Speech Language Pathologists / Speech Therapist Careers
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What Speech Pathologists do:
Speech Pathologists, also known as Speech Therapists or Speech-Language Pathologists, work with patients with speech disorders. They also assist patients with voice, swallowing, language and communication problems.
Problems that a Speech Pathologist works with include, stuttering, swallowing difficulties, bad pitch and strong accents.
The main duties of a speech pathologist include:
- Helping patients produce speech sounds clearly
- Working with patients with speech and swallowing difficulties as a result from brain injuries, strokes, cerebral
- palsy, mental retardation, cleft palate and hearing loss
- Using special tools and methods to analyze and diagnose the patient's impairment
- Diagnosing speech and language disorders
- Developing a plan of care tailored for each patient
- Teaching sign language
- Enabling and teaching patients to use automated speech devices
- Documenting the patients progress
- Educating families on communication enhancing techniques
- Working closely with other healthcare professionals such as Psychologists, Social Workers and Physicians
Qualifications & Education:
Most Speech Pathology jobs require a Master's Degree as the minimum educational requirement. Licensure is also required to practice in most States. The Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) is the accreditation body for Speech Pathology Programs.
Most Speech Pathology Programs cover subjects such as anatomy, physiology, development of speech, language, speech disorders, acoustics, and psychological aspects of communication. Graduate students also have supervised clinical training in communication disorders.
Salary & Job Prospects:
Salaries for Speech Language Pathologists range from $50,000 to $75,000. Due to medical advancements the job prospects for Speech Therapists are good.
This is because there is an increase in the number of patients surviving strokes and trauma. There will also be a demand for speech pathologists specializing in Pediatrics, as premature infants may need additional help developing the muscles used for their speech and swallow.
Below is a list of some of the various types of allied health careers / professions: