Page 1 of 1

Prof Pamela Snow: 'Why do Speech-Language Pathologists work in literacy?'

Posted: Mon Jan 28, 2019 11:26 am
by Debbie_Hepplewhite
Professor Pamela Snow writes another important, informative post which is proving very popular for readers of Pam's blog 'The Snow Report':
Why do Speech-Pathologists work in literacy?
http://pamelasnow.blogspot.com
Ever since I commenced my training as a Speech-Language Pathologist back in the late 1970s, I’ve been aware of the problematic nature of the profession’s chosen name. In fact, back at that time, in Australia, we used the title Speech Pathologist, and in the UK, it was Speech Therapist (a term that prevailed here for many years too). In recent decades, both Australia and the UK have followed the lead of the USA, by inserting the word “language” in our profession’s title, leaving us with Speech Language Pathologist in countries such as Australia, the USA, and Canada, and Speech-Language Therapist (or Speech and Language Therapist) in the UK and New Zealand. I think this helps, but we still have some explaining to do, as “speech” tells such a limited part of the story regarding our scope of practice. I’m going to focus here on language and literacy, but bear in mind that Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) also work in areas of voice, fluency, hearing, acquired neurological disorders such as aphasia (e.g. after stroke), cranio-facial disorders (such as cleft palate), and dysphagia (swallowing disorders), to name a few.
I've also flagged up Pam's post in the 'Research and Recommended Reading' forum:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1189&p=2426#p2426