Week Two

Every night, my sister and I meet at our kitchen table and I tutor her in math. I probably sound like such a great big sister, right? Wrong. In reality, she is my big sister, studying for a test that she must pass in order to work within a school. My sister is finishing up her last semester of grad school to become a speech-language pathologist. The last time she has ever had to do algebra or geometry was in her earlier years of high school; over six years ago! So every night I am faced with the same question: Why should a speech therapist be denied the ability to work in schools if they cannot pass a math test? I’m sure there are plenty of supports for this standard like, we want the people educating our children to also be educated, but someone in the position of a speech therapist will never be touching on anything more than basic math, if any math at all. I've had the privilege of getting to watch my sister in action with a wide variety of clients from small children to elderly stroke victims, and while I will admit that I am a little biased, she is incredible at what she does. Unfortunately, math was never one of her strong suits, and I’m sure many other SLP’s feel similarly. What the people in charge need to realize, is the only ones suffering from their testing set-up is themselves. I can’t imagine how many amazing SLP’s have not been allowed to practice within the school realm due to such an outrageous standard, and I will keep trying my hardest to keep that from happening to my sister.