ASHA-Certified: Here's Why It Is "Ridiculous" NOT to Be a Speech-Language Pathologist by Mindy Hudon, M.S., CCC-SLP
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A comment from a someone on social media made my skin crawl:
“Speech therapists are ridiculous.”
Ridiculous is not a word that I would use to describe a profession that I, and thousands of others around the world, have committed our lives to. Compassionate, knowledgeable, creative, passionate, determined and driven are just a few of the many adjectives that describe speech-language pathologist (SLP).
My colleagues and I are passionate about ensuring that every day our students and clients are able to communicate their thoughts, dreams and desires. We strive to help people regain skills that they have lost or have not fully developed. We are trained to work to diagnose and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication and swallowing disorders in both children and adults.
Speech-language pathologist work in education, health-care settings, private practice, academia and research environments. We are certified by the American-Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and are required to complete the following to practice:
• Bachelor’s Degree.
• Master’s Degree from an ASHA-accredited program.
• Rigorous and extensive academic programs.
• More than 1600 hours of supervised clinical experience.
• Academic excellence.
• Passing grade on a national examination.
• A 9-month full-time clinical fellowship post graduate school.
• Maintain a Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC).
• Ongoing continuing education credits of 30 or more hours every three years.
• Licensing by State Department of Health.
• Teacher Certification certificate if working in education.
• Compliance with ASHA Code of Ethics.
Although we gladly help children say their speech sounds correctly, we are more than just the profession that corrects a lisp. Our vast knowledge and training allow us to help millions of individuals on a daily basis. I am honored to be a speech-language pathologist. Ridiculous? I say not!
For more information about speech-language pathologists, visit ASHA.org.
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