#speech pathologist

💚 Taylor Swift = Botanist 💚

This album is gentle and deeply observant, like it’s constantly noticing small changes. Like botany, it reflects that quiet attention to detail and appreciation for natural, unfiltered beauty. It’s soft, patient, and rooted in watching things evolve over time.

💛 Fearless = Teacher 💛

Fearless feels like guidance wrapped in optimism, the kind of energy that encourages you to try, fail, and try again. A teacher matches its warmth and belief in growth, especially the way it frames mistakes as part of becoming.

💜 Speak Now = Fashion Designer 💜

Speak Now is bold, expressive, and unapologetically original where every detail feels intentional and personal. A fashion designer fits because it’s about creating something that reflects your inner world outwardly, even if it’s dramatic or misunderstood.

❤️ Red = Speech Pathologist ❤️

Red is chaotic, emotional, and deeply tied to communication: what’s said, unsaid, and misunderstood. A speech pathologist fits because this album is constantly trying to articulate overwhelming feelings and repair emotional disconnects. It’s about finding the words when they don’t come easy.

🩵 1989 = Journalist 🩵

This era is sharp, self-aware, and very conscious of narrative and public image. A journalist fits because it plays with perception - who controls the story, what gets published, and what gets left out. It’s polished but curious, always chasing the truth behind the headline.

🖤 reputation = Lawyer 🖤

Reputation is all about defence, strategy, and reclaiming your narrative under pressure. A lawyer fits perfectly because it’s calculated, resilient, and unafraid to challenge accusations head-on. Beneath the armor though, there’s still something deeply personal being protected.

🩷 Lover = Wedding Planner 🩷

This album is detail-oriented in the most romantic way, obsessed with creating moments that feel meaningful and lasting. A wedding planner matches its focus on love as something you actively build and celebrate. It’s dreamy, but also grounded in making happiness real.

🩶 folklore = Nurse 🩶

Folklore carries a quiet, steady kind of care; the kind that listens more than it speaks. A nurse fits because it’s about tending to the emotional wounds with patience and empathy, often behind the scenes. It holds space for other people’s stories without needing to center itself.

🤎 evermore = Anthropologist 🤎

Evermore feels like studying human behavior across time: patterns of love, loss, and survival. An anthropologist fits because the album observes rather than reacts, piecing together meaning from different perspectives. It’s reflective, analytical, and deeply interested in how people endure.

💙 Midnights = Sleep Technologist 💙

This album lives in the space between exhaustion and overthinking, where your mind won’t turn off. A sleep technologist makes sense because it’s all about what happens in those late-night hours: cycles, disturbances, and the things that keep you awake. It’s clinical in its self-awareness but still deeply personal.

🤍 TTPD = Psychologist 🤍

This one dissects emotion in a way that feels both intellectual and self-indulgent. A psychologist fits because it’s constantly analyzing behavior, attachment, and internal contradictions. It doesn’t just feel things; it studies them, sometimes to the point of obsession.

🧡 TLOAS = Actor 🧡

It’s been four years since my last interview with a speech pathologist, and today’s interview with Petrea Cahir helps show that there’s a lot of variation in how speech pathologists work. Petrea works in a paediatric hospital, and coordinates research alongside doing clinical work. On top of that, Petrea is currently a PhD candidate. A PhD does mean you’re a student again, but being a PhD candidate involves more of the skills you often develop in the workplace - good time management, independent work and a sense of purpose (and perspective!). You can follow Petrea on Twitter (@petrea_cahir).

What did you study at university?

I completed an Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science and then did Honours in Linguistics. A few years later I did Masters in Speech Pathology and after 7 years of working, and 2 children later, I started a PhD which I’m half way through.

In my undergrad I majored in psychology and linguistics – in my eyes this was an exciting combination: The neuropsychology, biology and physiology subjects gave me an understanding of the neurophysiological mechanisms of language which I now apply day-to-day.

The linguistics subjects I chose were really varied – aside from the core subjects, I was generally more interested in the applied linguistics including cross-cultural communication and sociolinguistics but also loved semantics and phonology. At my university there was a strong focus on Aboriginal Australian languages which is how I ended up doing language documentation and investigation of verb functions of Malak Malak, an Aboriginal language.

What is your job?

After Honours I started working as a research assistant at a child health research institute on a longitudinal study of child language development with a gaggle of speech pathologists. Myself and another RA were linguistics graduates and both of us have since pursued research careers at the same institute in Global and Indigenous Health. The exposure to speech pathology inspired me to do a masters in it as I saw this as a way to apply my linguistics skills and ideally contribute to addressing social inequities and afford social change in the health and education settings.

I worked as a speech pathologist on the acute team at a paediatric hospital for almost 10 years. I was mainly attached to the neurology, neurosurgery, general and developmental medicine teams seeing children with complex medical and neurodevelopmental needs. How does your linguistics training help you in your job?

I apply linguistics to my research and clinical jobs every day. My deep understanding of phonetics and phonology allows me to efficiently compile phonetic inventories for kids with complex articulatory systems (e.g., kids with dysarthria associated with cerebral palsy), voice disorders, and bilingual children. Thanks to my semantics training, my assessments of language disorders associated with traumatic brain injury (e.g., aphasia) or developmental language disorders always take a deep dive. My PhD is in Aboriginal children’s ways of using English so I’m certainly applying cross-cultural and sociolinguistic knowledge there.

Other than those obvious applications, the linguistics training in identifying patterns makes me a better clinician. This skill helps me apply clinical evidence to groups of patients, work through complex patient and family histories, and identify what is and isn’t working for families.

Do you have any advice do you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?

I have always shied away from calling myself a linguist because I don’t have a postgrad qualification. I look back and think this is wrong – if you are trained in analysing speech and language then you are a linguist and those skills are definitely transferable to other areas, in creative ways.

Be flexible and open to opportunities as they come along. I actually never saw myself working in academia and here I am doing a PhD but I was only approached for the opportunity because of my life, meaningful networking and work experience. If you’re looking at doing a PhD you don’t have to rush into it. Working and life experience have meant that I have a great deal of perspective when it comes to completing my PhD… maybe too much!

Any other thoughts or comments?

There’s strength in diversifying. The current funding climate in research is in quite the downward phase of the cycle (even before the pandemic) so I’m not optimistic about postdoctoral opportunities. But because I have a diverse background in both clinical and research experience, I know I will have options.

What’s next? I remember sitting in Prof Janet Fletcher’s office for a practical phonetics exam and spotting a Forensic Linguistics journal…. That area has always been in the back of my mind – maybe it will come to the front!

See also:

Interview with a Speech Pathologist (Annie, 2016)

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Hey all my studyblrs out there, please read (and reblog) this post to help raise awareness about dysphagia!!

Did you know that around one million Australians have a swallowing difficulty? Swallowing problems can occur at any stage of life. However, the knowledge of dysphagia and its implications remain largely unknown for most Australians.

Swallowing difficulty (dysphagia) is caused by any difficulty in sucking, swallowing, drinking, chewing, eating, controlling saliva, taking medication, or protecting the lungs from food and drink ‘going down the wrong way’.

Often, the first signs of a swallowing problem are coughing, gagging, or choking when eating and drinking.

Swallowing difficulties can result in food, drink, or saliva making its way into the lungs, which can cause lung infections (pneumonia). Swallowing difficulties also result in weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration, and a reduced quality of life.