Ann "Bernadette" Mayfield-Clarke, PhD, CCC-SLP, never forgets a patient but one in particular really sticks out in her mind. Every day, twice a day for four weeks, Dr. Mayfield-Clarke worked with a male patient who suffered a stroke. In that time he went from being mute to using words and ultimately speaking sentences. By the fourth week his language skills started to return to normal.
Dr. Mayfield-Clarke is certain about what her motivation is for being a speech-language pathologist (SLP), "It is priceless, you cannot even say that you do it for the money because it has nothing to do with the money," Mayfield-Clarke says in her video. "It has to do with the outcome. And the outcome was that this patient actually returned back home."
Dr. Mayfield-Clarke, associate professor and program director at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, tells her story in a videotaped spot featured on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's (ASHA) home page. Dr. Mayfield-Clarke's video is part of ASHA's Share Your Stories project.
She also serves as a faculty mentor to undergraduate and graduate students studying to become SLPs. She knows her story will teach her students that becoming a SLP has very little to do with earning a salary. It's about changing one's life who is in need of help and the journey that patients and their SLPs take together during the course of rehabilitation.
Dr. Mayfield-Clarke received her Bachelor of Science degree from Marquette University and her Master of Science and PhD from Howard University with a specialization in multicultural linguistic diverse populations and public school administration.
"Giving back is a common theme among our 135,000 members," according to ASHA President Sue Hale. "Often, I hear from SLPs such as Bernadette, as well as audiologists, about how rewarding their work is and how it is about much more than a salary and job security."
The Share Your Stories initiative highlights the difference audiologists and speech-language pathologists make in people's lives, making the professionals more approachable, familiar, and accessible to the public. ASHA plans to regularly feature segments on its home page. "We think it's a great way to introduce the public to our members—to the kind of people they are, as well as the great value they contribute to society through their work," Hale says.
About the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 135,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders.
View all ASHA press releases at http://www.asha.org/about/news.
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