Hello Bermuda from rainy South Florida! I've been here a week and I've seen more rain than sun, but I digress. This week we will identify a gaping hole in our society that Bermudians need to fill. There are not enough Bermudians qualifying in the therapy services professions to the extent that, as with many other careers, we have to bring in guest workers year after year. But the problem is worse than just the work permits. The bigger issue is that even with the guest workers we bring in, the therapists working between the Health Ministry and the Ministry of Education cannot cope with the workload which means that the kids with autism and other developmental challenges are not getting the required amount of therapy they need and deserve. More on this after the Top 20.

Refusing to move from the top spot is 'California Gurls' by Katy Perry, featuring Snoop Dogg, one of the hottest global pop tracks!

Improving to #2 is 'I Love The Way You Lie' by Eminem featuring Rihanna. Improving to #3 is 'Rockstar 10', another hit by Rihanna.

Rihanna's star is just so high. I was flossing in my new whip down Griffin Road the other day and was listening to my favourite Rihanna track of all time 'Please Don't Stop the Music' and I had to admit that this sister is just talented. On that particular track props must go to the songwriting, the production, the concept of using the chorus lyrics from the late king of pop Michael Jackson's hit 'Wanna Be Startin Something'. All of that is part and parcel of what it takes to produce a hit. But she delivers the goods in person and being cute never hurt anybody! Just check out the picture inset.

Falling to #4 is 'Find your love' by Drake, another popular track by the new hip hop/R&B stud.

Falling to #5 is 'Palance' by JW and Blaze, a popular soca track this year. Slipping to #6 is 'OMG' by Usher featuring Will I AM; a very popular and catchy track.

Improving to #7 is 'Dynamite' by Taio Cruz. Up to # 8 is 'I like it' by Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull. Climbing to #9 is 'Ride' by Ciara featuring Ludacris. Down to #10 is 'L'il Freak' by Usher featuring Nicki Minaj.

Making huge gains up to #11 its 'Hello, Good Morning' by Diddy, the hottest hip hop song around and still DJLT's favourite hit of the moment. Up to #12 is 'Teenage Dream' by Katy Perry, a former essential new track. Tumbling to #13 is 'Nothing On You' by BoB featuring Bruno Mars. Falling to #14 is 'Unthinkable' by Alicia Keys.

Now some new tracks. Improving to #15 is last week's must have new song, 'Just The Way You Are' by Bruno Mars. Up to #16 is 'DJ Got Us Falling In Love' by Usher featuring Pitbull.

Now this week's essential new track. New at #17 its 'Deuces', by Chris Brown featuring Tyga and Kevin McCall. Chris Brown has game. I wasn't too happy with him for slapping up Rihanna earlier in the year but she left him and it seems to be over with. As long as he don't slap up anybody else I will give him a pass. But the track is hot and is currently number one in the hip hop singles charts worldwide.

New at #18 is 'Only Girl In The World' by Rihanna. On the way down into the #19 spot this week is 'Break Your Heart' by Taio Cruz featuring Ludacris. New at #20 is 'Just A Dream' by Nelly.

Now back to this week's word careers needing Bermudians. I talk to a lot of young people about what they should study/pursue as a career. Many of them have no clue. I remember when I was at Acadia University, back in the 1980s (damn that seems like a lifetime ago!) I used to tell my colleagues who were not fellow business students that they should study something in which they can actually get a job. I used to diss the liberal arts students because I couldn't figure out for the life of me where they were gonna work or what the heck they were gonna do with their lofty liberal arts degrees. The funny thing is that they didn't know either! LOL.

Today we find ourselves in a predicament where we have a large and growing population of autistic children and children with other developmental challenges being born in Bermuda who will need the services of all therapists. The current team of therapists between the Health Ministry and MOE cannot keep up with or effectively service the population. When my son first went into the Child Development Programme, some eight years ago, he was number 95 on the waiting list for services. This is not a criticism of the Government, it simply speaks to the gravity of the situation and the fact that there are insufficient therapists. The current staff do the best they can, but help must be on the way. We need more Bermudians to qualify in these fields of endeavour.

This is a serious problem because these kids will be a financial or criminal burden on society in the future if action is not taken. So as Labour Minister David Burch so eloquently puts it, we either pay now or we pay later.

There simply are not enough Bermudians studying to be speech therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, verbal behaviour therapists, etc. and these are decent paying professions. Starting salaries out of college with a bachelors Degree are a minimum of $60k. A more seasoned person with a masters can earn upwards of $80k. A Bermudian speech therapist can charge $175 per hour and therefore these careers can be very lucrative, especially if people go into business for themselves.

So, my people, if you want to get a good job and be guaranteed work forever, become a speech therapist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist, verbal behaviour therapist, and you will always have a job. And if you are really good and you go into business for yourself, you can enjoy financial independence and freedom. Happy studying……DJLT.