Does a person working as an SLPA with his/her bachelor’s degree or other training need to be licensed?
All SLPAs must be licensed to practice in Illinois. However, individuals with bachelor’s degree in Speech Language Pathology may work in the Illinois public schools as Speech Language Pathology Paraprofessionals (SLPPs). SLPPs exist for a different purpose than associate’s degree-level SLPAs and function under a different scope of service than associate’s-level professionals. According to the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), an SLPP may be hired only after a school “has exhausted all search efforts for a certified SLP and has been unable to employ such an individual. Any entity that employs a paraprofessional must continue to post the vacancy and actively search for a certified SLP.” With this in mind, one would be advised against viewing employment as an SLPP as a permanent employment venue.
Related Questions
- If a person has been working as a bachelor’s degree-level SLPA in any setting, can he/she obtain a license without an associate’s degree?
- If a person has a bachelor’s or graduate degree, are his/her general education requirements met by the prior coursework?
- Can an unlicensed person who is working for a licensed private investigator make or distribute business cards?
