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What is a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)?
Evaluates, Diagnoses, and Treats Speech, Language, and Swallowing Disorders in Individuals of all Ages, from infants to the Elderly in a Variety of Job Settings.
Job Settings
Examples of Clients Served
Job Outlook/Salary
Educational Requirements
Top 10 Reasons to be an SLP
- Early Intervention Centers/EI Home Treatment
- Preschools
- Elementary/Middle/High Schools
- Special Education Co-ops
- Private Rehabilitation Clinics
- Private Reading Clinics
- Home Health Care Agencies
- Hospitals
- Long Term Care Facilities/Nursing Homes
- Corporations (Accent Reduction/English as a second language)
- “Traveling” Rehab Companies
- International Opportuniti
- Premature babies with eating/swallowing problems
- 2-year olds who aren’t talking yet
- Preschoolers or other school age children with speech sound errors or limited vocabulary
- Children with Autism or other syndromes
- Children with language processing, language learning difficulties or reading delays
- People who stutter
- People with voice disorders
- People with difficulties swallowing
- Hearing impaired individuals
- People who have a stroke or head injury and then have difficulty communicating
- Nonnative speakers
- Current shortage of SLPs and employment opportunities are expected to increase faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2012 (due to greater awareness of early diagnosis & treatment of speech-language disorders and an aging population)
- Salaries can vary according to geographic region and job setting
--2003 median starting salaries with 1-3 years experience, $37,000 for academic year, $40,000 for calendar year
--2003 overall median salary for SLPs in schools $46,000; in a medical setting $54,000
--Hourly rates for part-time work typically range from $25-$50 per hour
- Job sharing, part-time and hourly opportunities are numerous in medical, school, early intervention and private practice settings
- Administrative opportunities later in career (e.g. head of hospital rehab unit, special ed. coordinator for a school district, director of a clinic, manager for a rehabilitation company). Median administrative salary in 2003 was $78,000
- PhD shortage – get a doctoral degree after your master’s and work at a university teaching students how to be future SLPs. Median university professor salary in speech pathology $70,000
- Bachelor’s (4 year degree) and Master’s (2 year degree) from an accredited university
- Undergraduate Bachelor’s Degree programs have a variety of names (e.g., communication sciences and disorders, speech & hearing science, communication disorders, speech pathology & audiology) and are in different colleges within universities (e.g. college of education, college of sciences, college of applied life studies, college of liberal arts and science). Online resource to search for accredited program: www.asha.org/gradguide (universities that offer masters’ degrees in speech pathology almost always offer bachelor’s programs as well). Eastern Illinois University, Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences, experienced caring faculty, good academic and clinical preparation, economical university (217) 581-2712 (www.eiu.edu/~commdis).
--Example of undergraduate coursework: Language Acquisition, Phonetics & Phonological Development, Language Disorders in Children, Anatomy and Speech Science,
Assessment and Remediation of Articulation Disorders, Augmentative Communication, Language & Literacy, and Voice Disorders
--In some universities you treat a client during your junior or senior year while some universities offer no clinical experiences for undergraduates
--It is a challenging major; you want to have at least a 3.3 GPA so that you can continue your education in a Master’s Degree Program
- Master’s Degree Programs (2 years). Most prepare SLPs to work in medical and school settings. At EIU, 12 months of coursework and clinical experiences on campus, then a full time internship in a school setting for 1 semester and a full time medical internship for 1 semester. Example of graduate coursework includes Aphasia, Stuttering, Evaluation and Treatment of Swallowing Disorders, Advanced Child Language and Syndromes.
- To help others and make a positive difference in people’s lives
- To be an independent and responsible professional
- To never be “burned out.” If you’re tired of working in one setting or with an age group-switch!
- To have people calling you to work for them – jobs always available in rural and metropolitan settings
- Flexibility – work full time, part time, hourly; work 9 months in schools, 12 months in medical settings
- To be a part of a stimulating profession with many opportunities for life long learning
- To work as part of a team or independently
- To earn a good living with opportunities to supplement income with hourly work as well
- To have your days go by quickly as you’re challenged to provide the best treatment possible for a variety of unique clients
- Most SLPs love their jobs, the people they work with, and go home at the end of the day with a feeling of satisfaction because of helping someone communicate better that day
For additional resources visit the American Speech Language Hearing Association’s website at www.asha.org, National Student Speech Language Hearing Association at www.nsshla.org/nsshla and www.communicationdisorders.com
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