Speech-Language Pathologists

Also Called:

Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist (Bilingual SLP),

Speech and Language Specialist,

Speech Pathologist,

Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP)

What they do: Assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders. May select alternative communication systems and teach their use. May perform research related to speech and language problems.

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Healthcare & Human Services

Career Cluster

What do they typically do on the job?

  • Evaluate hearing or speech and language test results, barium swallow results, or medical or background information to diagnose and plan treatment for speech, language, fluency, voice, or swallowing disorders.
  • Write reports and maintain proper documentation of information, such as client Medicaid or billing records or caseload activities, including the initial evaluation, treatment, progress, and discharge of clients.
  • Monitor patients' progress and adjust treatments accordingly.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking.

Optimism

Sincerity

Empathy

Self-Control

Social Orientation

Cooperation

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

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Social

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Investigative

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Conventional

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Verbal

  • Listen and understand what people say

  • Communicate by speaking

Ideas and Logic

  • Make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information

  • Notice when problems happen

Hearing and Speech

  • Recognize spoken words

  • Speak clearly

Visual Understanding

  • See hidden patterns

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

  • Reading work related information

Problem Solving

  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Social

  • Understanding people's reactions

  • Teaching people how to do something

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research

  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career

2. Plan your next move

  • Talk to your college and career counselor or school admissions staff
  • Visit Idaho Launch
  • Search for available Speech-Language Pathologists jobs on Idaho Works

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop