Lifespan Youth Employment

Speech-Language Pathologists

Speech-language pathologists assess, diagnose, treat and help to prevent speech, language, cognitive, communication, voice, swallowing, fluency and other related disorders.

Job responsibilities
Places of practice
Educational requirements
Educational programs
Licensure requirements
Professional organizations

Job responsibilities:

• Help those who stutter to increase their fluency.
  

• Help people who have had strokes or experienced brain trauma to regain lost language and speech.
  
  
• Help children and adolescents who have language disorders to understand and give directions, ask and answer questions, convey ideas, improve the language skills that lead to better academic performance.
  
  
• Help individuals and families to understand and deal with speech and language disorders.

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Places of practice:

• Schools
  
• Hospitals
  
• Rehabilitation centers
  
• Nursing care facilities
  
• Government health facilities
  
• Research laboratories
  
• Private practice

Educational requirements:

• A strong liberal arts focus is recommended on the undergraduate level (typically students obtain a degree in communication sciences and disorders)
  
  
• Graduate work is necessary for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) certification
  
  
• A master's degree is required in most work settings.
  
  
• A PhD is required for some areas of practice.

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Educational programs:

• University of Rhode Island
  
• Boston University
  
• Emerson College
  
• MGH Institute of Health Professions
  
• Northeastern University
  
• University of Massachusetts at Amherst
  
• Worcester State College
  

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Licensure requirements:

Most states, including Rhode Island, require audiologists to be licensed. Requirements vary from state to state.

Professional organizations:

• Amercian Speech-Language-Hearing Association
  http://www.asha.org
  
  
• Rhode Island Department of Health
  http://www.health.ri.gov/

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