What Is Speech Language Therapy?

Speech-Language Pathologists, also known as speech therapists, help students maximize their communication skills to support learning within the educational environment. Speech language pathologists assist children who have a diagnosed communication disorder or delay. They provide a clinical diagnosis, individual or group therapy, consult with the child's teacher about the most effective ways to facilitate the child's communication in the classroom and work closely with family and educational team to develop goals through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) to facilitate greater success in school and at home.

Speech-Language Pathologists hold at least a master's degree and are certified by the American-Speech-Language Hearing Association. The initials CCC-SLP (Certificate of Clinical Competence-Speech-Language Pathologist) after a speech pathologist's name indicate national certification. In Arizona, they are also licensed by the state.