Salary PT/OT/ Seit? In NY

amother

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 10:15 am

Hi I'm considering going into special ed but starting from scratch...b.a. first

Thinking about speech vs seit and can't decide which route to take

...what salary can I expect as a seit? Speech therapist?

amother

Denim

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 10:23 am

I’m in NYC and my son gets Speech, SEIT, OT & PT. The BOE just dropped his SEIT hours and is pushing more speech. The problem is that his school has only one speech therapist at this location and many kids are going without speech services.

I was discussing it with his SEIT, and was wondering why it’s so hard to get a speech therapist. He told me that the BOE recently cut the pay for services. For everyone, but the most significant cuts went to the relates services which is Speech, OT and PT.

seeker

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 12:02 pm

If I'm not mistaken, regular SEIT averages around 65-70. Enhanced rate SETSS is a lot better than SEIT these days. But the DOE keeps cutting corners and I'm not sure if we're looking at a bubble about to pop.

In an overly general sense, I think it's best to choose a career based on a broader view than a specific job. For example if speech is your passion, then even if the DOE goes sour you'll be able to provide speech therapy in rehab centers or other contexts. Keep an open mind. When one door closes, etc etc.

amother

Sienna

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 12:11 pm

SEITS get paid around the same as speech. Last year before I got an hourly raise, my friend that does SEIT was getting more than me. Its shorter schooling, and less in student loans. Just do SEIT.

Speech isnt worth it. The loans are high, theres extreme burn out in our field, the pay is low, tons of paperwork. The other issue is that speech is a really broad range- you wear many hats so its hard to be good at all of them. I can technically treat voice, fluency, apraxia, aphasia, but I havent done any of that in years. So you really need to pick a niche and then learn more and take more CEUs and build a name for yourself

amother

Burntblack

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 12:16 pm

Speech therapist here. dont do it unless you really enjoy the field and are passionate about it

Special ed is quicker, easier, cheaper, schooling, you get paid more, and the job is easier because you have less students on your caseload

amother

Yellow

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 12:31 pm

What are options for someone in the special ed field if they’re not working as SEIT?
What are other niches so to say?

seeker

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 12:35 pm

amother Yellow wrote:

What are options for someone in the special ed field if they’re not working as SEIT?
What are other niches so to say?

Classroom teaching.
Tutoring.
Content creation.
Supervision, if you're qualified enough.
Agencies hire people to go over paperwork, if you're good at that. It's a special ed job because you need to know if session and progress reports make sense professionally.

amother

Burntblack

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 12:37 pm

seeker wrote:

Regarding your last line-do you know agencies would hire speech therapists for this kind of work? It sounds up my alley and something I can do for extra money, but I never heard of this job.

seeker

Mon, Apr 01 2024, 1:23 pm

amother Burntblack wrote:

Regarding your last line-do you know agencies would hire speech therapists for this kind of work? It sounds up my alley and something I can do for extra money, but I never heard of this job.

I know of one agency looking for someone full time on site to manage this area.
Other than that I would just cold call agencies and ask if they have openings. There are so many agencies and most of them have someone doing this kind of thing, you never know who is expanding and can use someone to pick up more work.