Speech therapist with a horrid accent

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If you had an awful accent (not native to where you will eventually practice), does it even make sense for you to dream about becoming an SLP (speech-language pathologist) ?

I personally wouldn't consider in unless I were helping those who spoke my native language. Otherwise, I think it could be confusing to those receiving therapy.

Another option would be to improve the accent. That's probably what I would do. It takes a lot of practice, but is possible for most, I think.

Just don't do speech therapy. Do other things that speech pathologists do.

Maybe this person was a speech-language pathologist in their native country, and wanted to do the same thing in their new country.

??? Like what ?

They teach social skills to children. they physically manipulate the jaw to encourage muscle memory in making correct sounds. They help stroke victims swallow.

Just three examples.

Many speech pathologists don't specialize in speech therapy.

It was my major in college.

I do think it requires at least a master's to complete the degree. It's usually a five-year program. I guess that someone who already has a degree would be able to complete the coursework in a shorter period, depending on what their degree was in.

Ah, then time to pick your brains, sir.

What I really want to do is to work with kids with apraxia, or those who lost the ability to talk following a stroke, to learn to make sounds, then to string sounds together, and eventually to speak in full sentences - every individual deserves a voice and wanting to teach my son to talk - who most people have written off as "un-help-able" (is that even a real word ?) - is fueling this obsession to become an SLP or an SLPA.

Speaking of jaw manipulation / muscle memory - did you learn this in UG or PG ? Did you also learn touch cues / PROMPT in college ? Are you an SLP ?

When I was in my 20s, I was what was derisively termed "the eternal student". I changed majors at least 5 times, and completed coursework in amost every major I picked, before I finally graduated UG from a local state university. The Uni had probably had enough of me by that time,

The ultimate irony, however, is that despite all those years spent in college, I never was able to become what I wanted to be - an accountant specializing in taxation issues. A couple of reasons why that never happened, and that it is one of my greatest regrets in life ! I am middle-aged now, and when I decided that I needed to get a career again (for various reasons), my first desire was to apply to the Master's program in Taxation. Then, I turned around and looked at my son, and think that becoming an SLPA or an SLP is the best way to help him. Unfortunately, despite my darndest attempts, I haven't fully been able to get rid of my accent despite years and years here in America, even though my accent has ameliorated quite a bit over the years. But it's still detectable - which makes me really wonder if I can make a living doing speech therapy.

Let's see. I still have two years to finish up the program (if I entered this Fall) and MAYBE if I worked extra hard at accent reduction over the next couple of years, I will be fine. Who knows ? Hope springs eternal, after all.

I only have an undergraduate degree in speech pathology. I've been exposed to, but I'm not qualified, in PROMPT.

I did well academically, but not so well in the practicum. I did that okay in psychotherapeutic aspects during the Practicum, not so well in mechanical/methodological aspects.

How old were you when you arrived in an English-speaking country? If it was after puberty, it's much more difficult to lose an "accent" because of a lack of brain plasticity following puberty.

Henry Kissenger never was able to get rid of his German accent.

If it's what you really want to do, then I wouldn't give up on it. Set aside time to practice reducing your accent every day. You could talk to friends, and have them give examples of what sounds you need to work on. You could record yourself speaking, and perhaps you will be able to hear and adjust your accent.

I'd say that once you identify the sounds that you are having trouble with, you should be able to get more of an American accent over time. You could record yourself repeating words and replay it to check on your progress. It's really just a matter of practice, in my opinion. There are probably apps out there that could help with it.

Hindi has a certain phoneme which is very difficult to get rid of, is very characteristic of Hindi, and is a phoneme I cannot imitate.

The brain is always plastic, Kraftie. That is why even a stroke victim who develops profound apraxia at age 70 is eventually - with intensive therapy - able to speak again. The only reason my "accent" is even a problem is because of my intention to become an SLPA.

Out of curiosity, what specific trouble did you have with the mechanical aspects of Practicum ?




Hindi is not my mother tongue. I was exposed to it (and Urdu to some extent) when I lived in Mumbai and can understand it very well. Speaking it is a different animal though. Mumbaiya Hindi is a corrupt thing, and I avoid speaking it, for fear of sounding like a slumdog to the Gangetic-belt Hindi speakers who live near-by

What Hindi phoneme do you have trouble with ?

Speaking is one thing. This deals with something which is more general than accents. It's sort of like the difference between fine-motor and gross-motor functions.

I'll have to look up the phoneme.....but it corresponds, as I recall, to a cross between English /l/ and /r/. /r/ and /l/ are closely related.

It takes excellent physical coordination to manipulate, properly, a little kid's jaw without hurting the kid or having the kid recoil from the contact.

I am aware that your first language is not Hindi. I believe it is Tamil.

Well then, I should work on physical coordination as well, so as to be able to move my kid's jaw (or any kid's jaw) without hurting them. Speech is something we all take for granted until we come across someone who cannot produce it. It is especially difficult for me to accept because I am quite the talker !

I think I know what phoneme you are referring to - it is present in Tamil, too, and we have tongue twisters around it. However, when used by Hindi speakers, I suspect that it is actually a corruption of the /r/ sound as there is no alphabet representing that sound in Devanagari (which is a script appropriated by Hindi from Samskritham) nor has an alphabet been created / introduced to represent that particular sound, which results in that phoneme never appearing in written language. Interesting, aye ?

Apraxia is a disorder in motor planning, usually in the absence of a physical/neurological disorder of the speech mechanisms. Dysphagia is a disorder of the speech mechanisms themselves.

Apraxia requires more gentleness in physical manipulation. And much repetition, so the resulting motor planning will "register," resulting in muscle memory.


Dyspraxia is the same as apraxia.