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Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP): What Do They Treat?

What Is a Speech-Language Pathologist?

A speech-language pathologist (SLP), also known as a speech therapist, is a health professional who diagnoses and treats communication and swallowing problems. They work with both children and adults of all ages in clinics, schools, and hospitals. They can help if you or someone you love has a developmental disorder, neurological condition, or brain injury that affects your ability to communicate with other people. They also can help if you have trouble eating or drinking safely due to swallowing issues.

What Do Speech-Language Pathologists Do?

A speech-language pathologist does many things. Typically, they check how you're able to communicate or swallow. When you're having trouble communicating or swallowing , they will try to find the cause. They'll also develop a treatment plan just for you based on the trouble you're having and the reason for it. They'll work with you and provide therapy to help. They'll also keep track of how you're doing over time. Any treatment they offer is known as speech therapy.

SLPs provide a broad range of therapies because they treat communication and swallowing problems caused by so many different disorders. Their work may include:

• Helping people learn how to form sounds
• Teaching how to speak clearly and easily
• Using exercises to strengthen muscles used to speak or swallow
• Helping people increase the number of words they can say and/or understand
• Working with people to improve the way they put words together in sentences
• Providing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems for people who have severe language disorders
• Educating patients and their families about how to overcome challenges from the communication or swallowing problem
• Providing a type of treatment called aural rehabilitation, which helps people with hearing loss

An SLP can help you understand other people better. They can also help other people understand you better by improving your ability to share your feelings through words, gestures, or other means. They can help you learn how to carry on a conversation, including taking turns or giving other people personal space.

SLPs can help you even if you have very limited or no ability to speak the way other people do. They can train you on how to use devices, such as electronic tablets or communication boards. In addition, they can help you learn to swallow safely with approaches that help you better control your swallowing muscles.

SLPs also can help you with:

• How your voice sounds
• How loud you talk
• Memory, attention, problem-solving, organization, and thinking
• Sucking and chewing

Types of Speech Therapy

Speech-language pathologists use different techniques and tools depending on what the underlying cause is, how old you are, and other factors. You may have different types of therapy including:

• Articulation therapy. You'll work on articulating sounds and words more clearly. Your therapist may use games to make it fun.
• Oral motor therapy. Your therapist will work on the muscles around your mouth with exercises to help with speaking or swallowing.
• Language intervention therapy. This type of therapy can help when you have a speech delay or language disability.
• VitalStim therapy. Your therapist may use electrical stimulation around your neck. This approach can help if you've had a stroke leading to problems with eating, swallowing, drinking, or speaking.
• Lee Silverman speech therapy (LSVT). This approach can help with vocal control, volume, and facial expressions. Your therapist may use it if your issues aren't related to your speech ability.
• Modeling techniques. Your therapist may repeat what you say back to you correctly or add in extra words. They'll offer plenty of praise and feedback to help with speech problems.

Speech pathologist vs. speech therapist

You might hear SLPs called speech pathologists or speech therapists. But they are the same thing. Either refers to a health care provider who helps with problems related to speech, communication, or swallowing.

What Conditions Does a Speech-Language Pathologist Treat?

SLPs provide therapy for people with hearing loss, children with developmental delays, and people with communication and swallowing problems. They treat disorders such as:

Speech disorders

These conditions make it difficult to produce sounds. Some examples include:

• Apraxia: When the brain has trouble directing the movements of the muscles used to speak
• Articulation disorders: The inability to form certain sounds, such as “th” or “r”
• Stuttering: When the flow of speech is broken by pauses and repetition
• Resonance disorders: Caused by an obstruction such as a cleft palate
• Dysarthria: Weakness in the muscles used in speech, caused by brain injury

Language disorders

These may be receptive (difficulty understanding language) or expressive (difficulty making oneself understood by others). Some examples are:

• Aphasia: Difficulty speaking or understanding others because of damage to the brain
• Auditory processing disorder: When the brain has trouble understanding the meaning of sounds

Cognitive-communication disorders

Usually, any brain injury that causes problems with memory, attention, organization, or reasoning, cognitive-communication disorders can make it difficult for a person to speak, listen, read, or write. Causes of cognitive-communication disorders include traumatic brain injury, stroke, or dementia .

Social-communication disorders

These conditions make it hard to communicate socially: greeting, asking questions, taking part in conversations, and talking in ways that are appropriate for the situation. Difficulty with social communication can be caused by autism spectrum disorder or events such as a traumatic brain injury.

Swallowing disorders

Sometimes called dysphagia, swallowing disorders are problems with eating and swallowing. Symptoms include coughing or choking during or after eating, food leaking from the mouth, taking much longer than normal to finish meals, weight loss, dehydration, and frequent pneumonia.

How to Become a Speech Pathologist

Speech-language pathologists hold a master’s degree from a program accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology. Along with classes in the assessment and treatment of communication and swallowing disorders, these programs include at least 375 hours of clinical experience.

After graduation, a 1-year clinical fellowship (or medical training period) is required, with a minimum of 1,260 hours of work under the supervision of a certified SLP. Then the candidate must pass an exam to become certified as a speech-language pathologist.

Where Do Speech-Language Pathologists Work?

You can find speech-language pathologists in many different places. Settings include:

• Assisted living facilities
• Business or work settings
• Military bases
• Rehabilitation centers
• Long-term care or skilled nursing facilities

Reasons to See a Speech-Language Pathologist

If you or a loved one experience any of the following problems, it might be a good idea to seek out a speech-language pathologist.

Difficulty communicating after an injury or illness

Speech therapy can help some people regain the ability to express wants and needs, build relationships, carry out daily tasks, and succeed in school or at work. 

Difficulty eating after an injury or illness

Swallowing therapy can strengthen the muscles used in eating, help adults relearn swallowing coordination, and teach ways to reduce the risk of aspiration (accidentally inhaling food particles).

Feeding issues in infants and children

Babies and toddlers with swallowing disorders may have a pattern of fussiness at mealtimes, avoiding certain food textures or temperatures (called sensory aversions ), congestion or vomiting after eating, or gagging during meals. Feeding therapy can teach chewing, sipping, and swallowing, overcome sensory aversions, and help children learn to eat independently and enjoy mealtimes.

Delayed speech development

If you’re concerned that your child might not be speaking or understanding speech at a level appropriate for their age, talk with your child’s doctor. They can refer you to a speech-language pathologist if your child needs to be evaluated. If a child does have a speech or language disorder, getting therapy early can help.

Speech-language pathologists work in many different places to help people of all ages when they have problems related to communication, speech, or swallowing for any reason. If you or a loved one is having trouble in any of these areas, ask your doctor if they'd recommend you get speech therapy to help.

Speech-Language Pathologist FAQs

• What happens during speech therapy?

Speech therapists treat many different problems that may be caused by many different conditions. They also use many different techniques and tools. What happens during your speech therapy session will depend on the problems you need help with. Ask your doctor or speech therapist what you can expect.

• How long do you need speech therapy?

That depends. Some people may need speech therapy for a few weeks, while others may benefit for months or even years. It depends on what you need speech therapy for. It also can depend on how much time you put into practicing the exercises or other skills your speech therapist recommends.

• How well does speech therapy work?

Speech therapists go through a lot of training and learn how to use methods that are based on evidence they work. One study of kids with a speech or language problem showed that 6 hours of speech and language therapy over 6 months helped. Another study suggests more variable outcomes after a stroke. How well speech therapy works for you will depend on the condition it's treating. It isn't a cure for any disorder, but it can help you with issues that affect your everyday life and ability to interact with people or eat. Ask your doctor or speech therapist how much they think it can help in your case.

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In brief: what is speech therapy.

Created: August 12, 2020 ; Next update: 2024.

Speech therapy can help people who have difficulty speaking to communicate better and to break down the barriers that result from speech impediments. The goals of speech therapy include improving pronunciation, strengthening the muscles used in speech, and learning to speak correctly.

Speech therapy can be used for a lot of different speech problems and disorders, from smaller problems like a hoarse voice up to partial loss of speech due to brain damage. Depending on the type of disorder, other medical or psychological treatments may be used as well.

• What kinds of disorders can speech therapy treat?

Speech therapy can be used to treat language disorders, speech disorders and swallowing problems.

Language disorders

A childhood language disorder can affect the child’s ability to learn to speak, to name objects and build complete sentences. Although the causes of these disorders are often not clear, the main known risk factors include hearing problems , general developmental problems and disorders affecting the development of the brain.

Language disorders in adults are almost always the result of brain injury or disease. People who have had a stroke , for example, often have trouble forming sentences or remembering words. That type of disorder is called aphasia.

Speech disorders

People with speech disorders have difficulty producing the sounds of speech, saying words clearly or talking fluently.

Children often have trouble with pronunciation, and may have a lisp or swap certain sounds for others. Speech disorders may be the result of developmental disorders, but psychological factors might also play a role. Adults with neurological diseases sometimes have speech disorders too, often making it hard to understand them.

Another group of speech disorders, known as fluency disorders, involve problems with the flow or evenness of speech. People with this sort of disorder may stutter or “clutter,” for example. When people stutter, there are often silent pauses in their speech, or they repeat or lengthen certain sounds or syllables. Cluttering is abnormally fast speech that makes the pronunciation imprecise or leaves out sounds or parts of words.

Voice disorders (dysphonia)

A voice disorder is a persistent change in someone’s voice. They might sound hoarse, strained, raspy or nearly silent. Often the voice is somewhat weak – in other words, it cracks easily or the person is not able to speak loudly. Voice disorders may arise from speaking too much or too loudly, from using the wrong breathing technique, or from problems with the voice box (larynx) like vocal nodules . Psychological causes like depression or a reaction to a distressing event can change a person’s voice too.

Trouble swallowing

In people with swallowing problems, the movements of the muscles involved in swallowing are affected. This leads to problems transporting food through the mouth and throat. The cause is often a disease or disorder of the nervous system, such as Parkinson’s disease , multiple sclerosis, dementia , an infection like Lyme disease or tetanus, or a head injury. If food gets into the lungs because of a swallowing disorder, it can lead to life-threatening complications.

What treatments are used in speech therapy?

There are various speech therapy techniques for each of the areas described above – the ones that are considered depend on the particular disorder. A long series of treatment sessions is typically needed, with each lasting 30 to 60 minutes. They may take place in a group or one-on-one.

The treatment approaches used in speech therapy include:

• Perception exercises, for example to differentiate between individual sounds and syllables
• Exercises to produce certain sounds and improve the fluency of speech
• Exercises to improve breathing, swallowing and the voice
• Help with communication using things like sign language, communication boards and computer-assisted speech
• Advice for people who need speech therapy, their parents and other loved ones
• Support in implementing these measures in everyday life

For the treatment to help over the long term, it’s often important to also regularly practice the techniques at home.

• Where is speech therapy offered?

Speech therapy is offered at the following facilities:

• Speech therapy practices
• Rehabilitative care centers
• Special needs schools
• Children's day care facilities specializing in speech therapy

Besides speech therapists, there are a number of other specialists who also use similar methods. These include breathing, speech and voice coaches.

• Do statutory health insurers cover the costs of speech therapy?

Note: The procedures and requirements for applying for and receiving speech therapy may vary according to your country. This information describes the current situation in Germany.

To have outpatient treatment at a speech therapy practice, you need a prescription from a doctor. An initial prescription will generally include up to 10 treatments, each typically lasting 30 to 60 minutes. Appointments are usually offered one to three times per week.

For the medical conditions listed above, prescribed speech therapy is often covered by statutory health insurers (apart from a fixed amount that you have to pay yourself, known as a copayment). The copayment does not have to be paid when getting a treatment that has been prescribed for children. If speech therapy is given as a part of rehabilitative care, an accident insurer or pension fund will cover the costs.

The copayment that you have to pay for yourself is 10 euros per prescription plus 10% of the treatment costs. If each treatment costs 55 euros, for example, for ten treatments you would have to pay 65 euros (the basic fee of 10 euros per prescription plus 10 x 5.50 euros).

Some speech therapists may offer certain treatments without a prescription. You then have to pay for all of the costs yourself. In Germany, these are known as individual health care services (individuelle Gesundheitsleistungen, or IGeL for short).

The German Federal Association of Speech Therapists (DBL) has a search function for speech therapists on their website (in German).

• Bode H, Schröder H, Waltersbacher A (Ed). Heilmittel-Report 2008. Ergotherapie, Logopädie, Physiotherapie: Eine Bestandsaufnahme. Stuttgart: Schattauer; 2008.
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachheilpädagogik (DGS). Ausbildung in der Sprachheilpädagogik .
• Deutscher Bundesverband für akademische Sprachtherapie und Logopädie (dbs). Der Verband [ dbs homepage ]. 2020.
• Deutscher Bundesverband für Logopädie (dbl). Logopädie . 2020.
• Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss (G-BA). Richtlinie über die Verordnung von Heilmitteln in der vertragsärztlichen Versorgung (Heilmittel-Richtlinie/HeilM-RL) . July 1, 2020.
• Verband der Ersatzkassen (vdek). Rahmenvertrag zwischen LOGO Deutschland und den Ersatzkassen über die Versorgung mit Leistungen der Stimm-, Sprech- und Sprachtherapie. Anlage 1: Leistungsbeschreibung . June 1, 2017.

IQWiG health information is written with the aim of helping people understand the advantages and disadvantages of the main treatment options and health care services.

Because IQWiG is a German institute, some of the information provided here is specific to the German health care system. The suitability of any of the described options in an individual case can be determined by talking to a doctor. informedhealth.org can provide support for talks with doctors and other medical professionals, but cannot replace them. We do not offer individual consultations.

Our information is based on the results of good-quality studies. It is written by a team of health care professionals, scientists and editors, and reviewed by external experts. You can find a detailed description of how our health information is produced and updated in our methods.

• Cite this Page InformedHealth.org [Internet]. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. In brief: What is speech therapy? 2020 Aug 12.

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What Is Speech Therapy?

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Speech therapy is a form of healthcare that helps improve communication and speech. It can also help improve swallowing function and other behaviors related to feeding.

About one in 12 children in the United States has a speech or swallowing disorder. Disorders are most common in young children, but many adults have a related condition. For example, about one million adults in the United States have aphasia (difficulty expressing or comprehending written and verbal language).

Speech therapists (STs) or speech-language pathologists (SLPs) assess and treat people of all ages. They use various techniques to help people with challenges related to speech production, language comprehension, hearing, voice quality, fluency, and swallowing. 

What Does Speech Therapy Treat?

Speech therapy treats various disorders involving hearing, speech, language, literacy, social communication, voice quality, executive functioning (for example, memory and problem-solving), feeding, and swallowing.

Specific speech disorders include:

• Articulation disorders: Difficulty pronouncing words or sounds such as the “s” sound (for example, saying “thun” rather than “sun”). This can occur during childhood language development or with structural problems like tongue-tie. A tongue tie is when a small band of skin connects the tip of the tongue to the bottom of the mouth. It is congenital, meaning it's present at birth.
• Dysarthria: Slow, slurred, or unclear speech. This occurs with oral (mouth) muscle control decline due to neurological conditions (related to the brain or nervous system), such as multiple sclerosis (MS) —a condition that occurs when the immune system attacks myelin, the covering wrapped around nerve cells.
• Apraxia: Knowing what you want to say but having difficulty producing the correct sounds or words. Apraxia can cause slow, error-prone speech or the need to intentionally move your tongue and lips in order to produce sounds and words. Apraxia can be present at birth, but it can also occur as a result of brain injuries, brain tumors , or a stroke .
• Fluency disorders: Speech flow disruptions like stuttering. Stuttering is experiencing interruptions in speech and repeating sounds, syllables, or words. Researchers are still exploring possible causes of dysfluency, but they seem to include genetics, developmental components, neurological factors (how the brain processes), and brain injury. Many children outgrow fluency disorders, but they can persist into adulthood.
• Voice disorders: Vocal cord spasming (choppy voice), hoarseness, pitch problems, or voice fatigue are examples of voice disorders. This can result from infection, overusing the vocal cords, or neurological disorders. 

Language or communication disorders include:

• Aphasia : Aphasia is a language disorder in which you have difficulty expressing or comprehending written and verbal language. Receptive aphasia is difficulty understanding written or verbal words. Expressive aphasia is difficulty communicating thoughts and ideas with language components like vocabulary, grammar, and sentence formation. Aphasia can occur with childhood development, language impairment, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), brain injury, or neurological disorders.
• Pragmatic language disorder: This relates to social communication. Signs include misunderstanding social cues like eye contact, body language, and personal space. It can occur during childhood development or with underlying neurodivergence (brain variation), such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) , a brain development condition that affects how a person perceives and socializes with other people.
• Accent or tone: While this is not a disorder, speech therapists can also work with people who wish to modify their accent or an unusual speech rhythm, pitch, or tone. For example, a high-pitched, sing-song, or robotic tone can occur with ASD.
• Executive functioning: Executive functioning challenges include difficulty with memory, planning, organization, problem-solving, and attention. This can occur due to brain injuries or conditions like ASD and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) , a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention (being distracted), hyperactivity (feeling restless), and impulsivity (making hasty decisions).
• Auditory processing disorder: This is a neurological condition that makes it difficult to make sense of sounds. 

Feeding and swallowing disorders affect how you suck, chew, and swallow food and drinks. Difficulty swallowing is also known as dysphagia , which can result in choking during meals—and lung infections if food or liquid enters the airways.  It can occur with structural abnormalities, muscular weakness, or neurological conditions like a stroke.  

How Does Speech Therapy Work?

Speech therapy involves techniques like language practice, pronunciation exercises, voice therapy, and swallowing exercises. It begins with a thorough assessment, including observation of communication strategies, challenges, and frustrations.

Speech therapy for infants, toddlers, and children involves fun and engaging activities like play, language exercises, reading, picture cards, and modeling correct sounds. This helps make learning more enjoyable.  

Parents or caregivers often attend sessions and learn ways to support children at home. The ST or SLP will tailor the treatment plan to the child’s developmental stage. Early recognition and intervention (treatment) can help improve outcomes.

With adults, the ST or SLP will begin with an assessment to identify specific challenges. They will then create a specific care plan that addresses underlying concerns such as:

• Medical conditions
• Accent modification
• Voice challenges
• Pronunciation
• Conversational language
• Problem-solving
• Memory exercises

What To Expect During Speech Therapy

Speech therapy can occur in a class, small group, online, or one-on-one. Speech therapists typically assign exercises to practice at home in order to reinforce what you learn. Activities might include:

• Vocal warm-ups like humming 
• Tongue twisters to improve articulation
• Breaking words into syllables to improve clarity
• Contrasting word exercises—for example, "ship" versus "sheep"
• “Pausing” practice (for stuttering)
• Repetition after listening to a native speaker 
• Repetition exercises for sounds like “s” 
• Speech rate control—for example, by tapping hands to a beat
• Pitch exercises
• Breathing and posture exercises

Receptive language exercises include:

• Memory or problem-solving exercises
• Reading comprehension (similar to a book report)
• Speech supplementation (written, gestural, voice amplifier, speech-generating devices)
• Word association
• Communication partner exercises, such as practicing eye contact and active listening

Exercises for swallowing and feeding include:

• Diet modification (pureed to solid foods)
• Oral muscle strengthening (like tongue “push-ups”)
• Swallowing exercises

Benefits of Speech Therapy

One of the main goals of speech therapy is to enhance a person’s ability to express thoughts, ideas, and emotions effectively. This can lead to a greater sense of self-expression, meaningful interactions with others, and less frustration. Other benefits include:

• Greater self-confidence: Gaining more control over language and communication can increase confidence and boost self-esteem. As a result, you might be more willing and excited to engage in social activities. 
• Improved academic or professional performance: Clear speech and language can lead to enhanced skills in comprehension, reading, and writing. This can support academic success. Better articulation, language, and presentation abilities can help with career development.
• Greater independence: Speech therapy can lead to greater self-reliance, especially if you have severe communication challenges. For example, augmented and alternative communication (AAC) methods , such as speech-generating devices (SGDs), can allow you to express yourself more independently.

How Successful Is Speech Therapy?

Speech therapy's “success” depends on your goals. The meaning of success can vary based on your underlying communication or medical condition and its severity, as well as your motivation and commitment to therapy, the therapist's expertise, and your support systems. The time it takes to reach your goals also varies based on underlying factors like these.

For example, you may define success as improved pronunciation, or you may work towards more effective communication, more skilled accent modification, or swallowing without choking. If you stutter, your goal might be improved fluency or feeling more comfortable communicating openly with a stutter. For most people, what’s most important is to set realistic expectations and recognize that any improvement in communication is a success.

How To Find a Speech Therapist

A qualified speech therapist or speech-language pathologist holds a master's degree in speech-language pathology and state licensure to practice in your area. You can find speech therapists in settings like:

• Home health agencies
• Rehabilitation centers
• Private practice
• Telehealth (online)

You can also ask for recommendations from healthcare providers or school personnel who may know local speech therapists. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) also offers an online directory of certified speech therapies to help you locate someone in your area.

Check with your health insurance provider to see if they cover speech therapy. They can provide you with information about your co-payments and deductibles. If your insurance doesn't cover the cost, the clinic or speech therapist may offer payment plans . Some children may also qualify for:

• Individualized education programs (IEPs) that cover speech therapy costs as a service from the school district
• Early intervention (EI) or Preschool on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) programs for infants and toddlers for little or no cost to families
• State and federal programs, like Medicaid
• Financial assistance programs from non-profit and advocate organizations

A Quick Review

Speech therapy is a specialized healthcare field in which trained professionals help improve speech, language, hearing, swallowing, and feeding for people of all ages. Speech therapists (STs) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) thoroughly assess and develop specific treatment plans for a wide range of conditions including difficulty communicating or processing language, stuttering, and voice disorders.

Speech therapy takes place in locations like schools, hospitals, and private practice. It can be one-on-one or in a group setting. Success depends on underlying factors such as the severity of the condition. It also depends on personal goals and your definition of success—which can vary widely from person to person.

Many people who have speech therapy experience powerful benefits that affect them in nearly every aspect of life, including greater self-confidence and self-reliance.

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August 12, 2022

What is Speech Therapy?

Many individuals will have experience with speech therapy at some point in their life. But what is speech therapy, exactly? Speech therapy is a specialized treatment performed by a speech-language pathologist that helps individuals of all ages improve their speech and communication.

Speech therapy prevents, assesses, and treats communication problems, delays, and disorders. It is performed by a communication specialist called a speech-language pathologist (also referred to as a speech pathologist, speech therapist, or SLP).

Speech therapy aims to improve an individual’s speech and/or language skills and treat developmental delays, swallowing disorders, fluency disorders, voice and resonance disorders, and more.

Who Needs Speech Therapy?

Speech therapists help a wide variety of clients from birth to old age. Individuals who might benefit from speech therapy include the following.

• Infants. Speech therapy helps infants and babies with feeding, speech development, and early communication skills.
• Toddlers and Preschoolers. Toddlers and preschoolers receive speech therapy to treat speech delays and disorders and enhance language development (identifying body parts, following simple directions, etc.).
• Children and Adolescents. Speech therapy can help children with a variety of disorders, including speech sound disorders, language delays, stuttering, voice disorders, auditory processing, verbal expression, and much more.
• Adults. Adults can be treated in therapy for the same delays and disorders as those seen in adolescents, as well as for aphasia, dysarthria, memory, cognition, accent reduction, swallowing, and gender-affirming voice therapy.
• Elderly. Speech therapy can be very beneficial for seniors. Therapy may work on improving functional communication skills, safe swallowing techniques, and memory and problem-solving skills.

What Does Speech Therapy Do?

A speech-language pathologist treats a wide range of communication delays and disorders. They provide therapy in the areas of articulation, language, fluency, resonance, cognition, voice, swallowing, dysarthria, auditory rehab, and more.

1. Articulation

A speech sound disorder (also known as an articulation disorder) is the inability to correctly produce speech sounds (called phonemes). These disorders are most common in children and may include an omission, substitution, distortion, or addition of sounds when speaking, often making the child difficult to understand.

• Omissions. Leaving out a sound in a word. (Example: Saying “unny” for “bunny” or “ar” for “car.”) .
• Substitutions. When a sound is said in place of another. (Example: A child has a “lisp” and says “thun” for “sun” or when a child substitutes a W for an R and says “wabbit” for “rabbit.”)
• Distortions. A non-typical sound is said in place of the correct sound in a word. (Example: A child has a lateral lisp where the air escapes out the side of the teeth when saying the “S” sound, making it sound “slushy” and hard to understand.)
• Additions. A sound is added to a word, like extra vowels or an extra consonant. (Example: Saying “puhlay” for “play.”)

2. Language

A language disorder is when a person has difficulty understanding written or spoken language or expressing their wants and needs to others. People with a language disorder may have an expressive language disorder, receptive language disorder, or both.

• Expressive Language. Individuals with an expressive language disorder have difficulty communicating their wants and needs to others through speech, writing, or gestures. Individuals with an expressive language disorder may not produce grammatically correct sentences, have a limited vocabulary, and may speak in short phrases instead of full sentences.
• Receptive Language. A receptive language disorder causes difficulty understanding or processing language. Individuals with a receptive language disorder may have difficulty following directions, and answering questions.

Fluency disorders interrupt the normal rate, rhythm, and speed of speech. Rather than speaking in a smooth, consistent rate of speech, individuals with a fluency disorder will have repetitions, prolongations, and blocks when they speak. They may also experience tension when they speak and have secondary behaviors (like eye blinking or nodding their head) when communicating.

Fluency disorders are divided into two categories: stuttering and cluttering.

• Stuttering. Stuttering is the most common type of disfluency. It is characterized by repetitions of sounds, syllables, words, and phrases, blocks in the flow of speech, and sound prolongations.
• Cluttering. Unlike stuttering, cluttering is a fluency disorder where the individual talks at a fast rate and often combines words or phrases together, making the speech difficult to understand. Cluttered speech is often filled with abnormal pauses, deletion of syllables, abrupt topic changes, and omission of word endings.

4. Resonance

Resonance disorders occur when there is too much or too little sound energy through the nasal and/or oral cavities. This is often caused by neurological disorders, cleft palate, and other structural conditions like enlarged tonsils. Resonance disorders can be broken down into the following four categories.

• Hypernasality . Hypernasality occurs when there is too much sound energy in the nasal cavity (nose) when speaking. A person with hypernasality may sound like they are talking through their nose.
• Hyponasality. Hyponasalaity occurs when there is not enough sound energy resonating in the nasal cavity (nose) when speaking. A person with hyponasality will sound like they are speaking with a severely stuffed nose.
• Cul-de-sac resonance. A person with cul-de-sac resonance has speech that resonates in their throat, nose, or mouth but it is unable to escape due to an obstruction. They may sound like they are mumbling when speaking or like the sound is muffled in their throat or nose.
• Mixed resonance. This type of resonance disorder occurs when one or more of the previous types of disorders are present at the same time during speech.

Voice therapy is used to improve the quality of a person’s voice and provide treatment for conditions such as vocal fold nodules, polyps, or cysts. It can also be used to improve the speech of someone with spasmodic dysphonia, tremor, and vocal fold paralysis.

Voice therapy aims to improve phonation quality, pitch, and loudness, and helps decrease harmful vocal behavior.

6. Cognition

Speech therapy can assist individuals with acquired cognition deficits. These often occur following a stroke, brain damage, tumor, or neurological damage. Damage to the brain can greatly affect a person’s ability to communicate, and speech therapy provides help in the following areas.

• Problem solving.
• Executive functioning.

7. Feeding and Swallowing

Speech therapists are swallowing specialists and provide therapy for a number of feeding and swallowing conditions and disorders. They work with infants, children, adults, and the elderly to ensure the safe transition of food through all four stages of swallowing.

9. Auditory Habilitation/Rehabilitation

Auditory habilitation/rehabilitation helps individuals with hearing loss improve their ability to communicate with others. It can also assist children and adolescents with dyslexia, autism, and other auditory processing disorders and deficits.

A speech therapist works with a team of specialists to improve speech, language, and hearing skills through a variety of devices and materials.

10. Other Services

In addition to these areas of expertise, speech therapy can also provide elective services including, but not limited to the following.

• Accent modification. Whether a person wants to decrease the severity of their accent or master an accent for acting or other purposes, speech therapy can help train a client on the characteristics of specific accents and dialects.
• Gender-affirming therapy. Speech therapy can help an individual train their voice and nonverbal communication to best match their authentic self.
• Professional communication skills. Speech therapists are experts in communication, and they can help improve public speaking skills and help manage anxiety when speaking to large groups.

Where Does Speech Therapy Take Place?

Speech therapy can be done in many locations based on a client’s needs.

• Private and public schools.
• Private practice.
• Skilled nursing facilities.
• Inpatient rehabilitation facilities.
• Long-term care facilities.
• Telepractice.

Speech therapy can also be provided within a client’s home for infants and toddlers receiving early intervention services or for the elderly with limited mobility.

How Long Does Speech Therapy Take?

There is no set time limit for speech therapy as therapy duration will be different for each person. While some children in therapy working on fixing their lisp (correctly saying the S sound) will take 1-2 years, other children with a severe form of childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) will need therapy for many, many years.

Prognosis and how long someone will be receiving speech therapy services is dependent on a number of factors including, but not limited to:

• Patient age.
• Type of disorder.
• Severity of the disorder.
• Frequency and duration of speech therapy.
• Family support and assistance with at-home therapy “homework.”
• Prognosis of any medical conditions contributing to the speech or language disorder.

Does Speech Therapy Work?

Speech therapy is proven to be very successful at improving speech and communication in a variety of individuals.

Keep in mind that the progress and success of speech therapy vary from person to person. The more consistent the therapy, the higher likelihood of success.

In addition to consistency, the earlier therapy is started (especially in children with delays), the better the prognosis.

Please reach out to a speech therapist if you are concerned about your or your loved one’s speech or communication. You can also email general questions to [email protected].

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One Comment

It made sense to me when you pointed out that there will be a higher likelihood of success when speech therapy is done consistently. My four-year-old son seems to have speech problems because he cannot say words clearly, and he stutters a lot. I do not want his speech problems to become a bigger problem when he starts studying, so I will find a reliable speech pathologist who can help him in the best possible way.

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Speech therapy: What it is and how it helps with language challenges

Speech therapy can help with communication skills, including spoken and written language. It can even help with reading. Learn more about this treatment, and how to request it for your child.

By Gail Belsky

Expert reviewed by Kelli Johnson, MA

Speech therapy is a treatment that can help improve communication skills. It’s sometimes called speech-language therapy.

Many people think that speech therapy is only for kids with speech disorders that affect pronunciation. But it can also target problems with:

Receptive language (understanding language)

Expressive language (using language)

Social communication (using language in socially appropriate ways)

Reading and spelling (including dyslexia )

Here’s more about speech therapy and how it can help kids with language challenges.

Dive deeper

How speech-language therapy works.

The specialists who do this type of therapy are speech-language pathologists (SLPs). They first identify what kind of speech or language problem a child has. Then they find the underlying causes and the best treatment. 

Therapy can happen one-on-one or in small groups. It may last from a few months to a few years. The earlier therapy begins, the more helpful it is. Language difficulties are usually lifelong, but skills can improve with the right support. 

Kids may get therapy in school for free as part of special education. It would be part of an IEP . Or they might start even earlier. One way is through their state’s early intervention system. Therapy can also happen in private settings.

Speech-language therapy is tailored to a child’s specific needs. Here are some common skills SLPs work on:

Phonological awareness. An early reading skill. To improve it, SLPs might focus on rhyming and identifying sounds in words. 

Expressing more complex ideas. SLPs might teach “joining words” like and , but , or because to help kids combine their ideas in sentences.

Building vocabulary. SLPs might help kids remember words by acting them out or using them to tell a story.

Conversation skills. SLPs might role-play conversation and help kids pick up on social cues.

Parents and caregivers can help kids practice these exercises at home. This can make speech therapy even more effective.

Learn more about how speech-language pathologists work with kids .

Speech-language therapy and reading challenges

Phonological awareness is one of the first reading skills. It’s the ability to recognize and use sounds in spoken language. Kids rely on this skill to sound out (decode) words. 

Kids with reading challenges like dyslexia often have trouble with this skill. Speech-language therapy can help them hear that the word bat breaks down into b , a , and t sounds. This can improve reading comprehension skills.

Challenges with language can also cause problems with reading comprehension. SLPs work on those skills, too.

Learn more about phonological awareness .

How to request speech therapy

To get speech therapy at school, kids need to be evaluated by the SLP. This tends to be part of a full school evaluation for special education services. For some kids, speech therapy is the only service they need. Find out how to request a free evaluation for:

Early intervention (kids under age 3)

Preschoolers (kids ages 3–5)

Kids in kindergarten and up

Explore related topics

Breadcrumbs

What is speech therapy?

Speech therapy can help people who have difficulty speaking to communicate better and to break down the barriers that result from speech impediments. The goals of speech therapy include improving pronunciation, strengthening the muscles used in speech, and learning to speak correctly.

Speech therapy can be used for a lot of different speech problems and disorders, from smaller problems like a hoarse voice up to partial loss of speech due to brain damage. Depending on the type of disorder, other medical or psychological treatments may be used as well.

What kinds of disorders can speech therapy treat? Informationen about $CMS_IF( ! tt_headline.isEmpty)$$CMS_VALUE(tt_headline.toText(false).convert2)$$CMS_END_IF$

Speech therapy can be used to treat language disorders, speech disorders and swallowing problems.

Language disorders

A childhood language disorder can affect the child’s ability to learn to speak, to name objects and build complete sentences. Although the causes of these disorders are often not clear, the main known risk factors include hearing problems , general developmental problems and disorders affecting the development of the brain.

Language disorders in adults are almost always the result of brain injury or disease. People who have had a stroke , for example, often have trouble forming sentences or remembering words. That type of disorder is called aphasia.

Speech disorders

People with speech disorders have difficulty producing the sounds of speech, saying words clearly or talking fluently. Children often have trouble with pronunciation, and may have a lisp or swap certain sounds for others. Speech disorders may be the result of developmental disorders, but psychological factors might also play a role. Adults with neurological diseases sometimes have speech disorders too, often making it hard to understand them.

Another group of speech disorders, known as fluency disorders, involve problems with the flow or evenness of speech. People with this sort of disorder may stutter or “clutter,” for example. When people stutter, there are often silent pauses in their speech, or they repeat or lengthen certain sounds or syllables. Cluttering is abnormally fast speech that makes the pronunciation imprecise or leaves out sounds or parts of words.

Voice disorders (dysphonia)

A voice disorder is a persistent change in someone’s voice. They might sound hoarse, strained, raspy or nearly silent. Often the voice is somewhat weak – in other words, it cracks easily or the person is not able to speak loudly. Voice disorders may arise from speaking too much or too loudly, from using the wrong breathing technique, or from problems with the voice box (larynx) like vocal nodules . Psychological causes like depression or a reaction to a distressing event can change a person’s voice too.

Trouble swallowing

In people with swallowing problems, the movements of the muscles involved in swallowing are affected. This leads to problems transporting food through the mouth and throat. The cause is often a disease or disorder of the nervous system, such as Parkinson’s disease , multiple sclerosis, dementia , an infection like Lyme disease or tetanus, or a head injury. If food gets into the lungs because of a swallowing disorder, it can lead to life-threatening complications.

What treatments are used in speech therapy?

There are various speech therapy techniques for each of the areas described above – the ones that are considered depend on the particular disorder. A long series of treatment sessions is typically needed, with each lasting 30 to 60 minutes. They may take place in a group or one-on-one.

The treatment approaches used in speech therapy include:

• Perception exercises, for example to differentiate between individual sounds and syllables
• Exercises to produce certain sounds and improve the fluency of speech
• Exercises to improve breathing, swallowing and the voice
• Help with communication using things like sign language, communication boards and computer-assisted speech
• Advice for people who need speech therapy, their parents and other loved ones
• Support in implementing these measures in everyday life

For the treatment to help over the long term, it’s often important to also regularly practice the techniques at home.

Where is speech therapy offered? Informationen about $CMS_IF( ! tt_headline.isEmpty)$$CMS_VALUE(tt_headline.toText(false).convert2)$$CMS_END_IF$

Speech therapy is offered at the following facilities:

• Speech therapy practices
• Rehabilitative care centers
• Special needs schools
• Children's day care facilities specializing in speech therapy

Besides speech therapists, there are a number of other specialists who also use similar methods. These include breathing, speech and voice coaches.

Do statutory health insurers cover the costs of speech therapy? Informationen about $CMS_IF( ! tt_headline.isEmpty)$$CMS_VALUE(tt_headline.toText(false).convert2)$$CMS_END_IF$

Note: The procedures and requirements for applying for and receiving speech therapy may vary according to your country. This information describes the current situation in Germany.

To have outpatient treatment at a speech therapy practice, you need a prescription from a doctor. An initial prescription will generally include up to 10 treatments, each typically lasting 30 to 60 minutes. Appointments are usually offered one to three times per week.

For the medical conditions listed above, prescribed speech therapy is often covered by statutory health insurers (apart from a fixed amount that you have to pay yourself, known as a copayment). The copayment does not have to be paid when getting a treatment that has been prescribed for children. If speech therapy is given as a part of rehabilitative care, an accident insurer or pension fund will cover the costs.

The copayment that you have to pay for yourself is 10 euros per prescription plus 10% of the treatment costs. If each treatment costs 55 euros, for example, for ten treatments you would have to pay 65 euros (the basic fee of 10 euros per prescription plus 10 x 5.50 euros).

Some speech therapists may offer certain treatments without a prescription. You then have to pay for all of the costs yourself. In Germany, these are known as individual health care services ( individuelle Gesundheitsleistungen , or IGeL for short). The German Federal Association of Speech Therapists (DBL) has a search function for speech therapists on their website (in German).

Bode H, Schröder H, Waltersbacher A (Ed). Heilmittel-Report 2008. Ergotherapie, Logopädie, Physiotherapie: Eine Bestandsaufnahme. Stuttgart: Schattauer; 2008.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sprachheilpädagogik (DGS). Ausbildung in der Sprachheilpädagogik .

Deutscher Bundesverband für akademische Sprachtherapie und Logopädie (dbs). Der Verband [ dbs homepage ]. 2020.

Deutscher Bundesverband für Logopädie (dbl). Logopädie . 2020.

Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss (G-BA). Richtlinie über die Verordnung von Heilmitteln in der vertragsärztlichen Versorgung (Heilmittel-Richtlinie/HeilM-RL) . July 1, 2020.

Verband der Ersatzkassen (vdek). Rahmenvertrag zwischen LOGO Deutschland und den Ersatzkassen über die Versorgung mit Leistungen der Stimm-, Sprech- und Sprachtherapie. Anlage 1: Leistungsbeschreibung . June 1, 2017.

IQWiG health information is written with the aim of helping people understand the advantages and disadvantages of the main treatment options and health care services.

Because IQWiG is a German institute, some of the information provided here is specific to the German health care system. The suitability of any of the described options in an individual case can be determined by talking to a doctor. informedhealth.org can provide support for talks with doctors and other medical professionals, but cannot replace them. We do not offer individual consultations.

Our information is based on the results of good-quality studies. It is written by a team of health care professionals, scientists and editors, and reviewed by external experts. You can find a detailed description of how our health information is produced and updated in our methods .

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We welcome any feedback and ideas - either via our form or by [email protected] . We will review, but not publish, your ratings and comments. Your information will of course be treated confidentially. Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required fields.

Please note that we do not provide individual advice on matters of health. You can read about where to find help and support in Germany in our information “ How can I find self-help groups and information centers? ”

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Created on August 12, 2020

Next planned update: 2024

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What Is a Speech Pathologist?

Also Known as a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) or Speech Therapist

• What They Do
• Conditions Treated

Training for Speech Pathologists

• When to See an SLP

A speech pathologist, also known as a speech therapist, is a healthcare professional who helps you improve your speech and communication if you have been ill, injured, or have a chronic disability. Speech pathologists may also be called speech-language pathologists (SLP).

Speech pathologists also work with people who have difficulty swallowing food or drink to help them stay safe while eating.

This article examines the important work that speech pathologists do as part of a rehabilitation team of professionals. You will learn what conditions they treat and when you should seek out the services of an SLP.

What a Speech Pathologist Does

A speech pathologist is a trained medical professional who works with patients who are injured or ill and are having difficulty speaking or swallowing. They work to prevent, assess, and treat these disorders in adults and children.

Speech pathologists help people communicate, and this may involve:

• Expressive communication : The ability to communicate verbally and nonverbally
• Receptive communication : The ability to understand verbal and nonverbal communications

Some speech therapists work closely with audiologists (healthcare professionals who treat hearing and balance problems) to ensure that you can hear and understand language correctly. Others work with otolaryngologists , also called ear, nose, and throat physicians (ENTs), to help patients swallow food and drink safely and to assist patients with oral motor function.

Common Specialty Areas

Some speech pathologists have a more generalized practice, while others have a more narrow focus on specific areas or problems such as:

• Social communication
• Voice and vocal hygiene
• Speech sound disorders

Some of the official certifications that a speech pathologist may receive include:

•  Intraoperative monitoring
•  Fluency disorders
•  Swallowing and feeding disorders
•  Child language disorders

Speech pathologists seeking specialty certification have to meet education, experience, and clinical practice requirements as established by independent specialty certification boards.

Where Speech Therapists Work

There are a variety of settings in which speech pathologists work. This may include:

• Schools: Speech therapists working in schools help children with speech disorders learn to overcome their communication challenges.
• Nursing homes: Speech therapists in nursing homes help patients with dementia or communication issues caused by other conditions like stroke learn communication strategies. They also work with staff on ways to help residents communicate more effectively.
• Hospitals: A speech pathologist working in a hospital may help diagnose and treat language communication problems and swallowing disorders in hospitalized patients. 
• Private practices: Speech pathologists may also work in private practices where they may specialize in one or more language problems or health conditions in specific populations.

Speech pathologists can also work as educators in colleges and universities, and they may be involved in research.

Conditions Speech Therapists Treat

Speech pathologists work with people of various ages and with a variety of conditions. They sometimes work with young children who are having problems speaking properly, or they may help older adults with cognitive communication (communication that is affected by memory, attention, organization, and problem-solving, which are examples of executive functioning ).

A stroke can cause damage to the part of the brain responsible for language and communication. Depending on the extent of the stroke, this loss of ability may be short-term or long-term. A speech pathologist can help someone who is recovering from a stroke regain their ability to speak and understand language.

What is aphasia?

Aphasia is a condition of the brain that affects how you communicate with others. It is caused by damage to the part of the brain responsible for language and can affect your ability to speak and understand what is being said.

Hearing Loss

A speech pathologist may work with other professionals such as audiologists and ENTs to help assess, manage, and treat someone with hearing loss. Some of the things a speech pathologist might do to help someone with hearing loss include evaluating the person's speech, helping them improve listening skills, and working with them to develop alternative communication strategies.

Vocal Damage

Vocal cords can become damaged in various ways including persistent coughing and voice overuse. A speech pathologist can teach you muscle strengthing and voice rehabilitation excercises and other strategies to help your vocal cords heal (such as cough modification). 

English Language Learners

If you are learning a new language and wish to alter your accent, you may benefit from the services of a speech-language pathologist, as well. They can help you form words and sounds correctly to alter your normal speech in learning a new language.

Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury after a blow to the head or an accident that affects the parts of the brain that control language can also lead to problems with communication. A speech therapist can help someone with this type of injury recover lost speech and language skills.

Swallowing Disorders

Dysphagia is the medical term for difficulty swallowing. It can be caused by several different medical conditions including muscular problems, a narrowed esophagus, damage caused by gastroesophageal reflux disease, or esophageal cancer. 

Untreated dysphagia can lead to problems eating and drinking including choking. A speech pathologist can help you develop strategies for safe chewing and swallowing, including exercises, correct body position, and food preparation recommendations. 

People with autism can have difficulty with both written and spoken communication as well as body-language forms of communication such as pointing and waving. Autism is also associated with difficulties relating to and socializing with other people. 

A speech pathologist can help people with autism understand communication norms and improve their written and spoken communication skills. They can also work with the families of people with autism on strategies that can help develop communication skills.

Alzheimer's Disease

People with dementia or Alzheimer's disease may develop communication problems as the disease progresses. A speech therapist can help the person develop memory skills and other strategies that will help them communicate.

Speech pathologists also work with the family and caregivers of people with dementia so they can help the person implement communication tools and strategies.   

Fluency Disorders

Fluency disorder describes speech patterns characterized by differences in rate and rhythm compared to how most people speak. 

Stuttering is the most common example of a fluency disorder. Another example is cluttering, which describes speech that is atypically fast and irregular.

Speech pathologists usually develop an individualized treatment plan for someone with a fluency disorder, which may include strategies such as:

• Minimizing negative reactions to the problem
• Increasing the person's acceptance of the problem
• Improving confidence
• Reducing avoidance behavior

Speech Sound Disorders

Speech sound disorders describe problems articulating words. People with speech sound disorders may be hard for others to understand. This can result in problems with social relationships, at work, or at school. 

Speech sound disorders are common in childhood and can be treated with the help of a speech pathologist. The pathologist will look at how the person moves their tongue, lips and jaw and help them learn the correct way to make sounds. 

People with speech sound disorders often have other problems with language; their speech therapist can also help them develop strategies to overcome these problems.

Gender-Affirming Voice Therapy

Voice therapy for transgender people can be an important part of gender-affirming healthcare. Learning to speak in ways that align with gender identity can improve a transgender person's quality of life as well as their social and psychological well-being.

A speech pathologist can help a transgender person learn to modify the pitch of their voice in ways that limit fatigue and damage to the vocal cords. They can also help the person learn nonverbal communication, articulation, and other strategies that can help their voice align with their gender identity.

To be a speech pathologist, a person must have a master's degree in communication disorders from a program accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA).

Many undergraduate and graduate programs in speech pathology require time spent observing a speech therapist at work prior to admission. This satisfies the requirement for entry into school and provides a good understanding of what a speech pathologist's job is like.

The first year of work as a speech therapist is called a clinical fellowship year. During this time, aspiring speech pathologists will work under the supervision of a licensed speech pathologist.

Additional steps to becoming a speech pathologist include:

• Obtaining a certificate of clinical competence in SLP (CCC-SLP)
• Passing a national Praxis examination for Speech-Language Pathology
• Applying for SLP licensure in the state in which you will be working

A speech pathologist's education does not end when they leave school and pass the national examination. They must also fulfill continuing education requirements from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) to maintain their license.

When to See a Speech Pathologist

There are certain instances in which you may need to see a speech pathologist. For example, parents commonly notice small speech or language impairments in their children and seek out an SLP.

Adults may want to work with a speech pathologist to help with new or existing communication or language problems.

If you become hospitalized, you may have a speech pathologist come to your room and work with you at your bedside. They can help you with speech and language, swallowing and diet issues, and can work with other members of a rehab team to ensure that it is safe and appropriate for you to return home.

When to see a medical professional

Many speech and language disorders benefit from the help of a speech therapist, but some are more urgent than others. Any sudden onset of impaired speech should be considered an emergency, as the person may be experiencing a life-threatening problem such as a stroke.

Children should be closely monitored for speech and language development. If your child does not have the language skills expected for their age, it is a good idea to see a speech pathologist as soon as you can.

If you or a loved one is having trouble communicating or understanding language, then working with a speech pathologist may be a good idea.

SLPs treat children and adults with a variety of conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, stroke, neurological injuries, autism, and more. They are trained to assess your condition and offer strategies to improve your expressive and receptive communication and swallowing function.

Pascoe A, Breen LJ, Cocks N. What is needed to prepare speech pathologists to work in adult palliative care?: What is needed to prepare SPs to work in adult palliative care? .  International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders . 2018;53(3):542-549. doi:10.1111/1460-6984.12367

American Speech Language Hearing Association. Who are speech pathologists, and what do they do? .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Social communication .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Speech sound disorders .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Clinical specialty certification .

Reilly S, Harper M, Goldfeld S. The demand for speech pathology services for children: Do we need more or just different? . J Paediatr Child Health . 2016;52(12):1057-1061. doi:10.1111/jpc.13318

National Aphasia Association. Stroke .

Johns Hopkins Medicine. Aphasia .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Hearing loss in adults .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Autism (autism spectrum disorder) .

Alzheimer's Association. Strategies to support changes in memory, language and behavior in the early stages of dementia .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Fluency disorders .

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Gender-affirming voice therapy advocacy .

SpeechPathologyGraduatePrograms.org. How to become a speech pathologist .

Johns Hopkins Medicine. Identifying speech and language concerns about your child and when should you seek help?  

Salary.com. Speech Pathologist Salary in the United States .

By Brett Sears, PT Brett Sears, PT, MDT, is a physical therapist with over 20 years of experience in orthopedic and hospital-based therapy.

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speech therapy

Definition of speech therapy

Examples of speech therapy in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'speech therapy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

1912, in the meaning defined above

Dictionary Entries Near speech therapy

speech stretcher

Cite this Entry

“Speech therapy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/speech%20therapy. Accessed 25 Aug. 2024.

Medical Definition

Medical definition of speech therapy.

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13 Terms Your Speech Therapist Uses and What They Mean

Sometimes it might seem like your speech therapist is speaking another language. With as much time as you spend talking with them, you may still hear some terms that feel unfamiliar–especially if you’re just starting speech therapy. Here’s a helpful glossary defining some common terms used in speech therapy sessions. You may also see some of these terms included in your child’s speech therapy goals. Of course, if you ever encounter a word or phrase that you’re unsure about, please ask! We speech therapists never mean   to be unclear, but sometimes these terms are so second nature to us that a reminder is helpful.

1. Speech and language

Speech-language pathologists are constantly using the phrase “speech and language.” But don’t those two words mean the same thing? Actually, not quite! This phrase refers to two aspects of a person’s ability to communicate with others:

Speech is the motoric production of speech sounds using your tongue, mouth, and breath.

Language consists of using nonverbal language, verbal language, and correct grammar and sentence structure in order to communicate thoughts and needs.

You may hear this term used during an evaluation for speech therapy. This evaluation is often called a speech and language evaluation, because the speech therapist will assess both areas of development in order to determine the need and goals for therapy.

2. Articulation

What is articulation? Articulation refers to a person’s ability to make speech sounds. If your child is in speech therapy because they have a hard time saying their /r/ or /s/ sounds, for instance, then they are receiving what’s called articulation treatment. You may hear your speech therapist say something like, “Your child’s articulation skills are improving.” For kids needing help with speech sounds, you’ll probably hear this word frequently!

3. Production

“Production” is another term you’re likely to hear if your child is working on articulation. It refers to the way a person says a speech sound. Your speech therapist may talk about your child’s production of their target sound–the sound they’re working on in therapy. You may hear phrases like, “He needed less help with his /r/ productions today,” or “His /s/ productions are sounding much better.”

4. Expressive and receptive language

Language can be categorized into two areas. “Expressive language” refers to the verbal and nonverbal output of communication–how a person expresses themselves. “Receptive language” refers to a person's ability to understand what’s said to them.

Both of these areas of language development are equally important. And strong skills in one area help children grow their skills in the other area.

5. Joint attention

Joint attention is one of the earlier skills of language development. Joint attention refers to a person’s ability to focus on an item or task that a partner is also focusing on. Communication cannot exist without joint attention.

For example, when two people play with a toy together, they are focused on the same task and can communicate about what they’re doing. Joint attention can even be as simple as when a baby looks at their bottle, then looks back to their caregiver. They’re letting the caregiver know that they see their bottle, and they want it fast!

6. Modeling

Modeling  i s when a speech therapist or caregiver shows a child how to do something. This can mean modeling gestures, like teaching a baby to wave goodbye or use simple signs. It can also refer to someone modeling words or sounds for a child to imitate.

7. Imitation

Speaking of imitation, in the context of communication development, it refers to when a child repeats what is modeled to them, whether it’s a gesture, sound, or word. Imitation is frequently used to teach new skills. Speech therapists watch for children to begin imitating a new skill before being able to do it independently.

When your speech therapist is helping your child with a new skill, they will provide cueing. Cueing refers to the different types of assistance a speech therapist gives your child to help them say a new sound or master a new skill.

For example, if your child is learning the /l/ sound, their speech-language pathologist may give them verbal cueing. They may say something like, “Remember, your tongue moves up for this sound,” instead of actually showing your child how to do it.

Children need different types of cueing, and the type and amount of cueing will likely change throughout the course of treatment. The objective is for your child to be meeting their goals with as minimal cueing as possible by the end of their time in speech therapy.

What does “fluency” mean? Fluency refers to the smoothness and continuity of a person’s speech. When people receive speech therapy for  stuttering , it is often called fluency treatment.

10. Pragmatics

What is “pragmatics”? Pragmatics refers to the social language we use when we’re interacting with others. Examples include being able to stay on topic within a conversation, not interrupting when someone else is talking, and using appropriate nonverbal communication with the person with whom you’re speaking.

11. Evaluation

A speech-language evaluation is often completed at the first visit with a speech therapist. An evaluation is the testing that a speech therapist performs to assess a child’s current communication strengths and weaknesses. The results of the evaluation determine whether the child needs speech therapy and what the goals of that therapy will be.

12. Treatment

If you hear a speech therapist talk about “treatment” or a “treatment plan,” they’re simply referring to speech therapy.

13. Referral/script

If you’re seeking speech therapy for your child and you’re told you need a referral or a script, this means a referral from your doctor. Many people may not realize that in order for health insurance to authorize speech therapy, a statement from the pediatrician confirming the need for a speech-language evaluation is needed.

We hope this glossary of common terms sets you up for success in communicating with your speech therapist. But remember, you can always ask if there’s something that needs an explanation. Your speech therapist will be happy to address it!

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What is “Recasting” and Why is it Useful in Speech Therapy Sessions?

Recasting. What is recasting exactly? We hear this term a lot but it’s not always clearly explained. Recasting is a great therapy strategy to work on language skills and support students.

Recasting is when you take what a child has said and you repeat it but with more accurate grammar or vocabulary. There are many reasons why this is a great language strategy.

1. You’re honoring the child’s communicative intent

Children or AAC users are frequently ignored when they’re expressing themselves. Children who use echolalia may be ignored because people aren’t sure how to respond to their gestalts. Why? Adults prefer to have adult conversations or maybe they don’t really understand what the child is saying. Children don’t consistently receive feedback. When you’re repeating what they said with correct grammar, you are letting them know that you were listening, you hear them and you care about what they have to say. It’s important to honor students communicative intent and let them know that you are listening and you do care.

Note : I included the sentence about children with echolalia because I do feel that group of children gets ignored often and wanted to acknowledge that. BUT this is a group where you should not necessarily be recasting their utterances. Echolalia serves a purpose as meaningful communication. If you are interested in knowing more about gestalt language processors, the Meaningful Speech Natural Language Acquisition course is incredible! Alexandria Zachos teaches you so much. I feel like such a far more competent clinician after taking this course. So I just wanted to include that note about students who use gestalts.

2. Recasting benefits students working on syntactic skills

Emphasize the grammatical element you’re working on. The student will hear the change and it will draw their attention to that syntactic alteration. Let’s look at how to do this. Imagine you’re watching a video where one child takes something away from the other and the student says “that’s hims!” I might say “oh yeah! That’s his,” with a slightly louder and longer duration on the word “his”. This draws the child’s attention to it and gets their brain working on why I said some thing different and figuring out those grammatical structures. It gets their attention but it also doesn’t take away from the meaningful communication interaction. Sometimes direct teaching is a good way to go, and sometimes we need the language therapy to be more naturalistic. It depends on the context. So it’s a great way to target grammar and emphasizing grammatical structures.

3. Recasting supports students working on semantics skills

Recasting is not only for grammatical structures. You can acknowledge what a child has said and add more words so that it is more specific. How? For example, if we are looking at a book, and a child says “that’s a dog”, I might say “that’s a big dog”, or “that’s an angry dog”. Both of these include what the child has said but introduces new elements that can support expanding their vocabulary repertoire.

4. Recasting supports AAC users

Many AAC users are just learning language with their devices. Communication partners can understand them for the first time in their lives. For many AAC users it’s their first time accessing language so we can’t expect them to have perfect grammar or correct sentence structures all the time. So how can you recast with AAC users so it remains a natural and meaningful interaction?

I have a perfect example for this, which happened today. I spilled some coffee on my laptop in a session. Luckily the laptop is fine but I said “oh my gosh!” One of my students said “Miss Lexi coffee spill computer you”. I was so excited that she said that! I said with verbally “yes I did spill coffee on my laptop”, and then with her AAC device I use the word “I” because I was talking about myself but I said on her device “I spill coffee on laptop” and emphasized the word “on” verbally as I added it on her AAC device. It’s very similar to what she said but I included a preposition to increase her syntactic accuracy.

5. Recasting keeps language sessions and language intervention natural.

We never want to be robotic or rigid during our sessions because it doesn’t help our students. It doesn’t make language fluid or contextual the way it is when we use it every day. Language is meaningful because we are communicating something. Often there’s an emotional component to language, a goal that needs to be met or a social aspect. Language has a purpose.

So when we use language in ways that don’t feel purposeful, like telling students “say his, it’s not hims, it’s his, say his”, it’s not going to be as meaningful. The more meaningfully we can use language in context the more quickly students will learn the structures.

Now go out and do some recasting!

Now you know why and how to recast your students utterances. I hope this was helpful and you found it enjoyable to read. If you’re looking for more information about recasting I’ll link some articles below. Looking for other language teaching strategies for therapy sessions? Here’s a blog post about descriptive teaching . Thank you for reading! I hope you’ve gotten some ideas about how to implement recasting with your students!

The Efficacy of Recasts in Language Intervention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Parental Recasts and Production of Copulas and Articles by Children With Specific Language Impairment and Typical Langua ge

Dose Schedule and Enhanced Conversational Recast Treatment for Children With Specific Language Impairment

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