By Christine Whitmarsh, MD, BSN
Considering a career as a speech therapist (or as its officially titled, speech-language pathologist) or as a traveling speech therapist in these areas? The opportunities for professionals, new graduates, and experienced professionals alike, in this area of rehabilitation therapy extend well beyond the restoration of speaking abilities that many may associate with speech therapy.
The median annual earnings of a speech-language pathologist is $57,710 per year.** SLPs work with patients suffering from disorders that impact their ability to make sounds (ex. patients with aphasia), those with difficulty in the areas of speech rhythm and fluency (stuttering), people with specific voice disorders and individuals such as stroke patients who have swallowing difficulties. Spanish and English bilingual therapists are especially in demand.
Spotlighted Work settings for SLPs/Speech Therapists:
Schools: Speech therapists have the opportunity to diagnose and treat children with speech and voice disorders while working in pre-schools, elementary and secondary schools. When I recently interviewed the mother of an autistic child (see previous blog), she emphasized the great work done by the speech therapists at her son’s school. This is definitely a work setting where skilled and passionate professionals can make a difference in the life of a child and that child’s family.
Self-Employment/Private Practice: Being self-employed is an excellent way to define the parameters of your speech therapy career and what kind of patients you most prefer to work with. However, most SLPs who are self-employed are also affiliated with a hospital or similar medical setting.
Speech Therapists also are in high demand in these settings:
- Hospitals
- Long term care facilities/nursing homes
- Home health services
- Outpatient care centers
- Child day care services
** U.S. Department of Labor Statistics
Christine Whitmarsh is a Registered Nurse with a BSN from the University of Rhode Island. She is a freelance health journalist and medical writer and a contributor to Travel Nurse Source and Allied Travel Careers.
Tags: speech therapits, Speech/Language Pathology, traveling speech therapists
