Zandra recently graduated from Master of Science in Educational Speech-Language Pathology and Learning Disabilities.
“The jobs such as news anchor, policy lobbyist, researcher and speech therapist sounds unrelated. To me, they are related.” Zandra said.
“A journalist feels the pulse of the society. So as a speech therapist, from elderly to children, you have to be sensitive to people’s needs.
When a stroke patient came to me, for example, I was there to overcome her swallowing problem. In addition to her physical condition, we are also trained to assess the case holistically. For example, did the patient eat too fast? Did she manage to swallow medicine? Did she get family support? Did she get all nutrition she need?
A policy lobbyist is visionary and decisive, conversant in both micro and macro management. So as a speech therapist, we are not only taking care of the client himself but his whole family.
When a dyslexic child came to me, for example, I set the long term and short term goal for him. I look out for what kinds of games he may be more responsive to. I also came up with detailed training activities which could be carried out by parents at home.
A researcher is evidence-based. So as a speech therapist, we fine-tune our therapeutic plans accordingly.
When an autistic youngster came to me in a bit to improve job interview skills, I would see how he react to different job seeking scenarios. One step at a time, I would show him how to overcome the hurdles of communication through practice.” Zandra added.
