Considered working as a Developmental Therapist? This interview will take you through the ups and downs you can expect in the position, what it takes to land the job, what you can expect to earn and more.

This is a true career story as told to LatPro.com for its ‘What They Don’t Teach’ a collection of interviews with Hispanic and bilingual professionals from a Accounts Manager to a University Professor, and everything in between.

My job title is Developmental Therapist, and I have one year of experience in this field. The tasks I complete on a typical day are therapy sessions with babies aged 0-3 that have a developmental delay.

I recently graduated from college and have experienced struggles because I am a younger therapist. However, there are many more experienced therapists that will lend a helpful hand. One therapist in general really took me under her wing and trained me. I have worked with some amazing women and learned a lot from experienced as wells as inexperienced therapists.

On a typical day a therapist will spend time playing with a child to determine the delays he or she may have. The results therapy sessions should show progress. Over a period of time, a therapist hopes to see their client progressing with speech and language development.

I speak a little bit of Spanish. Most of the families I worked with throughout this year only spoke Spanish and they taught me a lot. Learning about different cultures is important; it’s what makes America the melting pot of the world!

I am very satisfied with my job but there are a few downfalls. No one can determine the amount of cases a therapist will carry. Caseloads may be high or low. However, the work is truly rewarding; I’d say a 10 by far on a satisfaction scale. It’s important to be flexible and allow the kids to take the lead on occasion. Learning a second language, such as Spanish, is a very rewarding skill to have as a Developmental Therapist. If you know more than one language, you can reach more families.

I learned the hard way that experience is everything. Families choose a developmental therapist based on experience and not education. However, I understand that experience will come with time and am open to learning as much about Developmental Therapy as possible. My degree is in Education, yet it did not prepare me to become a therapist. I became certified through the state and one of the requirements was having a BA in Education.

The requirements for this position have changed; Early Childhood or Special Education degrees are necessary. This is crazy because the ECE degree only requires 2 years of education, and Elementary Education prepares you for lots of different scenarios, many of which I have found in my job. I can take a vacation and time off whenever I want, but don’t get paid for time off.

When I first started this job I was with a different agency that ended up leaving the field. However, I was fortunate to find another agency that cares about children with special needs. My current agency is very helpful.

There were a lot of cuts because I work in a state funded program. I am simply holding on to this job because I know it’s a very helpful intervention program to those who need it.

The strangest thing that has ever happened in this job is mis-communicating between my Spanish speaking only families and me. It is important to have clear communication because performing effective therapy depends on it. Agencies are looking for therapists that have passion and drive and want to make a difference.

If a friend were considering this line of work I would tell them to go for it. Every occupation experiences its highs and lows. I think that getting to know and teach a child is a gift; this is an excellent field to experience such a passion!

This job moves my heart because I know that I’m making a difference. Every time I go to a client’s home, I know I have an hour with them each week to change their lives. Also, a therapy session is a great time for the family to bond. A lot of times we forget to spend quality time with our children. During a therapy session parents can learn positive ways to enhance their child’s learning experience and environment. On a side note, this is a flexible schedule position because a client can reschedule a session and so can the therapist.

This job can make a person a substantial amount of money. When I first started working with children I was making a decent salary. However, now it is down to an hourly wage. Getting paid by the hour is nice because I can focus on each family and spend the whole hour with them. I like to take my time to know the family and the child well. The better we know the families, the more the children learn!

In five years, I would still love to be doing developmental therapy. I hope I could find a full time position again.

As mentioned before, this is a very rewarding job. If you love children and have a passion for teaching ages 0-3, I would say go for it! I love working with this age group of children and helping them reach their goals. Teachers are special people and they make a true difference in the world.

I learned a lot from the families I’ve worked for as a developmental therapist. I received my certification while having two children and being married. This is an obtainable career; you only need a caring heart to begin!

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 at 8:25 am and is filed under Career Coaching, Education, Interview, Job Search. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.