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(Rockville, MD - June 29, 2009) 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.
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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.
Hear all ASHA podcasts at http://www.asha.org/podcast/.
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