Interested in Audiology

[gjoseph]

Greetings!

I just finished my first year at the University of North Florida. I recently changed my major towards Psychology and I absolutely enjoy the subject. I recently met with a career counselor and took tests (personality, ability, skills, etc.) and audiology was ranked #1, and then areas in counseling and social work followed. I wanted to ask does audiology require a-lot of math? My math skills are not good at all I actually made a D my first semester in College Algebra. However, I absolutely love the sciences....I nearly made a B in General Biology (partied too much) and plan on taking an anatomy course to supplement my minor which is health. For my major I have to take statistics and I'm not too concerned since I took it in high school but I'm quite discouraged when it comes to algebra, and calculus. Should I consider audiology? It seems like an interesting field, and lots of promises in the future! I'm not looking at the career for the money, however I just want to live a comfortable life.

Thanks for any guidance =)

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[rEliseMe]

I wanted to ask does audiology require a-lot of math? My math skills are not good at all I actually made a D my first semester in College Algebra. ..... For my major I have to take statistics and I'm not too concerned since I took it in high school but I'm quite discouraged when it comes to algebra, and calculus. Should I consider audiology?

Physics will help you more than algebra, as I understand it. Sound isn't two-dimensional. If you do well with practical math and statistics (for research papers), you should be fine. You won't need to worry about theoretical math.

If you're interested in psychology, you might enjoy SLP more than audiology (although it's not a given... I love psychology but can't stand SLP.). Speech-Language Pathology has a very strong psychological component and much less math than audiology.

 

[gjoseph]

Thank you for all of your help...I just have a passion of making a difference, and realized how audiology incorporates technology and you can help others with the special gift to hear again. I have always loved working with computers and various forms of technology so hopefully I can find a practitioner to shadow and I will definitely look into an Intro to Physics course and see how that goes.

I really do appreciate all of your help

 

[BikeInABox]

Don't worry about math - most grad programs only want to see that you've taken a statistics course, so you'll be okay. No program that I even considered applying to required calculus or algebra (thank goodness, or there's no way I could've even applied).
I would recommend taking an introductory course (Intro to Communication Sciences and Disorders, if it's offered. Intro to/Principles of Audiology is great as well, but may be restricted to majors, depending on your school). Hope shadowing works out well! Sounds like audiology could be great for you : )

 

[gjoseph]

Thanks BikeInABox the only problem my University currently does not offer intro classes into hearing and audiology since there isn't a speech pathology/audiology program. Hopefully, shadowing will work out if not since, I'm in Tampa for the summer maybe I can contact USF's audiology program or something about doctors to shadow in the Tampa area. Another option that I have in the future is to take an intro to audiology course or something at UF since Gainesville is not a bad drive from the Jacksonville area (where my University is located) or maybe I could find an audiologist in JAX. This past Spring I spoke with my advisor and since I have to take a language for my major I'm thinking about taking American-Sign Language. Could that help at all in the field of audiology? If not I'll just take Spanish or German =).

 

[Audie2014]

This past Spring I spoke with my advisor and since I have to take a language for my major I'm thinking about taking American-Sign Language. Could that help at all in the field of audiology? If not I'll just take Spanish or German =).

ASL or Spanish can definitely be useful as you will probably encounter a lot of people who communicate in different modalities and languages. (Not that German isn't a good language to study--it just probably won't come in handy as often as the other two.) Another thing you may want to look into is UNF's Deaf Education program, which I've heard is truly fantastic. Even if Deaf Ed. isn't your major, you may be able to get special permission to take some classes within the program. http://www.unf.edu/coehs/degrees/ESDE/progstudy/baedeafstudy.htm I would focus on getting permission for Language Development and Disorders, Educational Assessment for Learners with Exceptionalities, Language Development Deaf/HOH, and definitely Audiology and Speech Science. Good luck!

 

[BigAl]

All the above recommendations are on point, but after you have definitely decided on the field. Maybe it me but I never put too much weight on these aptitude test because they leave so many factors out. My suggestions to you is find an audiologist (shouldn't be hard in Florida) and see if you can shadow them for a few days. By doing this you will see what the career entail and you can see if this is something you will enjoy doing. A test can only do so much. BTW go to both hospital audiologists and private practice, even though both are audiologist the atmosphere they work in is different.

If you have more questions, you know where to come to ask them

Good luck!

 

[rEliseMe]

This past Spring I spoke with my advisor and since I have to take a language for my major I'm thinking about taking American-Sign Language. Could that help at all in the field of audiology? If not I'll just take Spanish or German =).

I love German but wouldn't recommend using university time to learn it. It won't benefit you much in America.
Spanish is probably the best choice if you're not 100% sure you'll be in the Audiology career path forever because it's so widely-used in America. American Sign Language will help a lot if you intend to work with D/deaf and hard of hearing people on their level, and it can be a great rapport-builder.

As much as I love American Sign Language, I'd almost recommend going with Spanish instead of ASL in your specific situation, but within the field I think they're equally valuable.

 

[gjoseph]

Thank You!! Thank You!! Thank You!!

I'm so glad that I joined this forum, each and everyone of you gave such excellent advice. Audie2014 I definitely will look into gaining special permission for the Deaf/Speech classes and if I'm interested maybe it's a sign. BigAl I definitely am not trying to put serious weight on the aptitude, skill, and personality tests. I plan on using the results as a guide, and since have researched each of the most "compatible" careers and Audiology and Mental Health Counseling have shown much interest to me. It's so funny, my academic advisor was a speech-language pathologist and recommended me to look into audiology instead of speech-language pathology. My advisor disliked the way her company treated her, its clients, and she felt "burned-out". I have researched Speech Language Pathology and even Occupational Therapy and they do not interest me. I definitely will look into shadowing audiologists in hospitals and private-practice, take classes in speech/audiology as well as intro to physics. You guys are the best and I definitely will use the forum as a guide for my academic/professional future.