How Do I Become a Speech Pathologist?

Speech pathologists work with people who have difficulty speaking due to speech, language, cognitive, or swallowing difficulties, as well as a variety of people suffering from different diseases and disorders. Speech difficulty can be caused by hearing impairment, brain injury, cerebral palsy, cleft palate, learning disability, degenerative disease, or many other causes. This means a speech pathologist may work in a number of different environments and many opportunities exist for selecting professional roles and activities. A speech pathologist may work in a public school, hospital, private practice, research facility, university, or rehabilitation center. Whether a speech pathologist chooses to diagnose, treat, research, or educate determines the path that should be selected for becoming a speech pathologist. The minimum standard for licensing is usually a master's degree from a program accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, bu ... more