and they’ll make you the perfect key. As soon as you acquire the specific knowledge from the specialist, you have the knowledge to use the key properly. Speech Language Pathologists are the keys to our expression and happiness. They provide the permanent key for the box that is communication. Communication is the broader context. It is used for all aspects of life. Can you imagine a world without communication? It would be like having permanent tape on our mouths. Not being able to express yourself is the most tragic thing in the world, yet expression is taken for granted every day. Communication takes place inside our brains without our knowing it—like a Ping-Pong game—one neuron electrifying and sending a message to another and so on until it reaches the organs needed to speak. That is when the magic happens. We are finally able to express ourselves; however, what happens if your box never finds a right key?

There are many consequences of a speech impediment that is left untreated. An article by Julie Farnsworth explains the effects of stuttering on an individual. There are many traits that are common with people who stutter.

The first identifiable trait is that individuals with speech impediments are not as outgoing as those without. (Farnsworth) This should not come as a shock. Children who stutter are afraid to socialize because of the risk of getting ridiculed. Fear can be a silent and powerful shackle that holds people back from making healthy changes in their lives. The only logical way to escape socialization is to completely shut down. Nungesser, a researcher, who wrote Preschool Teachers Perception and Reaction to Challenging Classroom Behaviour: Implications for Speech Language Pathologists found that children with language disabilities spent 42% of their time engaged in withdrawal like behaviours. These types of behaviour are not rare in developing children. Nungesser found that 17% of the developing children without speech disorders would spend time alone (140). Solitude is a common part of childhood behaviour; however spending too much time alone may bring on future consequences such as anxiety and depression.

The second identifiable trait would be expressing anger in an unhealthy way (Farnsworth). In my case, I would often arrive home and just scream at my parents after a long day of bottling up my emotions. I was exhausted from being misunderstood; the only way I could express myself was through anger. Nungesser further explained that 59.1% of children with language disabilities have been violent towards authoritative figures (140). Labelling a child as having behavioural issues can also have a toll on his behaviour; therefore differentiating speech disorders and behavioural disorders is crucial for treatment.

The final identifiable trait is that people who stutter often feel guilty. I often felt guilty because I thought that if I tried harder I could do better. I took so much time expressing myself—sometimes it took up to five minutes to say one small sentence when talking to my teachers or parents. When my teachers would say, “When will you be done with your sentence?” I would often give up due to the fact that I taking so much time. I felt that sometimes my speech was out of control. I could not control what my mouth did and had no control whether it was fluent or not. (Farnsworth).

Searching for that specific key to mastering communication may seem like searching for a needle in the haystack. I often thought it would be easier to win the lottery than finding the solution to my speech impediment. As new immigrants, we did not have the money to buy groceries, let alone pay $120 for an hourly session. When I saw my mother getting wait-listed every single time, I would wonder why it was so impossible to find a Speech Language Pathologist. I was not only overwhelmed by my stuttering but also by the fact that there was an apparent lack of Speech Language Pathologists in the Montreal area. How can the Quebec government underfund these essential clinicians that are so important for a child’s development? This is somewhat of a tricky question because there is no exact answer. The main perceived barriers for Speech Language Pathologists is that there is not enough awareness of the career. Ask anybody around you, “What is a Speech Language Pathologist?” I guarantee that 9 out of 10 people will say, “I have no idea!” Funnily enough, most of my college teachers aren’t aware of the profession. If a college educator has no idea about who a Speech Language Pathologist is, how could the general population know? Additionally, one of the main concerns for many Speech Language Pathology students is that there are limited resources for maintaining the programs. Because of the specific supervisor/student ratio in the program, the lack of supervisors leads to an immediate shortage of students. As well, many students disagree with the fact that there is no combined program in the Speech Language Pathology field, meaning that students must do their bachelors and masters separately, which can be financially difficult and time consuming (Speech- Language & Audiology).

However, the biggest problem is funding. There is limited funding, and thus limited academic opportunities for scholarships, and so on. Funding never crossed my mind until on one chilly winter day while drinking my maple syrup latte I decided to get a head start and call a McGill advisor in the Speech Pathology department. I thought I knew everything about the Speech Language Pathology program such as the prerequisites, the minimum grades, the minimum volunteering hours that one needs to be considered, and so on. However one important thing escaped my mind—admission rates! Initially, I thought the number would be in the mid twenty percent range. I was very, very wrong. It was a fifth of that, specifically, four percent. Out of 500 applicants they take 20 people (McGill). When I heard the shocking number I almost dropped my phone in my hot steamy latte. Many thoughts began racing through my mind…How will I ever get in…Will I be good enough? Frankly, one has better chances of becoming a pediatrician. Out of the 20 people who will get accepted, half will graduate, meaning that we will only have about 10 new Speech Language Pathologists getting new employment yearly. In no way shape or form do I advocate lowering admission standards; however if more funding is given to the University in question, more places will become available for students, which might, in a way, motivate students to apply.

I am more motivated than ever to become a Speech Language Pathologist. With a growing number of speech impediments worldwide, Speech Language Pathologists are needed. Statistics suggest that about 1% of the population is affected by stuttering, about 80,000 in Quebec (The Stuttering Foundation). I just simply cannot get over that admission rate —4%! I cannot imagine myself being in the position that I am today without the help of Maria. I cannot imagine a child going through the pain and anger that I did. How can we take away the option of helping a child in need of treatment? I am not sure if the number of admissions will ever go up, but I do believe that every child needs to get a fair chance in life, whether they have a speech impediment or not. I can only hope that one day Speech Language Pathologists become as common as pediatricians.

Bibliograpy

“FAQ.” Stuttering Foundation: A Nonprofit Organization Helping Those Who Stutter. Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <http://www.stutteringhelp.org/faq&gt

Farnsworth, J. “Effects of Stuttering on the Individual.” Effects on Individual. Web. 2 Mar. 2015.

Nungesser, N. R. “Preschool Teachers’ Perceptions and Reactions to Challenging Classroom Behavior: Implications for Speech-Language Pathologists.” Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 36.2 (2005): 139-51. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.

Professional Training in Speech-Language Pathology (M.Sc.A.). Web. 29 Apr. 2015. <https://www.mcgill.ca/scsd/programs/slp&gt

What Do Speech-Language Pathologists Do?” Speech-Language & Audiology Canada. 31 May 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2015.