SOP Sample for MS Speech Language Therapy in UK - Fresher Profile

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

When a group of friends were dealing with voice and fluency issues during my school days and had to take help from the Speech Therapist, I realized that there are a lot many children of such age who suffer from speech issues. It was in Standard XI that I happened to come across another Professor who was also attending voice therapy sessions. Subsequently, I realized how I can help all these people by pursuing a course in this field. It was a challenge for me to inspire million such kids who had cleft palate issues which were developed during their formation in their mother's womb as well as people whose stuttering issues have caused anxiety problems to them. So, having observed the progress made by the then acquaintances and friends through such speech therapy sessions as well their improved quality of life, I decided to pursue my undergrad in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP).

I started this 4-year undergrad program in Bachelor in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. During this time, I noticed various neurological disorders that surfaced from an array of the population including pediatrics. I was engrossed in studying subjects such as Diagnostic Audiology, Noise, Management of Hearing Impairment, Paediatric Audiology, Neuro Genic Language Disorder, Motor Speech Disorder which could help me ameliorate the problems of such patients through therapeutic intervention. The 'habilitation' sections at the end of a lecture also prodded me to learn more. It was a great opportunity to learn how we can treat them by using electrical simulation techniques or basic rhythmic exercises.

The ideas on pediatric voice issues were finally narrowed down during my training in PRAAT software, Stroboscopy, Endoscopy and VAS. This helped me to transform these ideations into my final year paper presentation - 'A Comparative Study of Voice in Male Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy'. Voice recorders were used to obtain the samples and were analyzed on PRAAT software. We collaborated with [ORGANIZATION], a society of spastic individuals and researched such samples to detect abnormal cry patterns of spectrographs. It helped in identifying how speech varies and can be an early way to detect asymptomatic neonates who might be at risk for developmental disorders. I presented this paper 'A Comparative Study of Voice Mutation in Male Adolescents with Spastic Cerebral Palsy' at the 47th National Conference of [ORGANIZATION] and following this it was published in the Journal of [UNIVERSITY], Volume No. 54 No.2(IV) 2020-2021. Likewise, I secured positions in multiple paper presentation competitions.

My other research paper titled 'Improvement of Speech and Language skills in a Case of Complete Agenesis of Corpus Callosum' was published in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Cycle Research, [JOURNAL] Journal, Volume XII, Issue XII, on December 2020. This was to study those patients who cannot communicate properly with others because of the partial or complete absence (agenesis) of an area in their brain that connects the two cerebral hemispheres. Hence, I studied receptive and expressive language disorders amongst the children and tried to find out ways to improve their cognitive ability and reading/writing skills.

In order to get the much-required practical exposure, I interned at [INSTITUTE], a central government-based institute which is dealing with adult neuro-skeletal rehabilitation for over 65 years. This boosted my confidence to treat individuals diagnosed with cerebral palsy, aphasia, dysarthria and dysphagia. This stint made me more independent, polished my assessment skills and enabled me to apply my learning to 10-12 patients assigned to me on a daily basis. The exposure rekindled my interest in pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders. So, I participated in various webinars based on pediatric swallowing and feeding issues like OPT webinar by [ORGANIZATION] which helped me devour relevant knowledge in this field.

At [ORGANIZATION] I worked on Autism Spectrum Disorders, which focused on inculcating children for speech therapy with Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). I got exposure to other Observership at [ORGANIZATION] - Pediatric where learning was focused on Language Disorders and Speech Therapy Management in children. During my Observership at [HOSPITAL] Head and Neck Oncology department, I learned about Modified Barium Swallow (MBS) and Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) techniques in all age groups of cancer patients and as Locum-Speech Language Pathologist and Audiologist at [HOSPITAL], I worked in a Paediatric and Geriatric hospital setting and delivered services related to Tracheostomy Care, Voice Rehabilitation and Speech Issues.

I have also been a Visiting Consultant at [CLINIC] where I dealt with the pediatric and geriatric population and delivered therapeutic techniques/exercises to neurogenic and fluency disorder patients. As the Visiting Consultant at [ORGANIZATION], I worked with a multidisciplinary team approach in the habilitation of patients with language, motor speech disorders and voice issues. I have also treated a 38-year-old woman who was diagnosed with Anomic Aphasia after Ischemic stroke and has had difficulty in expressive language. So I treated her with Speech Therapy Activities and strategies based on Sound Breakdown, Naming Games, Cued Naming, Melodic Intonation Therapy and Back to the Drawing Board Technique. The grueling clinical schedule of approximately 40 hours/week not only cemented my interest in higher studies but also laid down a foundation for my clinic.

While working in various such departments and always excited with the thought of new therapeutic interventions/techniques, the real push was more personal. Getting my family member diagnosed with autism within two months of starting my bachelor's and still dealing with it, added another invulnerable layer to grit. Realizing that the unique blend of my knowledge could help millions of people, I started seeking out more opportunities. What eventually scratched that old wound was my grandmother getting paralyzed, which led me to learn more about [RESEARCHER] and [RESEARCHER]'s findings on post-stroke rehabilitation of gait. On reading further, I was shocked at the number of patients with neurological disorders not being able to afford health care. So, I aspired to improve the rehabilitation care system with better, efficient and affordable techniques. For this, I need to understand the deliverables, expectations, retrials and failures and hence, a MSc Speech and Language Therapy Program would be ideal for me.

I look forward to working as MED SLP at [HOSPITAL] where I can leverage my knowledge. The acquired knowledge would help me to have my own clinic in the long run where I can work on Modified Barium Swallow (MBS) and Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) and offer low-cost treatment. I want to start a platform for innovators with little or no resources, and give shape to their ideas in collaboration with experts in their respective field of rehabilitation.

I believe an MSc from [UNIVERSITY] in MSc Speech and Language Therapy would open new doors for me. It will refine my professional as well as practical skills and would help me derive in-depth knowledge in fundamental courses and subjects like Voice Disorders, Applied Neurolinguistics, Genetic Speech-Language Pathology, Neuromotor Disorders and Language Development. I am also intrigued about the clinical applications, specific techniques for assessment and intervention and the analytical techniques which would help me to cure the disorders like voice (aphonia, dysphonia, laryngectomy, etc), fluency (stuttering); speech (articulation, dysarthria, etc); language (aphasia, dyslexia, specific language impairment, autism, language delay, etc); and oropharyngeal function (swallowing). I am also looking forward to the practicum at [ORGANIZATION]. If given a chance, I would be able to attend local community events like [PROGRAM] for Adults with ASD or the Swallowing Awareness Event organized by [HOSPITAL], [ORGANIZATION] students.

I truly believe a higher degree in the field of MSc Speech and Language Therapy will give life to my ideas and dreams. I believe your university would provide the perfect platform to integrate the required speech therapy skills, experience and academic studies and therefore, would help me catapult my career in the right direction. I earnestly request you to approve my application. Looking forward to a mutually beneficial association.