Occupational therapists: searching for another career choice?

Are you an occupational therapist who is ready to consider another option - if only you knew about appropriate choices? Maybe you had a very difficult year last year, or are about to retire and want a part-time job later. You don't want to go back to school for extended training; you want to use your current skills in a different way.

A while back, I was unexpectedly asked by a desperate unemployed speech-language pathologist what options she had, especially since she didn't want to go back to school.

I didn't know this person, and yet her question gnawed at me. Finally, I began researching the choices.

The book, Alternative Career Options for Speech-Language Pathologists, is my answer. It covers the choices made by 18 speech-language pathologists who each sought to combine speech therapy with some other field. The other fields ranged from sales to graphic arts to a lot more. Many of these choices would  also apply to special educators, who also use products and equipment, work with others and can provide training geared to specific learning styles.

Even though who don't want any of the choices presented often comment that the information sparked further ideas for them. (One speech-language pathologist decided to become an equine massage therapist, which was definitely not covered in the book!)

As an occupational therapist commented,

Although this book is geared toward speech pathologists, this is a source of inspiration for occupational therapists too! Sometimes those of us in helping professions need a change due to burnout or unrealistic work demands, and this book shows us that there are other ways to use our skills and training to make a living and to continue to make a difference in people’s lives. Even if they aren’t feeling burnout and just have an entrepreneurial spirit, this will give any allied health professional ideas to explore or a place to start.   

Alicia Kollmar MS, OTR/L

To learn more about Alternative Career Options for Speech-Language Pathologists, go to www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com/slp . Copies are limited; get yours today!

Rehab or Education Professional: Considering New Career Choices?

At this time of year, many stressed-out professionals in speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, physical therapy and education (especially special education) are considering changing careers. With few or no salary raises and no career ladders, talented professionals often feel that they have been asked to do too much too fast for too many for too little pay for too long. The problem is that they don't know what options are out there for them, if they don't want to return to school first.

Alternative Career Options for Speech-Language Pathologists is a book that offers choices - and possibilities.
Each chapter details the story of 1 speech-language pathologist (or team of 2), who went from having a traditional career to combining speech skills with those of a different field. Extensive additional schooling was not needed, except for 1 option. Each person talks candidly about the positives and negatives of his/her new career choice, as well as how he or she made the transition. Eighteen individuals/teams are covered, with other options being mentioned briefly.

Examples of the new fields include developing and training others in related equipment, teaching speech-language pathologists specialized new skills, publishing, sales of related equipment,  visual communications consultant, and many more! These examples are intended to help spark ideas in the minds of the readers.

These options would be suitable for many types of rehabilitation and education professionals.

The book also includes a career self-assessment questionnaire, so readers can thoughtfully and systematically consider their own possible choices.

The softcover book  Alternative Career Options for Speech/Language Pathologists is available here . Get more information on it by seeing this video. There are options for you; start exploring them today!