You Do What? Resources for you from an ArSHA committee partnership

Thank you to Samantha Hagness with ArSHA’s Community Relations Committee in partnership with the Speech-Language Pathology Assistant and Audiology Committees! Together, they developed downloadable PDF resources describing the roles of speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech-language pathology assistants! Read more from Samantha below.

“YOU DO WHAT?”

I can’t even begin to count the number of times I have been making small talk when, upon hearing that I’m a speech-language pathologist, someone in the group inevitably responds, “Oh, so you teach kids how to say “s” and stuff?”  I sigh and reply, “Sort of,” because there simply isn’t enough time to explain augmentative and alternative communication, language disorders, and speech-sound productions over lunch.

We know that our field is about so much more than targeting lisps and fitting hearing aids, but unfortunately, the general public typically does not.  In fact, it seems that oftentimes coworkers, clients, and caregivers aren’t exactly sure what the “and stuff” entails either.   Our profession is broad, and our work can’t be summed up in a title. We do a lot, so ArSHA is here to help you share what our professions look like.

HERE FOR YOU. 

We have created PDFs that outline what speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and speech-language pathology assistants do, what they don’t do, and where they work.  We compiled all of this information into printable documents that you can download, share, and reference, both in English and Spanish.  They can be distributed to coworkers, administrators, caregivers, and clients to help them understand the “and stuff” of our profession. Click on the link above to access these valuable resources!