What does a speech pathologist assistant do?
A speech pathologist assistant is an individual who assists a speech pathologist to diagnose and treat patients with disorders that are related to speech, language, and fluency. Speech pathologist assistants must perform tasks delegated by speech pathologists, such as assisting in hearing screenings and checking equipment. They are required to follow documented treatment plans that are created by licensed pathologists and informally document a patient's performance. Speech pathologist assistants must also assist in research and the creation and maintenance of public relations programs.
Speech pathologist assistant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real speech pathologist assistant resumes:
- Help students to achieve goals gear toward behavior, ADL, and safety skills.
- Provide care for children with the following diagnosis: autism, articulation disorder, language disorder, and down syndrome.
- Assist in administering individual speech therapy to pediatric patients in outpatient clinical setting under supervision of license speech-language pathologist.
- Provide inpatient/outpatient speech and language rehabilitative services for adult patients ages 18 and older in a sub-acute 70 bed rehabilitative center.
- Utilize tactile symbols and AAC devices, such as the GoTalk32.
- Observe and record behavior of students applying ABA and collecting data for research.
- Work with students on AAC devices and carry over lessons provide by the SLP.
- Work well with children with special needs, autism, and other behavioral disorders through therapeutic engagement and creative teaching interventions.
- Work closely with a fully certify SLP on a daily basis regarding student progress, observations, IEP goals and objectives.
- Prepare and submit Medicaid billings via internet.
- Attend and contribute to case conferences with director of rehabilitation.
- Establish and maintain cooperative and collaborative working relationships with IEP team.
- Complete Medicaid and authorization forms to request and justify additional periods of services.
- Gain clinical observation and clinical working hours for licensure in pediatric clinical rehabilitation environment.
- Prepare and provide indirect therapies to students with disabilities in articulation, phonological processing, receptive and expressive language.
Speech pathologist assistant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 19% of Speech Pathologist Assistants are proficient in Patients, Home Health, and Language Disorders. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Compassion.
We break down the percentage of Speech Pathologist Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 19%
Provided inpatient/outpatient speech and language rehabilitative services for adult patients ages 18 and older in a sub-acute 70 bed rehabilitative center.
- Home Health, 14%
Administered individual therapy in children in home health setting as outlined in plan of care developed by supervising speech-language pathologist.
- Language Disorders, 8%
Planned and implemented individual therapy for school aged students with articulation and language disorders.
- Autism, 8%
Provided speech and language services to students with varying disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder and developmental disorders.
- Rehabilitation, 7%
Attended and contributed to case conferences with director of rehabilitation.
- IEP, 4%
Use diagnostic information and other educationally relevant information to develop Individual Education Plan (IEP).
"patients," "home health," and "language disorders" are among the most common skills that speech pathologist assistants use at work. You can find even more speech pathologist assistant responsibilities below, including:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a speech pathologist assistant to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "speech-language pathologists must select appropriate diagnostic tools and evaluate results to identify goals and develop a treatment plan." Additionally, a speech pathologist assistant resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "obtained speech therapy data and assisted clinical directors with office tasks using microsoft excel and word. "
Communication skills. Another essential skill to perform speech pathologist assistant duties is communication skills. Speech pathologist assistants responsibilities require that "speech-language pathologists need to explain test results, diagnoses, and proposed treatments in a way that individuals and their families can understand." Speech pathologist assistants also use communication skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "created augmentative alternative communication (aac) devices for nonverbal children to communicate with peers and teachers. "
Compassion. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of speech pathologist assistants is compassion. This skill is critical to many everyday speech pathologist assistant duties, as "speech-language pathologists may work with people who are frustrated by their communication difficulties." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "earned repeated commendations from supervisor and patients for providing high quality, compassionate care. "
Detail oriented. speech pathologist assistant responsibilities often require "detail oriented." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "speech-language pathologists must comprehensive notes on clients' progress to ensure that they continue receiving proper treatment." This resume example shows what speech pathologist assistants do with detail oriented on a typical day: "keep detailed therapy notes per student per session and follow iep written goals for the students. "
Listening skills. A commonly-found skill in speech pathologist assistant job descriptions, "listening skills" is essential to what speech pathologist assistants do. Speech pathologist assistant responsibilities rely on this skill because "speech-language pathologists must pay attention to hear the clients' communication difficulties and determine a course of action." You can also see how speech pathologist assistant duties rely on listening skills in this resume example: "communicated daily with educators and speech language pathologists pertaining to specific needs of child to ensure successful completion of goals"
The three companies that hire the most speech pathologist assistants are:
- HealthPRO6 speech pathologist assistants jobs
- Spurwinkri
6 speech pathologist assistants jobs
- Circle of Care for Families and Children6 speech pathologist assistants jobs
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Compare different speech pathologist assistants
Speech pathologist assistant vs. Speech therapist technician
A speech-language pathologist specializes in diagnosing disorders in speech, language, and communication among children and adults. They are also responsible for devising and providing suitable treatments and therapeutic solutions that would improve a patient's condition. With each case varying from the rest, a speech-language pathologist must conduct an extensive assessment, research, analysis, and observation. Aside from providing treatments, a speech-language pathologist can also supervise other personnel in the same field, engage in various programs to share expertise, and provide consultations.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, speech pathologist assistant responsibilities require skills like "home health," "language disorders," "autism," and "rehabilitation." Meanwhile a typical speech therapist technician has skills in areas such as "cpr," "patient care," "individual therapy," and "crisis intervention." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
On average, speech therapist technicians reach similar levels of education than speech pathologist assistants. Speech therapist technicians are 0.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.4% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Speech pathologist assistant vs. Assistant speech-language pathologist
Each career also uses different skills, according to real speech pathologist assistant resumes. While speech pathologist assistant responsibilities can utilize skills like "patients," "aba," "therapeutic services," and "group therapy," assistant speech-language pathologists use skills like "speech language pathology," "clinical services," "medicare guidelines," and "group therapy sessions."
On average, assistant speech-language pathologists earn a higher salary than speech pathologist assistants. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, assistant speech-language pathologists earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $71,997. Whereas speech pathologist assistants have higher pay in the professional industry, with an average salary of $65,051.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Assistant speech-language pathologists tend to reach higher levels of education than speech pathologist assistants. In fact, they're 17.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for speech pathologist assistants in the next 3-5 years?
Monica Sampson Ph.D.
Director of Health Care Services in Speech-Language Pathology, ASHA
- Telehealth platforms to enable access to patients who otherwise have limited access to timely and reliable SLP services
- Electronic documentation systems, especially ones that seamlessly integrate across providers in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health, and outpatient clinics. This minimizes gaps in communication among clinicians with easy transfer of records.
- Assistive technology to enhance to either provide or augment access to communication for children and adults who cannot communicate or have difficulty communicating verbally, including SGDs.
- Apps and digital material as assessment and treatment tools: With an increased focus on digital access to SLP services, the profession has a critical need for digital material for assessment and treatment of communication, cognition, and swallowing impairments across the lifespan.
- Use of artificial intelligence to bolster learning and enhance creativity in pedagogy.
The lack of access to technology by underrepresented populations will continue to be a pressing need post-COVID-19.
Speech pathologist assistant vs. Speech pathology teacher
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, speech pathologist assistants are more likely to have skills like "patients," "home health," "rehabilitation," and "iep." But a speech pathology teacher is more likely to have skills like "group therapy sessions," "cse," "iep direct," and "speech language pathology."
Most speech pathology teachers achieve a higher degree level compared to speech pathologist assistants. For example, they're 29.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Speech pathologist assistant vs. Speech language pathologist
Types of speech pathologist assistant
Updated January 8, 2025
