What Is Speech Pathology?

Speech pathologists, otherwise called speech language pathologists or SLP, are healthcare professionals who work with those people who have language, speech, voice, swallowing and communication related disorders. These people are dedicated professionals who are committed to fulfilling the lives of others. Speech pathology is a profession that requires certain necessary qualities such as innate kindness, consideration, patience and understanding on the part of the practitioner.

Speech pathologists are usually required in educational institutions to provide treatment to students with voice or language disorders. The earnings of a speech pathologist or language therapist depend on their educational background, experience, specialization and nature of work. However, the tremendous job satisfaction they experience by fulfilling the lives of others is itself considerable reward.

The people are eligible to apply for the job of a speech pathologist only if he or she has a master's degree in speech pathology. Speech pathologists can acquire Certificate of Clinical Competence or CCC from the Speech-Language-Hearing Associations. Speech pathologists work in various healthcare facilities including hospitals, rehab clinics, skilled nursing facilities, public and private schools, community clinics, colleges, universities, home health agencies, long term care facilities, assistant living facilities, state and local health departments, research laboratories, and state and federal government agencies.

A speech pathologist or language therapist is qualified to work with children, young people and adults who have some form of communication disorder. It is often thought that a speech pathologist or language therapist is only able to help with actual speech production problems, but in fact the range of services is much wider. A therapist working with children and young people will initially assess both comprehension or understanding of language and expressive language or how the language is used. The speech pathologist or language therapist will look at various areas where difficulties might occur.



The duties of a speech pathologist include treating disorders in individuals of all ages, from infants to the elderly; performing swallowing and feeding evaluation; identifying normal and abnormal swallowing anatomy and physiology; developing treatment plans; providing treatments and documenting the progress; providing teaching and counseling to individuals and their families; providing differential diagnostic information for conditions other than communication disorders; educating other professionals on the needs of individuals with swallowing and feeding disorders; serving as an advocate for persons with impaired communication. Usually older persons are unable to travel to the speech therapists, so speech pathologists must be prepared to go to a variety of community sites to perform the required screenings.

All speech pathologist or language therapist will have undertaken a three or four year degree course at university. Some speech therapists may have completed a post graduate course after following a previous degree. Generally the candidates require three A levels to enter the course, although mature students may be accepted with equivalent qualifications. The courses are intensive and consist of both theoretical work and clinical placements and all speech pathology students experience working with a wide range of communication disorders. Speech therapists working in the Independent Sector may also be registered with the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice (ASLTIP).

• John Palsson
• 07/12/2008, 2:16 PM
• 0 Comments