Embedded Files
What is Speech-Language Pathology?
Language is our most human characteristic. It is essential to learning, working, and enjoying family life and friendships. There are many ways to express language. Speaking, using sign language, writing, and using computerized communication devices are some of the most common ones. The professionals who are educated to assess speech and language development and to treat language and speech disorders are speech-language pathologists (sometimes informally referred to as speech therapists). Speech-language pathologists can also help people with swallowing disorders.
What is a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)?
A Speech-Language Pathologist is a professional who specializes in assessing speech and language development and treating speech and language disorders. A school-based SLP works with students and teachers to enable success in the classroom based on an academic need.
What types of services does a Speech-Language Pathologist provide?
- Receptive language
- Expressive language
- Speech articulation
- Stuttering
- Augmentative and alternative communication
- Voice
A speech pathologist employed in the schools, may:
- Provide speech-language services to a number of schools on an itinerant basis
- Provide services to infants, toddlers, preschoolers, school-age children, and adolescents
- Teach full-time in a special education classroom setting with students who have language-learning disorders
- Work with children with severe and/or multiple disorders
- Teach listening and communication skills in a regular classroom
- Collaborate with other professionals and parents to facilitate a students’ communication and learning in an educational environment
- Conduct diagnostic evaluations
- Write reports and participate in annual review conferences
- Serve on program planning and teacher assistance teams
- Develop Individualized Education Plans (IEP) and Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSPs)
What type of specialized training is needed to become a Speech-Language Pathologist?
- Bachelor’s degree
- Master’s degree in Communication Disorders from an accredited college or university
- Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) or Clinical Fellowship (CF) granted by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
- Valid state license as a Speech-Language Pathologist
- Maintenance of continuing education hours
Special Programs:
Speech Stars
Estrellitas
Professional Resources
Professional Resources
Resources for SLPs Working in the Schools
International Phonetic Alphabet Sources for SLPs
TSHA Resources
Click on the Public School Setting to see the resources to SLPs working in the schools, including information on SLP Assistants, speech eligibility, response to intervention (RtI) and reducing the shortage of SLPs in the public schools.
ASHA Resources
ASHA School Setting Resource Page
Practice policy documents, journal articles and information on a variety of topics including caseload/workload, legal issues, advocacy, dysphagia, autism, and IEP development.
This professional issues statement is an official policy statement of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). It was developed by the Ad Hoc Committee on the Roles and Responsibilities of the School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist. This professional issues statement with its companion position statement replaces the 2000 ASHA document Guidelines for the Roles and Responsibilities of the School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist.
ASHA Roles and Responsibilities of Speech-Language Pathologists in the Schools Position Statement
This position statement is an official policy statement of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). It was developed by the Ad Hoc Committee on the Roles and Responsibilities of the School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist. This position statement with its companion professional issues statement replaces the 2000 ASHA document Guidelines for the Roles and Responsibilities of the School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist.
ASHA Caseload/Workload Resources
Workload refers to all activities required and performed by school-based SLPs. Workload includes direct services to students as well as other activities necessary to support student education programs, implement best practices, and ensure compliance with IDEA and other mandates. These resources help SLPs in the schools identify their current workload and develop strategies to better manage it.
ASHA Preferred Practice Patterns
The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) established the Preferred Practice Patterns for the Profession of Speech-Language Pathology to enhance the quality of professional services. The Preferred Practice Patterns provide an informational base to promote delivery of quality client care. They address areas of practice for SLPs in the schools including speech and language assessment and intervention, augmentative and alternative communication, fluency, voice, and dysphagia.
Language Speech and Hearing Services in the Schools
Journal from the American Speech Language Hearing Association with research related to the provision of Speech Language Pathology services in the schools.
General SLP Resources
NIDCD Health Information: Voice, Speech and Language
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders "provides health information about human communication and disorders of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language. Fact sheets, brochures, reports, directories, database searches, and other resources are available for the public and health professionals. Publications are available online and through online ordering.
In addition, NIDCD established a national resource center, the NIDCD Information Clearinghouse, to help health professionals, patients, people in industry, and the public locate health information about human communication disorders."
Kidsource General Information about Speech and Language Disorders
from the NICHCY (National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities)
Speech Disorders: Causes, Treatments and Therapies
"SpeechDisorder was formed to offer a unique reference point on speech disorders: causes, treatments and therapies. The site explores the numerous types of speech disorders and the techniques used by speech therapists to help cure them. Their concern was that there was no single UK resource for interesting features and practical advice on this subject. Their features and articles are written by professional journalists and experts - who have a particular interest, or a background in this area."
Resources for SLPs Working in the Schools
This site provides the internet's most comprehensive and reliable information related to all aspects of this challenging speech disorder in children. The website and programs of CASANA are overseen by top experts in Childhood Apraxia of Speech. Articles include information about diagnosis, assessment, treatment,and research. Additionally, apraxia related conferences, workshops, and support groups are listed.
"A model early identification and intervention program based in the Department of Communication Disorders at Florida State University." This site contains a variety of PDF files which will interest SLP's whose practice involves early intervention, particularly with students with Autism. Includes a video glossary for Autism.
LD OnLine Speech & Language Milestone Chart
From the LDOnline, the interactive guide to learning disabilities for parents, teachers and children.
"Your one stop place for information, answers, help, ideas, resources, and anything else related to hearing-impaired children."
"Pics4Learning is a copyright-friendly image library for teachers and students. The Pics4Learning collection consists of thousands of images that have been donated by students, teachers, and amateur photographers. Unlike many Internet sites, permission has been granted for teachers and students to use all of the images donated to the Pics4Learning collection."
Phonology Course & Research Materials
A. Lynn Williams, Ph.D., an Associate Professor at East Tennessee State University, has made available her phonology projects and classes. These include Multiple Oppositions, Maximal Oppositions, Minimal Pairs, Late Talkers, and Developmental Apraxia of Speech (DAS).
"Whether you're a parent looking for answers about your child's speech problems or a professional looking for online resources for speech therapy lessons, speech for kids is an excellent resource."
speech-lanaguage-therapy dot com: Caroline Bowen PhD
A well organized and content-rich site from "down under" with information about the assessment and management of voice, speech and language difficulties in children. This includes topics such as developmental phonological disorders, dyspraxia, specific language impairment (SLI) and related disorders.
"Speech-Language Pathologists are continually looking for new activities. This site has a variety of printable activities and ideas for different ages, all FREE! Help yourself and share with your colleagues. Parents are also encouraged to enjoy the activities." On J. Mitchell's site you'll find easy to use articulation cards and pictures to help improve your speech, language references and book reviews, information on Phonological Awareness and Phonemic Awareness, ideas and information to help integrate technology into the profession of speech and language therapy, and archives of the monthly newsletter.
Stuttering Foundation of America
"The Stuttering Foundation provides free online resources, services and support to those who stutter and their families, as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering. We are the largest - and the first - nonprofit charitable organization in the world working towards the prevention and improved treatment of stuttering, reaching over a million people annually. We run extensive educational programs on stuttering for professionals."
University of Oregon DIBELS Data System
"The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are a set of standardized, individually administered measures of early literacy development. They are designed to be short (one minute) fluency measures used to regularly monitor the development of pre-reading and early reading skills. The DIBELS measures were specifically designed to assess 3 of the 5 Big Ideas of early literacy: Phonological Awareness, Alphabetic Principle, and Fluency with Connected Text. The measures are linked to one another, both psychometrically and theoretically, and have been found to be predictive of later reading proficiency."
International Phonetic Alphabet Sources for SLPs
International Phonetic Association
"The aim of the IPA is to promote the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. In furtherance of this aim, the IPA provides the academic community world-wide with a notational standard for the phonetic representation of all languages - the International Phonetic Alphabet (also IPA)."
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) Omniglot
"This site contains details of most alphabets and other writing systems currently in use, as well as quite a few ancient and invented ones. It also includes information about some of the languages written with those writing systems, multilingual texts, tips on learning languages, a book store, some useful phrases in many different languages, and an ever-growing collection of links to language-related resources."
IPA Transcription with SIL Fonts
The SIL International has produced several font sets that allow for the transcription of linguistic data using the Internation Phonetic Alphabet.
Legal Resources for SLPs
The Legal Framework is a template in an electronic format that summarizes Texas state and federal requirements for special education by topic.
Parent Resources
Parent Resources
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association - www.asha.org
ASHA is the professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 115,000 members and affiliates who are audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Their mission is to promote the interests of and provide the highest quality services for professionals in audiology, speech-language pathology, and speech and hearing science, and to advocate for people with communication disabilities".
Parent Companion Birth to Give Years - http://www.parentcompanion.org/
Parent Companion First Five Years website is a guide for Texas Parents and caregivers of children diagnosed or suspected disabilities from birth through 5 years of age.
Texas Project FIRST - www.texasprojectfirst.org
Texas Project FIRST (Families, Information, Resources, Support and Training) is a website created by parents for parents of students receiving special education services. This website is a project of the Texas Education Agency and is committed to providing accurate and consistent information to parents and families of students with disabilities.
Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association - www.txsha.org
In the state of Texas, there are approximately 8,000 speech-language pathologists and audiologists. The mission of our association is to empower speech-language pathologists and audiologists in the spirit of partnership with consumers and families. TSHA is committed to achieving excellence in education, professional development, and leadership through the application of the human and financial resources of the association.
The Legal Framework - http://framework.esc18.net
The Legal Framework is a template in an electronic format that summarizes Texas state and federal requirements for special education by topic.
NIDCD Health Information: Voice, Speech and Language - www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders "provides health information about human communication and disorders of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language. Fact sheets, brochures, reports, directories, database searches, and other resources are available for the public and health professionals. Publications are available online and through online ordering.
In addition, NIDCD established a national resource center, the NIDCD Information Clearinghouse, to help health professionals, patients, people in industry, and the public locate health information about human communication disorders."
Kidsource General Information about Speech and Language Disorders - www.kidsource.com/NICHCY/speech.html
from the NICHCY (National Information Center for Children and Youth with Disabilities)
Speech Disorders: Causes, Treatments and Therapies - www.speechdisorder.co.uk/
"SpeechDisorder was formed to offer a unique reference point on speech disorders: causes, treatments and therapies. The site explores the numerous types of speech disorders and the techniques used by speech therapists to help cure them. Their concern was that there was no single UK resource for interesting features and practical advice on this subject. Their features and articles are written by professional journalists and experts - who have a particular interest, or a background in this area."
LD OnLine Speech & Language Milestone Chart - www.ldonline.org/article/6313
From the LDOnline, the interactive guide to learning disabilities for parents, teachers and children.
Stuttering Foundation of America - www.stutteringhelp.org/
"The Stuttering Foundation provides free online resources, services and support to those who stutter and their families, as well as support for research into the causes of stuttering. We are the largest - and the first - nonprofit charitable organization in the world working towards the prevention and improved treatment of stuttering, reaching over a million people annually. We run extensive educational programs on stuttering for professionals."
Speech for Kids - http://speechforkids.com/
"Whether you're a parent looking for answers about your child's speech problems or a professional looking for online resources for speech therapy lessons, speech for kids is an excellent resource."
FIRSTWORDS Project - http://firstwords.fsu.edu/
"A model early identification and intervention program based in the Department of Communication Disorders at Florida State University." This site contains a variety of PDF files which will interest SLP's whose practice involves early intervention, particularly with students with Autism. Includes a video glossary for Autism.
Report abuse