{"id":142,"date":"2014-04-24T08:18:06","date_gmt":"2014-04-24T12:18:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/traveler\/?p=142"},"modified":"2014-04-26T15:15:22","modified_gmt":"2014-04-26T19:15:22","slug":"the-path-to-a-medical-career-working-with-autistic-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/2014\/04\/24\/the-path-to-a-medical-career-working-with-autistic-children\/","title":{"rendered":"The Path to a Medical Career Working with Autistic Children"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I thought I&#8217;d outline the four most common career routes to a medical profession working with autistic children.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Speech-Language Pathologist<\/strong><br \/>\nSince language and communication hardships are two primary aspects of the autism spectrum disorder, individuals with this specialty training are in high demand in the clinical setting. Speech-language pathologists work with children to improve their motor speech and lessen their cognitive-communication delays. These professionals usually have a master&#8217;s or doctoral degree in speech-language pathology.<\/p>\n<p><em>If you are curious about your potential compensation, you can always browse data on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bls.gov\/ooh\/healthcare\/speech-language-pathologists.htm\">Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/a> or just search for current related job postings on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.medworking.com\">MedWorking.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Applied Behavior Analyst<\/strong><br \/>\nLess affectionately known as &#8220;behavior modification&#8221;, this practice designs systems of interactive backed with positive reinforcement. This is the most common method of behavioral treatment for autistic children. To enter this specialty you&#8217;ll want to become a licensed clinical psychologist or achieve a doctoral degree in behavior analysis. Board certification would also be required here.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Occupational Therapist<\/strong><br \/>\nIn this medical specialty we take a step back from direct behavior analysis and look at how an individual relates to their environment. An occupational therapist&#8217;s primary goal is to help people feel and live independently. Obviously this is a hugely necessary part of treating autism. A master&#8217;s or doctoral degree in occupational therapy is required.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Educator of Special Needs<\/strong><br \/>\nFor those wanting a more fast-track path to a career, consider a non-medical setting. A special education teacher is trained to assist children with a vast array of learning disabilities. Your workplace will almost always be a public or private school. A BA or BS in special education is all you need here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I thought I&#8217;d outline the four most common career routes to a medical profession working with autistic children. Speech-Language Pathologist Since language and communication hardships are two primary aspects of the autism spectrum disorder, individuals with this specialty training are in high demand in the clinical setting. Speech-language pathologists work with children to improve their [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4486,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2972,134],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism","category-education"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4486"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions\/144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/traveler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}