Informative Essay On Speech Therapy

Three years old. Donovan was three years old when I walked into the Child Development room at Bayard Rustin High School. As my eyes began to scan the room, I saw Donovan sitting on the carpet playing by himself. With his head cocked up at me, my mind confirmed what my eyes saw. The three-year-old boy sitting in front of me was wearing hearing aids. As he made the dinosaur’s mouth open and close, I pretended it was eating my finger. Donovan thought this was hilarious. His contagious laugh caught the attention of a three-year-old girl named Emma. Tapping me on the shoulder, she asked: “What are those things in his ears?” With a quick glance at Donovan, I responded: “Those are called hearing aids. They help him hear.” The curiosity of Emma allowed me to understand why I was so mesmerized by the three-year-old boy …show more content…
I always wondered how individuals with hearing loss or intellectual disabilities grew up to be so different from when I knew them as young children. I decided to start researching what factors impact the quality of life for children with disabilities. It came to my attention that speech therapy had a major part in their development, and I wanted to learn more about this field of science. I knew that I wanted to teach children how to effectively communicate with others. I reached out to Donovan’s parents during the summer to attend some of his Speech Therapy sessions. I was given the opportunity to experience how a Speech-Language Pathologist has the ability to interact with their clients in a motivating way. Donovan’s presence in Bayard Rustin High School’s Preschool Program led me to the field of Speech-Language Pathology. As Donovan’s “big teacher” in the classroom, I worked 1:1 with him three days a week for 45 minutes. Quickly, the tables turned. He was the teacher; I was the student. Donovan, a three-year-old boy with hearing aids, inspired me to pursue a career in Speech-Language