By Kiana Hines, MEd, CCC-SLP
Common Responses
When people ask what I do, I respond with: "I am a speech language pathologist or a speech therapist." Below are the common responses I have received:
1. SLPs are the speech teachers in the school.
2. SLPs help kids with r's. They work to fix wabbit to rabbit.
3. SLPs mostly work with young children.
4. SLPs teach kids words through playing games.
5. SLPs help kids with articulation through flashcards.
6. SLPs help kids who stutter.
7. Sometimes SLPs help adults.
8. SLPs help people talk.
9. SLPs help stroke patients.
10. I worked with an SLP when I was a kid.
SLPs do so much more
Below you can find a brief list of all that SLPS can do. This information comes from the American Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) (https://www.asha.org/policy/sp2016-00343/)
Fluency: SLPs provide services to individuals who stutter.
Speech: SLPs provide assessment and treatment for speech sound disorders such as articulation, phonological, and apraxia of speech.
Language: SLPs help individuals develop vocabulary, use vocabulary, form vocabulary, and use vocabulary in social situations.
Voice: SLPs help individuals through voice therapy.
Feeding: SLPs help individuals of all ages with feeding such as identifying the safest consistency and encouraging a safe swallow.
Literacy: SLP can help individuals with early literacy skills, reading comprehension, word decoding, and writing.
Auditory Rehab: SLPs can provide individuals who have hearing loss.
Now what
Now that you know more about what SLPs do, I encourage you to seek out the service and help from SLPs. We are not just the speech teachers that help with r's, but we provide an array of services. We are trained and certified individuals that can work with people of ages from infants to elderly clients. We can provide consultative, evaluations, and treatment services. Hopefully after reading this blog, you learned a little more about the role of SLPs. Allow us to help you and your family.
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