speech pathology - Education, Main Branches of Speech & Language Therapy (UK), Methods of assessment

The study and treatment of all forms of clinically abnormal linguistic behaviour; also known as (speech and) language pathology. In several countries (eg the USA), the designation speech pathologist applies to professionals concerned with the treatment of language-handicapped people; in others (eg the UK) the equivalent profession is that of speech and language therapist.

It has been suggested that Speech-Language Pathology, Speech therapy, Phoniatrics be merged into this article or section. language therapy (SLT, mainly in the UK) is the study of disorders that affect a person's speech, language, cognition, voice disorders and swallowing disorders. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) or Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) address people's speech production, vocal production, swallowing difficulties and language needs through speech therapy in a variety of different contexts including schools, hospitals, and through private practice.

Education

In the UK, SLTs undertake a three - four year degree which qualifies them to work in any of the three main clinical areas.

In the United States, Speech Language Pathology practice is regulated by the laws of the individual states. However, by 2006, minimal requirement to be a certified SLP member of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association were: a graduate degree in Speech-Language Pathology, which typically entails 2 years of post graduate work; The graduate degree work to acquire a Master's in Speech-Language Pathology is rigorous and demanding, requiring many hours of supervised clinical practica, and intensive didactic coursework in medical sciences, phonetics, linguistics, phonology, scientific methodology, and other subjects.

Main Branches of Speech & Language Therapy (UK)

In the UK SLTs choose one or a mixture of three main clinical areas to work in, these are with adults, children or adults with learning disabilities. Work with children mainly involves attempting to bring the child's speech or language skills up to the level of their peers. Jobs often fall outside the remit of these categories including special education, working with physical disabilities and working with people with autism

If a person is planning on becoming a speech-language pathologist, it is wise to enroll in a graduate program. Some of the classes required in the graduate sequence are Speech Science, Motor Speech Disorders, Orofacial Anomalies, and numerous terms of Clinical Externships.

Methods of assessment

Children who are identified in school as having a speech disorder or difficulty learning language are often referred to an SLP.

Common tests used for children:

Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool (CELF-Preschool) (Wiig, Secord and Semel, 1992) Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Third Edition (PPVT-III) (Dunn, Dunn, &