What do Speech-Language Pathologists do?
Many people have pre-conceived ideas of what speech-language pathologists (SLPs) do. I frequently have people ask things like “So you help people that stutter?” or “So you help people say their ‘r’s?” - but most people are surprised when I tell them about the range services that SLPs provide.
The America Speech and Hearing Association (ASHA) defines the work of SLPS as follows : to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders in children and adults.
The number of skills that SLPs are trained in is so vast that many SLPs choose to narrow their scope- some choosing to work exclusively with kids (like us) or only adults, or only certain populations (e.g. people who have had strokes). Some SLPs work in hospitals, schools and some in private practice.
As a private practice SLP who works exclusively with children, here are some of the types of clients we work with on a regular basis:
Language delays/disorders - This could be delays in starting to talk, difficulties understanding spoken language, difficulties with vocabulary or grammar use etc. We often see kiddos as young as 18 months all the way through the teen years for concerns with language development.
Speech sound delays/disorders- This could look like difficulty being understood, difficulty making certain sounds or mouth movements or difficulty sequencing sounds as in conditions such as Childhood Apraxia of Speech. We work with kiddos as young as 2 and well into the teen years to support speech goals.
Literacy- People are often surprised to find out that many SLPs are experts at supporting difficulties with reading and writing skills. Difficulties with the skills required to learn to read and write can be assessed as early as kindergarten. We support kids from kindergarten through upper elementary.
Fluency/stuttering- Stuttering can look/sound different in different people. For some, it could be repeating sounds and words or getting “stuck” when talking. We work with preschoolers and clients into adolescence on goals relating to improving fluency.
Social Communication Difficulties- This is another area that many are surprised to hear that we work with. Social communication difficulties are difficulties in how we use language to interact with others. Social communication difficulties can show up as having difficulty reading social situations, understanding non-literal language, being able to choose what kind of language is appropriate in different settings among others. We work on social communication goals with preschoolers all the way through adolescence
Another misconception that we often run into is that SLPs only help people who have received a medical diagnosis of some kind. While its true that some of our clients have diagnoses such as Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Delay, Hearing Impairment, Selective Mutism, among others, many kids with speech and language delays do not have any kind of medical diagnosis.
We work with kiddos and families with a range of needs. If you feel that your child might benefit from an assessment of any of the above skills, please don’t hesitate to reach out for an assessment!
