Global Perspectives: A SLP's Journey Working Abroad #14 (Location: Texas, U.S.A)
Yatika is originally from New Delhi, India and moved to San Antonio, Texas (U.S.A) to work as a school-based SLP. Continue reading to learn more about her experience working in the U.S.A. Thank you Yatika for sharing your experience!
What are your name, pronouns, and your job/professional title?
Yatika Jain (she/her) , School based SLP
Tell me about yourself. Where did you initially move from (before you worked abroad) and what graduate school did you attend?
I am originally from New Delhi, India. I did undergraduate (1997-2003)and post graduate studies (2003-2005) from Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities, Mumbai, India. I started working as a Medical SLP in a Pediatric SLP in Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital, New Delhi India and served the hospital clients for almost 13 years and moved to San Antonio Texas in April 2017 and started working as a school based SLP. It's been five years now serving US population.
Why did you become a SLP?
I knew I wanted to choose a career that would allow me to work with people on a one-to-one basis. I wanted a career that would allow me to make an impact in the lives of people every day. My uncle introduced me to the field of Audiology and SLP way back in 1999. He was working for a hearing Aid company and was into hearing aid marketing. He knew I always liked little kids and mentioned if I become a SLP, I could teach them learn to speak and communicate. That was the turning point of my life. It's been 18 years now serving these little kids and I just love to see the sparkle in their eyes when they learn their first word and eventually start learning to communicate effectively. It definitely is a very challenging field and pushes me to think critically or outside the box.
What city and country do you currently work in, what setting do you work in (e.g., international school, clinic, university, research, etc.), and what age range do you currently work with? How long have you been working abroad?
I am working as a school based SLP, San Antonio, Texas, USA. I am serving elementary and middle schoolers. It's been five years now.
What type of cases do you typically work with (e.g., AAC, multilingual, articulation, Autism, feeding, cognition/swallowing, etc.)?
Stuttering, Language delay, Intellectual Disability, Specific learning Disability, AAC, articulation, Autism, ADHD, Emotional Disability.
Where did you apply for this SLP international job and how was the application process?
I came here on a spouse dependent L2 VISA and I needed EAD (Employment Authorization Card) for working in USA. I received my SSN and EAD early . Soon I applied for CCC-SLP from American speech and Hearing Association. The application processing time was pretty exhausting. It took almost a year to get my transcripts, credential evaluation done, praxis. I also had to undergo a coursework in Dysphagia from Texas A and M University Kingsville campus as I was short of few credits. I finally received my letter to start CFY from ASHA and parallelly applied for Texas state SLP Intern license.
What did the process look like for you to move abroad (e.g., obtaining visas/work permits or sponsorships, finding a place to live, moving, SLP licensure, etc.)?
My husband moved to USA six months prior in oct 2016 and we joined him in April 2017. He had set up everything in advance (like renting apartment, buying car, etc) so the transition from India to US was pretty smooth for us. He helped and supported me a lot during my initial days of applying for ASHA and licensure. I also connected with many of my friends who were already living in USA since 2008. They explained me the application process, the paper work needed with the application being an international candidate and that made my job pretty easy.
What motivated you to pursue work opportunities abroad as an SLP?
I never had any plans of moving to USA anytime. I was pretty satisfied with my job in India. I moved because of my husband's job. We thought it would be for few months initially so I didn't actually quit my India job and took leaves that I had accumulated throughout my 13 years of fulltime work. But eventually because of his visa extensions and continued long term work assignment, I decided to quit my India job and continued my stay in San Antonio, Texas. We are a family of four people, me, my husband and my two kids (daughter who is now 15 years and son-12 years). My kids were little when we moved- daughter was 8 and son was 5. Living in US is expensive if just one parent is working. I was qualified and had wealth of experience and knowledge in the field of SLP, this persuaded me to explore job opportunities and I also thought getting my CCCs and license would add value to my resume if anytime I plan on moving back to my country.
How does the pay rate, cost of living, and quality of life compare to living in your home country?
Pay rate is definitely better as compared to my home country. Cost of living in India depends on the city you are living in and so does the qualify of life. Since we both were working in India and living in decent city, we could save and invest some money. Living in US is pretty expensive- grocery, food, apartment rent, health insurance, sports coaching fee- everything is very expensive, its really hard to save money if just a single person is earning and rest 3 are dependent. Since we both were earning and saving in dollars it did add to more financial security.
What specific challenges do you face working abroad as a SLP?
My main challenge was:
1. Getting ASHA letter to begin CFY and then the state licensure to start working.
2. Then came learning to drive left handed instead of right handed which I was pretty accustomed with driving in India. Getting the driving license was challenging again.
3. Knowing the culture
4. Food habits
5. Getting a job- Even though I had really great experience working in India, I was initially rejected in few interviews because I was naïve, came from a totally different cultural background and my English didn't sound like American English.
6. Documentation was another challenge for me and is still a challenge. There is a lot of paperwork especially in school set up in US.
7. Making connections within your work set up was a bit challenging initially but I was fortunate enough to make good and long lasting connections.
What are your favorite things about working abroad as a SLP?
1. Breaks-I liked working in US schools. Despite heavy case load, overwhelming paperwork, IEP meetings, etc. I just eagerly wait for the breaks (summer, thanksgiving, Christmas, spring). In my India job I never had the privilege of getting so many breaks. I had to either take a work day off to spend time with family/go for vacation or had to wait for national holidays. I was also working half days on Saturday in India.
2. I never had any experience using AAC devices and I was fortunate to get really good hands on training from great Assistive Technology specialist from our SLP team.
3. FAPE-The right to a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the United States for the students who are identified as having a disability is remarkable. I really admire the way US education system work. Every public school has all the required professional to best cater to the needs of a student with disability. I have seen professional really working hard and doing their best to support their students.
What are the most significant differences between practicing as a SLP in your home country versus abroad?
1. Usage of standardized testing- In US, we depend a lot on standardized testing. Especially in schools we had eligibility criteria to enroll a student in various special ed services whereas when I worked in Medical Government Hospital setting in India, I used to see 25-30 patients a day. Those patients used to come seek help from different parts of India and most of them were very low socio economic status and had a hard time coming back too soon to complete any kind of evaluation and undergo therapy. What we used to rely on was more of informal testing to rule out presence of any speech disability as we never had the time to go for formal testing, which definitely is a time consuming process. We used to gather information from parent, apply some basic standardized scales like REELS to get the present levels of a child and start with intervention process from the very first day itself.
2. Availability of special ed professionals in all public schools- Most Indian public schools don't have any vacancy for professionals like SLP, PT, OT, Special ed teacher. Those available in private school settings or specialized clinics or special schools for the disabled. So parents have to seek help from outside source to avail special ed services. Many government hospitals have this facility free of cost.
3. Experience- I feel due to the high population of India, we professional get a enormous amount of exposure to work with diverse disabilities even during the time we attended college. The more exposure you get working with diverse clients the more confident you feel and can give your best.
4. Paperwork- Paperwork in USA is very overwhelming.
5. Licensure- Indian SLPs are recognized Rehabilitation council of india(RCI). This is the only body that recognizes professionals But we don't need any state licensure to work in India. We just need have masters/bachelors degree to register in RCI and avail life time membership from Indian Speech and hearing Association to start working as a SLP/Audiologist. Whereas in US every state has their own licensure and we need ASHA certification as well. Many professionals with short term diploma courses are working as SLPs and taking away our jobs despite the clear guidelines from RCI. Well actually since there is no licensure to practice as SLP, SLP A and the jobs qualifications from the govt many a times does make a distinction between SLPA/SLP/Diploma. They will add any three of the professions for the same job and the professional SLPs are underpaid in govt set up. To earn a good salary most of the professionals have their own private clinics where they hire diplomas, or SLP Assistants to give therapy. I think US Licensing system is really good and helps demarcate what our job duties are.
How does your experience working abroad influence your perspectives on diversity and cultural sensitivity in speech-language pathology?
I'll begin by saying India itself is a culturally diverse country. There are 26 different officially recognized languages spoken in India and within these languages are numerous dialects. People come from various SES backgrounds, religions (Hindu, Muslims, Christian, Jains, Sikhs), within few miles distance the food, culture, religion and lifestyle of people changes. Hence moving from a culturally very rich and diverse country to a another country didn't make a big transition in terms of understanding other religion and acknowledging others and being sensitive towards them.
Embracing cultural and linguistic diversity in speech-language pathology is a necessity of an increasingly globalized world. There are few imp points we need to keep in my when dealing with a student/client coming from culturally diverse background.
1. what language/s is the student exposed to at home?
2. which language he/she is most comfortable communicating the needs?
3. the impact of the communicative environment and interlocutors upon multilingual children’s language use
4. understanding the difference between language delay and language difference.
I see so many SLPs from India working abroad in USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and many other countries. I have few friends from my college who have moved out of India and working in different countries. I feel initially every one felt little left out in their work space because they came from different CLD backgrounds but eventually they all were accepted and recognized for their work. They all moved way back in 2005/2008 . While I moved in 2017 and for me the transition was pretty easy. The only struggle was finding jobs initially as I was naïve and came from different country. But later when I actually entered the system I made my own space due to my good professional experience and expertise. I was even recognized as SLP of month by my district Speech Coordinator. I never faced any racial discrimination during my work environment. I was fortunate to work with such wonderful group of people.
What advice would you give to other SLPs who are considering working abroad for the first time?
1. Make sure you have the transcripts ready if you plan on working abroad, get your credentials evaluated, start prepping for the English language tests (TOEFL/IELTS). All this takes a lot of time. Do research on licensing and work visa required for working abroad.
2.Try to learn the system-How the education system or medical system works if you are opting for medical or school SLP jobs
3.Try to learn the habits-food habits, living style, culture, festivals, their fav pastime activities etc. of the country you have moved to- This will help you connect with people and help serve the clients.
4. Accent-I must say feel confident about yourself, you can do it, it's not a big deal working as a SLP in any other if you have the expertise in your field. The first hitch that might come in your mind would be how you will pick the accent of a particular English speaking country and do people understand me, my accent? No matter what country or religion you belong to, if you have good knowledge of your subject you will be recognized for your work. You just need to have a bit of patience initially because definitely you gonna need time to accustom to culture of the new country. To pick the accent try to watch movies like I used to watch a lot of Hollywood movies -that helped me a lot. Try to talk to the people around to breakdown that language barrier
If applicable, how do you handle homesickness or any potential challenges related to being far away from family and friends?
I loved catching up with my friends in US on weekends, engaged myself in activities like zumba, yoga to pass time, used to face time my family daily, share your feelings, be more verbal that relives your stress level, go out for hiking/camping- these things keep you engaged, if you already know someone or have a friend/family living abroad I would suggest living close by them so you can meet them often, talk to people living nearby those may not be your friend/relative but we can always make new friends.
Can SLPs contact you for more information? How can they contact you?
SLPs can reach out to me at yatikad@yahoo.com
