Is more speech therapy worth it?

Many people (deaf and hearing) work on public speaking skills and dialects throughout their careers, some jobs depend on having an excellent command of the language, good articulation.

Every time you speak, you give your listeners a whole lot of information about yourself, from your age and place of birth to your social class and level of education. But sometimes that info is misinterpreted by others. Kids with strong regional dialects are sometimes mistakenly classified as uneducated or as having speech defects. From the day I set foot in the doors of my southern university I realized that my New York accent was going to be a hindrance in communicating effectively. I consciously worked to acquire Standard American English so that people heard what I was saying, not just where I grew up, when I spoke. No more cawfee in the mawning, just coffee in the morning for me now. Helps, too, to have married a Southerner, so I don't slip back into my native accent now that I'm in the Northeast again.
 
Hayden said:
I totally get what you're saying. :) I think that I will continue, but definitely way less than I was doing before, as somebody else suggested.
Laura, do you mind if I ask what it is you do?
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PM sent. :D
 
GrendelQ said:
Many people (deaf and hearing) work on public speaking skills and dialects throughout their careers, some jobs depend on having an excellent command of the language, good articulation.

Every time you speak, you give your listeners a whole lot of information about yourself, from your age and place of birth to your social class and level of education. But sometimes that info is misinterpreted by others. Kids with strong regional dialects are sometimes mistakenly classified as uneducated or as having speech defects. From the day I set foot in the doors of my southern university I realized that my New York accent was going to be a hindrance in communicating effectively. I consciously worked to acquire Standard American English so that people heard what I was saying, not just where I grew up, when I spoke. No more cawfee in the mawning, just coffee in the morning for me now. Helps, too, to have married a Southerner, so I don't slip back into my native accent now that I'm in the Northeast again.
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I don't look at regional accents myself, I can understand folks from NY if they're clear. I remember at my agency we had a visitor speaking on terrorism. She was a highly decorated former General in the Israeli Army and an educator so I was eager to attend. Well....they gave her a mic that she didn't use - so no one heard her unless they sat in the front rows, which I didn't, I was in back. And the Israeli gentleman sitting in the front decided to jump in and began to speak, from his chair, for 30 minutes or so...and no one understood a damn thing either of them said; I remember staring at the back of his bald head thinking "I really can't believe this..." Needless to say it was a total disappointment. Whether it's speech defects or dialects, use Power Point, sparingly (don't write the entire book on the slide), give people handouts so they can follow along if language will be a problem, and for God's sake - use the mic! :D

Laura
 
Laura, I am in a lecture right now, and the speaker turned all the lights off so I can't see his face. I just took that to mean I was supposed to go on AllDeaf and Facebook...
 
Hayden said:
Laura, I am in a lecture right now, and the speaker turned all the lights off so I can't see his face. I just took that to mean I was supposed to go on AllDeaf and Facebook...
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You've got the right idea! :D When teachers do that, I always think they've got something to hide...like they didn't do the assigned reading either and they're trying to pretend they know what they're talking about for the day's lesson!

Laura
 
Exactly! Except that everyone else in the class is hearing, so they can't be foiled by his clever plan!

I'm pretty sure the lecture is on carp, because he's shown about a billion pictures of carp so far. Good thing I just don't care. :cool2: Too cool for school.

Edit: There's a picture of a banana and some small children with baskets of fruit. Done.
 
Lau2046 said:
I had speech therapy throughout my life and I'm considering going back when I have time and income. I don't know ASL either but if I did, it wouldn't change anything, I'll always work on my speech. What kind of jobs do you want - low paying, barely making it, or financially stable? The best paying jobs require communication skills, written and oral...but it's your choice to decide the standard that you set for yourself.

Laura
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How incredibly narrow-minded. What a shame.

I guess I will be the only Deaf person in the entire world that gets paid incredibly well at my job and yet I'm not required to utter a single word at work. Not just not-required, it's not even needed. I must now go raise my bar and go out and find an even-better paying job than what I already have so I make sure I use written and oral skills because apparently that's the only way to find a job that pays well. Go figure.
 
AlleyCat said:
How incredibly narrow-minded. What a shame.

I guess I will be the only Deaf person in the entire world that gets paid incredibly well at my job and yet I'm not required to utter a single word at work. Not just not-required, it's not even needed. I must now go raise my bar and go out and find an even-better paying job than what I already have so I make sure I use written and oral skills because apparently that's the only way to find a job that pays well. Go figure.
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Do you think that being non-verbal had any effect on your finding a job? This is a genuine question, not meant to be rhetorical or condescending.
 
Hayden said:
Do you think that being non-verbal had any effect on your finding a job? This is a genuine question, not meant to be rhetorical or condescending.
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Just to clarify, I am verbal. So that changes your question a bit.

What I was saying is that I'm not required one bit to be verbal at my job. In fact, I'm not. Everyone in the office uses email, and at our staff meetings, I'm provided with an ASL interpreter. Of course, there's the general chit-chat that goes around in the hallway, but I'm not required to engage in it for my job. I can go all day at my desk not speaking a single word, so I resent the implication by Lau that you must have good speaking skills to have a good job.
 
AlleyCat said:
Just to clarify, I am verbal. So that changes your question a bit.

What I was saying is that I'm not required one bit to be verbal at my job. In fact, I'm not. Everyone in the office uses email, and at our staff meetings, I'm provided with an ASL interpreter. Of course, there's the general chit-chat that goes around in the hallway, but I'm not required to engage in it for my job. I can go all day at my desk not speaking a single word, so I resent the implication by Lau that you must have good speaking skills to have a good job.
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Ah, okay. Thank you for clarifying. :) I think it depends mainly on what sort of work you want to go into.
Do you engage in office chit-chat? If not, do you feel like you miss anything by not participating?
 
Hayden said:
Ah, okay. Thank you for clarifying. :) I think it depends mainly on what sort of work you want to go into.
Do you engage in office chit-chat? If not, do you feel like you miss anything by not participating?
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Engaging in chit-chat? To a small degree. If I'm on the way to pick up a printout from the printer, maybe. My boss totally knows how deaf I am, so if there's any good useful info being disclosed or shared, she comes right over and tells me, or emails me! :)
 
That's really cool of her! I HATE being left out of gossip. I'm nosy. Do you mind if I ask what sort of work you do?
 
Hayden said:
Ah, okay. Thank you for clarifying. :) I think it depends mainly on what sort of work you want to go into.
Do you engage in office chit-chat? If not, do you feel like you miss anything by not participating?
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And I agree about the line of work, too, totally. Just that there's plenty to be found out there that pays well without speaking.
 
AlleyCat said:
How incredibly narrow-minded. What a shame.

I guess I will be the only Deaf person in the entire world that gets paid incredibly well at my job and yet I'm not required to utter a single word at work. Not just not-required, it's not even needed. I must now go raise my bar and go out and find an even-better paying job than what I already have so I make sure I use written and oral skills because apparently that's the only way to find a job that pays well. Go figure.
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If you're not able to speak clearly because of your disability - how does my reply even relate to you? I'm speaking to someone who does speak well and who was asking a question about the value of self improvement. I stand by it.

P.S. Hayden - recognize this from my PM? :cool2: I edited my original response as I've decided not to let anyone stomp on me....stay cool!


Laura
 
Lau2046 said:
If you're not able to speak clearly because of your disability - how does my reply even relate to you? I'm speaking to someone who does speak well and who was asking a question about the value of self improvement. I stand by it.

P.S. Hayden - recognize this from my PM? :cool2: I edited my original response as I've decided not to let anyone stomp on me....stay cool!


Laura
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What?

Your reply was "What kind of jobs do you want - low paying, barely making it, or financially stable? The best paying jobs require communication skills, written and oral..." -- I still stand by the offense I've taken that you have to have good written and oral skills to have the best paying jobs. That simply isn't true. I speak very well, yet self speech-improvement would make no difference whatsoever in my job. Even Hayden wrote: "And I definitely don't agree that nonverbal deaf people universally have low paying jobs." That was exactly my point. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you intended. Or not.
 
Lau2046 said:
If you're not able to speak clearly because of your disability - how does my reply even relate to you? I'm speaking to someone who does speak well and who was asking a question about the value of self improvement. I stand by it.

P.S. Hayden - recognize this from my PM? :cool2: I edited my original response as I've decided not to let anyone stomp on me....stay cool!


Laura
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It relates to anyone seeking a job.

What do you mean not let anyone stomp on you?

YOu mean if you say something nonsensical, pride prevents you from backing down?
 
Please don't fight. I don't like negativity and I think you all have really relevant, valuable points. :) (Is it hard to tell I was a camp counselor? ;) )
Alley- Graphic design is so cool! One of my close friends is about to graduate with her degree in graphic design and I'm going to her senior show on Friday! Pardon my ignorance, but isn't graphic design usually a solitary endeavor?
Bottesini- I don't want to speak for Laura, but I think she was saying that to me as someone who cannot communicate effectively through ASL (yet!). I definitely don't agree that nonverbal deaf people are restricted to low-paying jobs.
 
Hayden said:
Please don't fight. I don't like negativity and I think you all have really relevant, valuable points. :) (Is it hard to tell I was a camp counselor? ;) )
Alley- Graphic design is so cool! One of my close friends is about to graduate with her degree in graphic design and I'm going to her senior show on Friday! Pardon my ignorance, but isn't graphic design usually a solitary endeavor?
Bottesini- I don't want to speak for Laura, but I think she was saying that to me as someone who cannot communicate effectively through ASL (yet!). I definitely don't agree that nonverbal deaf people are restricted to low-paying jobs.
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You got it Hayden....:cool2:
 
Hayden said:
Alley- Graphic design is so cool! One of my close friends is about to graduate with her degree in graphic design and I'm going to her senior show on Friday! Pardon my ignorance, but isn't graphic design usually a solitary endeavor?
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Depends entirely on the type of company you work for. (A graphic design department within a corporation, or a focused marketing/design agency, among others.). Some are team-based, others not.
 
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