Speech Therapist

A speech therapist is a specialist with training in the diagnosis and treatment of a variety of speech, voice, and language disorders who works with people, unable to make speech sounds or cannot make them clearly.They also work with people who stutter, have fluency and rhythm problems, inappropriate pitch, or harsh voice and speech quality problems. The most widespread and obvious speech disorder is stuttering, often caused by anxiety.Other disorders may result from hearing loss, stroke, cerebral palsy, mental disability, or brain injury. 

Because speech disorders are usually related to neurological, psychological, and physical conditions, speech therapists must be able to work as a member of a team which may include other healthcare specialists such as a neurologist and psychiatrist. Speech language pathologists may work in a variety of settings; therefore this is a career choice that provides many employment options. In addition to medical offices, hospitals, and clinics, speech language pathologists may also work in schools, long-term care facilities, state or local health departments or government agencies, rehabilitation centers or home health agencies. A strong liberal arts foundation is a great option for an undergraduate major. Coursework in linguistics, behavioral science, anatomy, psychology, and math and general science are recommended. 

A speech therapist's salary varies and depends on employer, experience and other such factors. However, the average speech therapist salary in the US is around $66,920, with an average hourly wage of $32.17. These numbers can go up or down but tend to go no lower than $23.55.


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