Need a gift for a speech-language pathologist, OT, PT or special educator?

Are you planning on buying a gift for someone in the helping professions, such as a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, physical therapist or a special educator? Do you know someone in those fields who wants a second job or is planning to retire soon?

Helping professionals in those and other fields often have many talents that can be transferred into another career field, or into a career that is related to what they have done before. Many of them combine two career fields, such as therapy and training, or therapy and graphic arts.

Alternative Career Options for Speech-Language Pathologists is a book that discusses the career paths of 18 professionals. It covers each person's (or team's) traditional career, how the person changed to a new field, what the person does now, and the advantages and disadvantages of making such a change.

The book includes a career self-assessment questionnaire to help the reader consider his or her possibilities.

In a special offer, if the book is purchased by December 15, 2014, and the reader completes and e-mails back the questionnaire by December 30, 2014, the author will offer personalized suggestions to the reader at no extra charge! (This is a $50 value!)

Find out more about this extraordinary book, Alternative Career Options for Speech-Language Pathologists, and get your copy now!

SLPs: Considering retirement?

At this time of year, many speech-language pathologists (SLPs), occupational therapists, physical therapists and special educators are tired of excess paperwork/IEPs/insurance claim denials/productivity demands/etc and considering other career choices in the field. (Supervisors, beware!) Others in the helping professions are Baby Boomers who are considering retirement or want to have a second job.

 Creative SLPs for years have been combining speech pathology with other fields to find greater career satisfaction. Most of the choices do not require a new degree.

"Alternative Career Options for Speech-Language Pathologists" is a book describing the choices made by 20 of these speech-language pathologists. It covers each person's choice, how he got into it, the advantages and disadvantages, and more. The book includes a career self-assessment survey to help readers consider new possibilities.

Many of the choices in this book are suitable for physical and occupational therapists, special educators and others in the helping professions who are ready for a change, a second job, or who are considering retirement and yet want to stay in the workforce, albeit in a slightly different way.

Alternative Career Options for SLPs comes with  a special bonus that expires February 10, 2015; check here to learn about this remarkable offer!

Speech-Language Pathologist - Ready for Something Different?

It's that time of year, when many speech-language pathologists (SLP)s are so tired of massive amounts of paperwork (think: IEPs and insurance billing) and productivity standards! The question appears: what else can I do? (As more than one such burnt-out SLP told me, "If I do another ___ again, it will be too soon!")

After being asked this question by a total stranger on the telephone, I became intrigued, and spent a lot of time researching options. It turns out that there are many choices.

The first question is what intrigues a given SLP: favorite aspects of the field, preferred population and work hours, and even hobbies that could become involved.

How could these all become connected?

Eighteen SLPs who switched careers did so in a wide variety of creative ways. Details of their transition journeys are included in Alternative Career Options for SLPs, by Katie Schwartz (Business Speech Improvement, publisher).  (Many of these choices would also be applicable for burnt-out physical therapists, occupational therapists, and special educators.) Each story includes what the original career setting was, the process of change, what the person chose to do, the positives and the negatives of the choice, and how to get started in the new field, if the reader is interested.

The book also includes a self-assessment questionnaire, to help readers consider possible future options.

The book can be ordered from www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) : ready for something different?

Recently speech-language pathologists in medical and educational settings spoke about situations that provoke burn-out. As one put it, "I'm swamped with paperwork!" With fewer providers, more paperwork and more productivity expected, they feel overwhelmed. Does this describe you as well? There are other professional roles for speech-language pathologists than as direct service providers. Some SLPs become supervisors, while others serve as trainers for equipment that SLPs and their clients may use. Some SLPs train other SLPs in a variety of fields, or work with communicatively-impaired clients in non-traditional ways. Alternative Career Options for Speech-Language Pathologists by Katie Schwartz is a book which describes the choices 18 SLPs made to combine speech with some other field. (The book is also appropriate for OTs, PTs, and special educators.) Each chapter covers the choice made by one SLP or team of SLPs that chose to work together. Readers will learn the process of that change, what the person decided to do, and the positives and negatives of that choice, as well as how to get started in that field. Even if the reader is not interested in those choices, learning what others have done can help to spark new ideas in the reader's mind. There is also a chapter on a self-assessment questionnaire that the reader can use, to help him or her consider appropriate choices. Additional career options are mentioned here briefly as well. To get this book, click here (and scroll to the bottom of the page).

SLP, Ready for a different career choice?

Are you a speech-language pathologist who is burned out, ready to retire or wanting a second job (full-time or part-time)? How does your experience and degree translate into something else? You want to do something different, but you don't want to go back to school. What other choices do you have?

Author Katie Schwartz, CCC-SLP, reports there are a surprising number of career possibilities, from publishing to government. Her book, Alternative Career Options for SLPs (www.BusinessSpeechImprovement.com/ebooks), offers detailed descriptions of 18 choices, how people started in them, and their advantages and disadvantages. It includes a self-assessment questionnaire to help readers consider possible paths they may take.

Physical and occupational therapists and special education teachers, may also be interested in some of the choices presented, which would apply to those fields as well.

SLPs: Searching for "Something Else" as a Career Choice?

"If I have to do another (choose one: barium swallow, IEP, insurance claim form, therapy session), it will be one too many!"These are words from frustrated speech-lamguage pathologists in various medical and educational settings. Often they are being asked to have high productivity with few or no materials (which are often ancient, if they exist at all) and endless paperwork for the payors or other agencies. No wonder SLPs get so upset and want to find "something better"!

Alternative Career Options for SLPs by Katie Schwartz is a book that tells about the career choices made by 20 SLPs who creatively combined their speech background with that of another field. Only one of the choices required significant additional education. Each chapter covers another career choice, why the SLP chose it, a typical day, and the positive and negatives of that choice.

The book includes a career self-assessment questionnaire to help readers consider options for themselves.

While the book was written about SLPs, many of the options would be equally appropriate for OTs and PTs/

Alternative Career Options for SLPs can be ordered at http://businessspeechimprovement.com/enabler/scripts/category.pl?Books.