Becoming a certified speech-language pathologist involves a
few more steps than many other careers. In order to provide some clarity, I'm
going to break down some of the major steps to becoming a speech-language
pathologist.
1. Take the Necessary Undergraduate Coursework
You can generally do this by majoring in something like Communication Sciences and Disorders (it may be called something different
depending on the school). If this was not your major, not to worry! Many of my
classmates majored in Early Childhood Education, Psychology, and Linguistics.
For those that did not major in Communication Sciences and Disorders, be
prepared to take the prerequisites necessary to get into graduate school. These
may include classes like Human Physiology and Anatomy, Intro to Audiology,
Speech Science, Statistics, and Phonetics. If you have to take a lot of
prerequisites, consider programs that will allow you to earn a second Bachelor's-this time in
communication disorders. If you have to do the coursework anyway, you might as
well get a second degree for it.
2. Get Into a Graduate Program
The American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) website
is a great resource for narrowing down your preferences for grad school. Right
now, getting accepted can be difficult. Most schools require two to three
letters of recommendation, so be sure to keep in touch with your favorite
professors from undergrad. Acceptance is more likely if you have a minimum of a
3.5 GPA in your communication disorders coursework, and an above average GRE
score, but it is not a hard-fast rule. I have friends with lower GPAs that were
accepted to a program, and friends with higher GPAs who had to apply again the
next year. Each university program is different. You may be surprised to find
that a more prestigious school offers you admission, while your back up school
does not. My recommendation is to apply to several schools. If you are not
initially accepted, you may have to wait another year to reapply.
3. Get Treatment Hours
Accredited university programs will have similar
requirements for graduation because they are following ASHA's guidelines. In
order to graduate with a masters in the field, ASHA requires a minimum of 25
observation hours and 375 treatment hours. The observation hours may be
completed at the undergraduate level, but the 375 treatment hours are included
in your graduate coursework. These hours will be documented during your time
working in the school clinic and also during your externships. Again, ASHA has
more details about this one their website.
4. Take the Praxis Examination in Speech-Language Pathology
This is the last standardized test keeping you from your
soon-to-be career. Study hard!
5. Complete Your Clinical Fellowship
You have graduated! You can now get a paying job working in
a variety of settings. However, you are not yet an independent speech-language
pathologist, nor are you licensed. ASHA requires that you be mentored and
receive some supervision for the next 36 weeks of full time work.
6. Add CCC's to your name!
After 1,260 mentored hours during your clinical fellowship
year (cfy), you can apply for certification. ASHA's website has more details
about the specific requirements to receive your Certificate of Clinical
Competence (CCC). Remember that this is
a nationally recognized certification however, many states have their own required
licenses. If you choose to work in more than one state, you will generally need
a separate license for each state as well.
The journey to becoming a certified speech-language
pathologist is not the simplest one. However, by the time you graduate you will
have worked in multiple settings and have over 400 hours of therapy in your
portfolio. You will graduate confident and ready to begin your clinical
fellowship, which will then offer even more training. By the time you are certified,
you will know you have earned it and that you truly are clinically competent.
#SLP #gradstudent #SLPeeps
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