Speech and Language Therapy Dyslexia

Hi

I have been offered a place on a Postgraduate Speech and Language Therapy Course.

I have Dyslexia.

Do any other student, or to be student Speech and Language Therapists out there have Dyslexia?

I have found loads of info to help Dyslexic Medical Students, Dentistry Students, Nurses, Physiotherapists, Teachers etc, but there seems to be a distinct lack of info for Dyslexic Speech and Language Therapists.

It would be nice to know that I'm not the only person with Dyslexia embarking on a career in speech and language therapy.

Reply 1

PhoenixFortune

21

Original post by alex2344

Hi

I have been offered a place on a Postgraduate Speech and Language Therapy Course.

I have Dyslexia.

Do any other student, or to be student Speech and Language Therapists out there have Dyslexia?

I have found loads of info to help Dyslexic Medical Students, Dentistry Students, Nurses, Physiotherapists, Teachers etc, but there seems to be a distinct lack of info for Dyslexic Speech and Language Therapists.

It would be nice to know that I'm not the only person with Dyslexia embarking on a career in speech and language therapy.

A mature student on my SLT course had pretty severe dyslexia, and she did fine. She made the university aware of it and she was able to do exams in a separate room with extra time.

Reply 2

Manasijoshi

1

The term dyslexia is used to describe a person’s difficulty reading printed words even though he/she has normal intelligence and received appropriate reading instruction.

As speech-language pathologists, we have extensive training and knowledge about phonological skills. Many students with speech sound errors have phonological errors. This means they have trouble understanding which sounds should be put together to form words. They may use phonological processes where they replace one class of sounds with another (such as replacing all long sounds like “s” with short sounds like “t”). These same children with phonological speech errors may have phonological reading problems as well (a.k.a. dyslexia).

Reply 3

giella

15

I know this is a month late but I would be cautious about doing this degree with dyslexia. As the PP says, phonological transcription is a big part of the role. A dyslexic girl on my course nearly failed this and has struggled with the degree in general due to her dyslexia. She says she plans on just avoiding transcription when she finishes but this would be very difficult practically. Even in adults with aphasia you need some transcription skills and most settings will involve at least some transcription.

Reply 4

AREEE1

3

Ok, thanks guys, I’m going to give it a go, I will either be good at it or not, don’t know unless I try!

Reply 5

Radhajaiswal

1

Dyslexia is a learning disorder that involves difficulty reading due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words.

Symptoms

Signs of Dyslexia can be difficult to recognize before your child enters school, but some early clues may indicate a problem. Once your child reaches school age, your child's teacher may be the first to notice a problem. Severity varies, but the condition often becomes apparent as a child starts learning to read.

Before school Signs that a young child may be at risk of dyslexia include:Late talking Training new words slowly Problems forming words correctly, such as reversing sounds in words or confusing words that sound alike Problems remembering or naming letters, numbers and colors Difficulty learning nursery rhymes or playing rhyming games School age
Once your child is in school, dyslexia signs and symptoms may become more apparent, including:Reading well below the expected level for age Problems processing and understanding what he or she hears Difficulty finding the right word or forming answers to questions Problems remembering the sequence of things Difficulty seeing (and occasionally hearing) similarities and differences in letters and words Inability to sound out the pronunciation of an unfamiliar word Difficulty spelling Spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing Avoiding activities that involve reading Teens and adults Dyslexia signs in teens and adults are similar to those in children. Some common dyslexia signs and symptoms in teens and adults include Difficulty reading, including reading aloud Slow and labor-intensive reading and writing Problems spelling Avoiding activities that involve reading Mispronouncing names or words, or problems retrieving words Trouble understanding jokes or expressions that have a meaning not easily understood from the specific words (idioms), such as

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 6

AREEE1

3

Original post by giella

I know this is a month late but I would be cautious about doing this degree with dyslexia. As the PP says, phonological transcription is a big part of the role. A dyslexic girl on my course nearly failed this and has struggled with the degree in general due to her dyslexia. She says she plans on just avoiding transcription when she finishes but this would be very difficult practically. Even in adults with aphasia you need some transcription skills and most settings will involve at least some transcription.

I would be carful about labelling all dyslexics the same. There is a spectrum. It’s important for trainee S&L Therapists such as yourself not to make any assumptions, an important general skill.

Reply 7

giella

15

Original post by AREEE1

I would be carful about labelling all dyslexics the same. There is a spectrum. It’s important for trainee S&L Therapists such as yourself not to make any assumptions, an important general skill.

I didn’t. I encouraged caution. I myself have a learning difficulty and I struggle with certain aspects of it in a way that academics don’t quite compensate for. This degree has a way of flushing out weaknesses you didn’t even know you had and it is problematic in that you cannot edit your life around them.

Reply 8

KatyR1

2

Hey, curious of what your experience has been like? 😁 I myself have dyslexia and have been accepted onto SaLT undergraduate to study in September

Reply 9

aliilovebooks

1

I have also been accepted on a post graduate speech and language therapy and I also have dyslexia so I feel quite nervous

Reply 10

KatyR1

2

Hey! How did you find the course? I also have Dyslexia and I am due to study a post graduate in September :smile:

Reply 11

KatyR1

2

Original post by alex2344

Hi

I have been offered a place on a Postgraduate Speech and Language Therapy Course.

I have Dyslexia.

Do any other student, or to be student Speech and Language Therapists out there have Dyslexia?

I have found loads of info to help Dyslexic Medical Students, Dentistry Students, Nurses, Physiotherapists, Teachers etc, but there seems to be a distinct lack of info for Dyslexic Speech and Language Therapists.

It would be nice to know that I'm not the only person with Dyslexia embarking on a career in speech and language therapy.

Hey! How did the course go? I also have Dyslexia and will be starting a postgraduate this September :smile:

Reply 12

kuponut

8

I'm dyslexic (I'm also autistic). I've just graduated my SALT degree with really consistently good grades and a job offer lined up - as have other dyslexics on the course. My final placement clinician was also dyslexic.

Tap into the DSA system as early as you can - assistive technology can help a LOT. For me I have a massive gap between being able to pull information out of a text in front of me versus actually processing and understanding the text - I've learnt ways to work around that, and if I'm really struggling with something I'll use a screen reader and an on-screen text ruler (it's so nice for me now everything is e-books!) I also had access if I wanted it to study skills mentoring and mental health mentoring.,

In terms of transcription - two things to mention:
1) EVERYONE struggles with phonetics and will have at least one phonetics-related meltdown over the course (our phonetics lecturer though is an absolute legend)
2) Spelling isn't an issue for transcription - you're writing down the sounds that you hear - it has NO RELATION to orthographic spelling of the word - in fact the huge thing that lots of people struggle to get initially is separating learnt spelling patterns from the phonetic structure of the word.

--- and my strongest module marks throughout ended up being in transcription and both phonetic and linguistic analysis as it turned out. I struggled most with the rotated characters in the IPA and remembering which way around they went - schwas were my nemesis for me but I got through it. As it turns out I'm going primarily into adult work where transcription is less of a needed skill anyway - but I did enjoy phonetics!

Reply 13

RohanBhatt

1

Thank you for sharing a your experience with us, Please keep sharing a many new things with like about the courses and etc.
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Reply 14

Arees1234

2

Hello all, just a little word of warning. Posted on here a few years ago. So my experience of dyslexia and SLT, I got a band 5 job and found myself becoming incredibly stressed after a few months. I decided that it was not right for me! But not sure if that was the dyslexia or more around my mental health/ anxiety.

Reply 15

kuponut

8

Original post by Arees1234

Hello all, just a little word of warning. Posted on here a few years ago. So my experience of dyslexia and SLT, I got a band 5 job and found myself becoming incredibly stressed after a few months. I decided that it was not right for me! But not sure if that was the dyslexia or more around my mental health/ anxiety.

And a little word of positivity as I posted on here around this time last year - I'm doing really well in my job, to the point I'm now in a band 5/6 development post so should hopefully be a B6 by my next appraisal date. Love what I do, love my team and my colleagues - the dyslexia is just a mild niggle (I use Word immersive reader read aloud to support me proof reading reports before I submit them).

Reply 16

Arees1234

2

Yea, as I said, I am sure my own experience has less to do with the dyslexia and more to do with an underlying mental health/ anxiety difficulty.

Original post by kuponut

And a little word of positivity as I posted on here around this time last year - I'm doing really well in my job, to the point I'm now in a band 5/6 development post so should hopefully be a B6 by my next appraisal date. Love what I do, love my team and my colleagues - the dyslexia is just a mild niggle (I use Word immersive reader read aloud to support me proof reading reports before I submit them).