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Here are some frequently asked questions about speech-language pathologists.
Who do SLPs serve?
SLPs serve children and adults who demonstrate communication problems in the following areas: articulation, motor speech, language, swallowing, fluency, voice, hearing impairment and disorders resulting from stroke or traumatic brain injury.
Where do SLPs work?
SLPs are employed in a wide variety of settings, including:schools, preschools, hospitals, home health, rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, and private practice.
What do SLPs do?
- Help people develop their communication abilities and treats speech, language, and voice disorders.
- Provide services including prevention, identification, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation of communication disorders.
- May conduct research to develop new and better ways to diagnose and remediate speech/language problems.
- Work with children who have language delays and speech problems.
- Provide treatment to people who stutter and to those with voice and articulation problems.
- Plan and conduct activities to improve a student's communication skills (speaking, listening, thinking, reading, and writing.
- Collaborate with parents, teachers, caregivers, and other professionals in understanding and meeting a student's communication and academic needs.
- Write Individual Education Plans (IEP) for students with communication disorders as required by federal laws.
- Educate parents, teachers, and administrators about communication disorders.
- Aid people with foreign or regional accents who want to learn another speech style.
What do I need to do to become a SLP?
To become a SLP, you must receive at least a master's degree from an accredited university, be licensed to practice in your state and be clinically certified by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association.
