Ready?
Speech & Language Therapist — your shift
Find out what they can do before you record what they cannot — and a swallow is a safety decision, not a preference. Read what this person needs, then tap the place that sorts it out.
Full screen — no distractions
What does a speech & language therapist do?
You help people say what they mean and swallow without choking — two things nobody thinks about until one of them stops working.
Also called: SLT, speech therapist, speech-language pathologist.
A day looks like
- 1You play on the floor with a three-year-old for forty minutes, and every single game is an assessment.
- 2You watch an adult drink a teaspoon of water and decide whether they are allowed to eat lunch.
- 3You teach a family how to talk to someone after a stroke without finishing their sentences.
- 4You write a report that decides how much support a child gets at school for the next year.
Hardest part
Telling a parent their child's speech is not just late. They came hoping you would say it was fine, and you have to be honest and still leave them able to cope.
Best part
The first time somebody who has not spoken since their stroke gets a whole word out, on purpose, to the right person.
How you actually become a speech & language therapist
- At schoolStrong English and an interest in how language actually works, not just in being good at it.
- TrainingA three- or four-year degree in speech and language therapy, then registration.
- How longThree to four years to qualify, then a couple of years to specialise in adults or children.
- Your first jobNewly qualified SLT on a community caseload, usually with children.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do speech therapists deal with swallowing?
- Because it is the same set of muscles and nerves. The mouth and throat that shape speech are the ones that move food safely past the airway, so when a stroke or illness damages one it usually damages the other.
- Can speech therapy fix a stammer completely?
- Often in young children it resolves with the right support. In older children and adults the goal is usually fluency and confidence rather than a cure, and much of the work is about how the person and the people around them react to it.
- Is this job mostly with children?
- It splits roughly in half. Children's work is speech, language and autism; adult work is stroke, head injury, Parkinson's, dementia and swallowing. Most therapists choose one side fairly early.
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