A speech language pathologist is a specialist in correcting voice, language and speech difficulties among adults and children. These language difficulties can be the result of cognitive impairment, being a non-native speaker of a language, the inability to properly control vocal and respiratory systems, psychological problems, or medical conditions. A speech language pathologist is responsible for diagnosing conditions, preparing treatment plans for patients and keeping track of their patients’ progress. They should also be available to collaborate with the parents, teachers and family members of the patient so they could best implement holistic therapy programs. Any accredited online university with a strong medical career training program would be a great way for you to get started in this fascinating career.
If you’re interested in knowing how to become a speech language pathologist, read on:
- Know what it takes to provide speech and language therapy. To become this health care professional, a lot of training is required, so it will help if you are academically inclined. You should also have good interpersonal skills, since you’ll be working with patients all the time, and should have good communication skills yourself.
- Obtain a bachelor’s degree in speech language therapy or a related field. Some of the degrees most commonly earned by practicing speech language pathologists include the following: communication sciences, speech, linguistics and physiology. Course requirements typically include phonetics, language development, audiology, physiology of speech and hearing, and diagnostic methods.
Another popular route is to take a general associate degree at a community college and then transfer to a university to level up to a bachelor’s degree. If you want to try this option, you have to consult with the admissions office of the university you want to transfer to as to whether they would credit acquired units from obtained associate degrees.
- Obtain a master’s degree. Most states require a speech and language pathologist to have postgraduate degrees before they can be certified as a speech language pathologist.
- Be certified in speech language pathology. Typical requirements for certification include the following: at least a master’s degree in a related field, at least 300 hours of supervised experience at a speech clinic, a passing score on the speech-language pathology licensure examination (which is administered by the Educational Testing Service), and 9 months to a year of postgraduate clinical experience.
- Obtain additional certification to get better speech pathology jobs. To up your credentials, it will help to obtain the Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology, which is offered by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. This is not a requirement for many states, but this will certainly open up more speech language pathologist jobs and opportunities for you.
In many states, speech language pathologists are required to receive continuing education through seminars and short courses for them to renew their license. Make sure that you contact your state’s regulatory board for details on such continuing education requirements.
- Obtain a specialization to increase your speech language pathologist salary. Because speech language pathology is a broad area, you may choose to specialize in order to narrow down your scope of expertise. Specializations could depend on the population that you want to work with (children, the elderly, non-native speakers, etc.), and the specific disability or speech condition that you want to do further research on.
These are the steps for becoming a speech language pathologist. Your career in pathology will be very rewarding.