Occupation
Speech-language pathologist
Speech-language pathologists assess and treat difficulties with speech, language, voice, fluency, and swallowing across the lifespan. Caseloads range from children with language delay to adults recovering from stroke or living with progressive disease. Swallowing assessment is a safety-critical part of the role that many people outside the profession do not associate with it.
Also known as: Speech and language therapist · SLP · Speech therapist · SLT
Occupation content
Part of Healthcare and clinical services
What the work involves
- Assess speech, language, voice, fluency, or swallowing using standardised and observational methods.
- Set therapy goals and design sessions that fit the person's age, setting, and motivation.
- Deliver individual or group therapy and adjust targets as skills change.
- Assess swallowing safety and recommend diet texture or feeding strategy changes.
- Train families, teachers, and care staff to carry the approach into daily life.
- Write assessment reports and progress notes for the clinical or education record.
How people commonly enter
- A graduate entry-to-practice degree in speech-language pathology or speech and language therapy.
- An undergraduate entry-to-practice degree where the jurisdiction recognises that route.
- A credential-assessment and examination route for practitioners qualified elsewhere.
Typical training: Postgraduate or professional degree
Licensing: Regulated in most jurisdictions — confirm the current requirement with the regulator in your province, state, or country.
Typical work context
Public facing · Team based · Quiet focus · Varied work · Classroom
Related interests
Social (helping) · Investigative (analytical)
Related aptitude preparation
These are preparation links only. They do not measure eligibility for this occupation and no score here qualifies or disqualifies anyone.
Skills to practise
- Verbal reasoning
- Reading comprehension
- Critical thinking
- Written communication
- Attention and concentration
Practice suites
Related learning
Family-level learning links for Healthcare and clinical services.
Official sources
Labour-market facts such as pay and employment projections are not reproduced here. Open an official source below for figures, with its own geography and reference period.
- O*NET OnLine — Speech-Language Pathologists (29-1127.00) · United States
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- UK National Careers Service — Speech and language therapist · United Kingdom
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- Canada Job Bank — Explore an occupation (search: speech-language pathologist) · Canada
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Labour-market context (not part of exploration match)
This is broad family-level context for Healthcare and clinical services in Canada, not a figure for Speech-language pathologist. It does not affect matching scores and is not an eligibility determination.
This is a broad Healthcare and clinical services family. Explore the official profile for the chosen occupation; entry education and training can differ within the family.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Healthcare and clinical services: education pathways
Some roles in Healthcare and clinical services may be regulated. Confirm whether the specific role requires registration, certification, or a jurisdiction-specific licence.
Canada Job Bank Career Planning · Canada · Current official profile; consult source for its release period
Healthcare and clinical services: licensing
Find jobs
These are live, user-controlled searches on each source's own site for “ Speech-language pathologist”. Novus Learn does not fetch, store, or rank these results, and job availability never changes your exploration match score.
- Search Canada Job Bank · Canada
- Search USAJOBS · United States federal
- Search EURES · European Union / EEA
- Search Indeed · International (choose location on Indeed)