Speech and Language Therapy and Autism Ranking:

Suppliers and Availability

Suppliers

Speech and language therapists are widely available in Europe and the USA.

In the UK, you can either contact local speech and language therapy services directly yourself or your GP can refer you. Alternatively you contact The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists or the Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice.

In the USA speech and language therapy is relatively easy to obtain because it is an intervention mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), although some parents do experience problems.

Credentials

In the UK and some other countries, practitioners are graduates who have undergone specific training and are usually called Speech and Language Therapists. In the UK they have to be registered with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and also the Health and Care Professions Council. These organisations are charged with ensuring that training and working practices are fully maintained.

In the USA and some other countries practitioners are sometimes called Speech Language Pathologists. In the US, different states have different requirements. For example, in some states, SLPs that work in schools may have only a bachelor’s degree. In most states, though, SLPs must have a master’s degree in speech-language pathology. In order to earn national certification, they must, in addition, pass a national examination called the certificate of clinical competence (therapists who have done this will add SLP-CCC to their signatures) and complete a clinical fellowship year in which they are supervised in the year following qualification by a senior clinician.

In the USA the national regulatory body is the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. In addition, some states require therapists to have a license. In most states, national certification automatically meets licensing requirements.

Related Suppliers and Availability

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
• Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Independent Practice
• Indian Speech Language and Hearing Association
• National Speech/Language Therapy Center
• Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• Speech Pathology Australia

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Updated

17 Jun 2022

Last Review

01 Dec 2016

Next Review

01 Jun 2023