What is a Speech-Language Pathologist?

Dr. Valerie Boyer (SIUC), myself, and Katherine Martin (SIUC) at the Illinois Speech-Hearing-Language Convention

“Speech therapy? But I talk just fine.”

 If I had a quarter for every time I have heard this, I would be rich. Most people think of a speech therapist as someone who works in a school with children with speech sound disturbances. And, that is correct. However, our field is much more than that! A professor at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale told me, “If you get bored as a speech therapist, you’re doing something wrong.” 

So what exactly does a speech-language pathologist (SLP) actually do? The short answer…A lot. SLPs work with adults, geriatrics, and pediatrics. They work in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, homes, private practices, and schools. 

An SLP works with deficits in the areas of

• articulation (aka speech sound difficulties)
• dysphagia (difficulty with swallowing food and liquids)
• language development
• cognition
• voice
• accent modification
• stuttering

An SLP may work with people who have had a stroke, dementia, cancer, traumatic brain injury (TBI), pulmonary problems, down syndrome, autism, parkinsons, cleft lip/palate, and more.

An SLP may…

• Work to increase cognitive functions such as improving someone’s ability to focus attention, solve complex or simple problems, plan or remember.
• Help someone who has a tracheotomy placement to speak again or improve their swallowing safety.
• Help someone who was placed on a feeding tube after a stroke to regain safety with swallowing whole food and drinks.
• Help someone after a stroke to regain their ability to use words correctly. 
• Help someone who regularly feels like they have food stuck in their throat or cough consistently while eating. 
• Work to improve the quality of life in people diagnosed with dementia by helping them remain as active as possible, highlighting their strengths instead of focusing on their deficits.
• Help someone who wanted to change dialect or accent.
• Help people who may be affected by deficits with the vocal cords decreasing their ability to use their voice effectively or correctly.
• Get to work with famous actors/actresses or singers to help them with learning a new accent or decreasing vocal abuse.
• Work with a school aged child who has difficulty making specific speech sounds or developing language.
• Work with a child who is birth-three years of age and not developing with understanding and verbalizing effectively.
• And so much more…If I listed all the people or situations in which an SLP could help, this blog would be 12 pages long.

Although these lists are not exclusive to all that an SLP could do, it gives you a better idea. My hope is that this helps to improve awareness of difficulties people may have and let them know there is help out there for them! 

I always knew I wanted to be in a profession where I was helping people. Maybe it was how I was raised. Maybe it was my upbringing in church. Maybe it was my lifelong 4-H career where volunteer work and helping others was a given. Whatever it was that led me to this profession, I’m thankful for it. I am happy to go to work each day and help people get better. 

If you would like to know more about what a speech therapist does or what it takes to be a speech-language pathologist, please let me know! I would be happy to fill you in! www.asha.org