Speech-Language Pathology and SLPA Jobs
As a speech-language pathologist and speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA), you know that there’s no universal method to help your students. There are actually hundreds of conditions—from developmental disabilities to cleft palates to emotional challenges—that can cause a student to require your care and expertise. Likewise, each of our speech-language pathology jobs gives you the opportunity to have a new and unique experience—working at a different school, in a different district and with individual students who are all exceptional in their own ways. These are the best ways of becoming an SLP in only 5 steps.
What Does a Speech-Language Pathologist and SLPA Do?
In any of our SLP jobs, your day-to-day responsibilities could shift from day-to-day. In addition to identifying and evaluating students’ conditions, and administering speech therapy, you may have a specific area of focus, such as:
- Assessment, training and programming for augmentative communication disorders
- Oral motor and feeding therapy
- Social skills training
- Therapy for voice, fluency, expressive and receptive language and articulation
- Training of non-verbal communication, such as sign language, gesturing and picture exchange communication
If you are a speech-language pathology assistant, then your main responsibility is assisting the SLP that supervises you. This assistance from an SLPA can come in a variety of different ways including providing supplemental therapy services, helping a student with the use of assistive technology devices, and much more. Ultimately, the specific tasks required in SLPA jobs are highly dependent on the level of speech therapy required and the treatment methods implemented by the speech-language pathologist.
