Speech–language pathology

Speech–language pathology, also known as speech and language pathology or logopedics, is a healthcare and academic discipline concerning the evaluation, treatment, and prevention of communication disorders, including expressive and mixed receptive-expressive language disorders, voice disorders, speech sound disorders, speech disfluency, pragmatic language impairments, and social communication difficulties, as well as swallowing disorders across the lifespan. It is an allied health profession regulated by professional state licensing boards in the United States of America, and Speech Pathology Australia. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) monitors state laws, lobbies & advocates for SLPs. The field of speech-language pathology is practiced by a clinician known as a speech–language pathologist (SLP)^[1] or a speech and language therapist (SLT).^[2] SLPs also play an important role in the screening, diagnosis, and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often in collaboration with pediatricians and psychologists.