What Does a Speech and Language Therapist Do? A Careers In Psychology Podcast Episode.
- Connor Whiteley
- Sep 8
- 8 min read
I always say that you can do a lot with a psychology degree, including speech and language therapy. Next week at the time of writing, I have an interview to become a Speech and Language Therapist Assistant, and I’m really looking forward to it. Since speech and language therapy combines my interest in clinical psychology, improving lives and developmental psychology. Therefore, in this careers in psychology podcast episode, you’ll learn what does a speech and language therapist do, how do you become a qualified speech and language therapist and more. If you enjoy learning about psychology careers, child development and psychotherapy then this will be a great episode for you.
Today’s psychology podcast episode has been sponsored by Applied Psychology: Applying Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology and More To Real World Problems. Available from all major eBook retailers and you can order the paperback and hardback copies from Amazon, your local bookstore and local library, if you request it. Also available as an AI-narrated audiobook from selected audiobook platforms and library systems. For example, Kobo, Spotify, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Overdrive, Baker and Taylor and Bibliotheca.
Why Might a Psychology Graduate Want to Become a Speech and Language Therapist?
All of us are probably well aware that the journey to become a qualified psychologist is long, bendy and it is never straightforward. Therefore, you might want to become a speech and language therapist because you like working with children, you have always enjoyed language work and you want to improve lives. Or whilst I love the idea of improving lives and it is one of the reasons why I want to become a clinical psychologist in the future, at first I’ll be honest (and I admit it might be risky to admit this publicly) but wanting to become a speech and language therapist assistant wasn’t my first idea.
I’m using this as an opportunity to work in the UK’s National Health Service, work with clients with language difficulties and this will help me build up my clinical experience. Something I desperately need if I’m ever going to become a clinical psychologist.
In addition, working as a speech and language therapist assistant would be a way to use my knowledge about language development, child development and everything else that I’ve learnt about developmental psychology over the years.
Overall, you might want to work in speech and language therapy as a way to gain work experience, improve lives and most importantly, learn clinical skills for your future psychology career.
What Does A Speech and Language Therapist Do?
Thankfully, becoming a speech and language therapist gives you a lot of variety in your work life. That’s something that is very important to me because in theory, I flat out hate doing the same thing in a job over and over. Yet because of autism and I can see this in my own author business, I do like small, repetitive tasks.
However, side note over, as a speech and language therapist, you can help clients with a wide range of different conditions and you’ll be working in a multi-disciplinary team. For example, I’ve worked with speech and language therapists alongside clinical psychologists, nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals. As well as you get to work with clients in a range of settings, like hospitals, clients’ homes and community clinics. I’ve had the chance to work with speech and language therapists in residential care settings, clinics and the client’s own homes before. I asked my parents this question and they said when I had speech and language therapy as a toddler, I had it at a community clinic.
Moreover, as a speech and language therapist, you can help adults with a stutter, hearing impairment, learning difficulties, mental health difficulties, physical disabilities, voice problems and any eating, swallowing or communication difficulties after a neurological impairment and/ or neurodegenerative conditions. For instance, if a client has experienced a stroke, dementia, head injury or Parkinson’s Disease.
Lastly for this section, you can support children with cleft lip and palate, a stutter, voice disorders, selective mutism, specific difficulties in pronouncing sounds, developmental language disorders and any mild, moderate or severe learning difficulties, as a speech and language therapist.
What Is A Speech and Language Therapy Assistant?
Considering that this is the job role that I have an interview for next week, I want to learn a little more about the role. Therefore, a speech and language therapy assistants work in a frontline role supporting clients with conditions that negatively impact their feeding, swallowing and communication. Also, a lot of people use this as a first step towards becoming a speech and language therapist.
Speech and language therapy assistants work closely with speech and language therapists and other health professionals in community clinics, special and mainstream schools, hospitals and the client’s own homes. As well as their tasks can include preparing rooms and equipment, updating patient records, writing important reports on the client’s condition and helping clients during appointments.
What is the Working Life of a Speech and Language Therapist?
As a speech and language therapist, you would be providing language support, care and interventions to children, young people and adults with difficulties in eating, drinking, communication and swallowing. As well as you might get to work with individuals who have difficulties speaking and communicating because of physical or psychological reasons. This includes autistic people and other individuals with neurodivergent conditions.
Moreover, speech and language therapists work with people who’s needs vary from children who’s language is just slow to develop, all the way up to older adults who have speaking difficulties because of an injury or illness.
How Does Someone Get Qualified To Become A Speech And Language Therapist?
Below is an extract from my book, Applied Psychology.
“Personally, I can attest that these therapists are amazing and do the works of the Gods because I needed them when I was very young, and without them I wouldn’t have been able to talk. And not only talk and speak but go on to become an audiobook narrator and podcaster.
So thank you.
Therefore, in case you want to become one of these amazing people, this is the typical pathway you would need to take in the UK.
Firstly, you would need an undergraduate degree in a science, language or psychology at least at a 2:1 level then you would go on to study Speech And Language Therapy at Masters Level (either a PGDip or MSC) with this lasting two years.
Now the reason why I’m mentioning this in a psychology book is because a lot of psychology students go on to do this career. As well as in addition to the normal student support the UK Government gives you (at the time of writing), you also get a grant of at least £5,000 a year that isn’t means-tested or repayable.
That’s brilliant.
If you wanted to find out more, you can find more information from the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy.”
Day Of Working with a Speech and Language Therapist
Below is an extract from the podcast episode Lessons Learnt From A Week In A Learning Disability Team.
“There wasn’t a great of amount of things that happened on the Tuesday, or nothing that memorable but I know I learnt a lot about the Speech and Language Team. Which I was always going to be interested in considering I had to go through extensive Speech and language therapy as a child because I was effectively mute.
In addition, it was really good to learn about how the Speech and Language Team didn’t only deal with talking and communication issues for people with learning disabilities. They did feeding and drinking difficulties too. That was something I had heard mention a few times but I couldn’t understand why this was Speech and Language’s job, because it was eating, not communication.
A while later during one of my conversations with one of the Clinical Leads for the team, they explained to me the Speech and Language Team is perfectly suited for these difficulties because they all use the same muscles and mechanisms. If someone is having eating and swallowing difficulties above the lungs then it is Speech and Language’s job to help the client. If it is a bit of food that falls into the lungs or something similar, it is a medical job because that food could start rotting inside the lungs.
That would cause a ton of problems if it happened.
Furthermore, a non-learning disability Speech and Language Team might have 80% of their caseload focusing on communication and 20% eating difficulties. Yet when it comes to learning disabilities, it is reversed. Due to people with learning disabilities might have bad posture, developmental difficulties and other factors caused by their learning disabilities that prevents them from swallowing and drinking normally. One solution might be for the Speech and Language Team to remind the staff to sit the client upwards more when eating and drinking. Especially if their posture makes them leant to one side.
Then on the Thursday, I already explained the afternoon visit when me and one of the Speech and Language therapists went out to an assisted-living farm (a different one this time) to assess a woman for her communication needs whilst she was making sausage rolls.
However, in the morning, we went to an assisted-living “house” or apartment complex might be a better term to talk to a man that had had some communication aids designed for him. And this was really fascinating to see how the assessments worked with the therapist’s booklet and there was one test I really liked.
What happens is you read the client a very short story and for podcasting ease I will really cut it down. So you might say “Harry was watching a video with his grandson and Harry jumped at a scary moment,” Then to the client you would ask a simple question like “Was Harry alone?”
And this time the client said “yes,”.
I found this really interesting because I had just watched the man point to tons of objects and say what they were, but he couldn’t follow a “simple” story. It was an interesting and useful test.
That’s a brief summary of the Speech and Language Team, even though I will admit I probably learnt the most from these people. Then again, Speech and Language therapy has a large overlap with psychology in my opinion, I’ve listened to enough about it during my Developmental Psychology and Applied Psychology lectures over the years.”
Careers In Psychology Conclusion
I always enjoy these psychology career podcast episodes because as much as we want to be assistant psychologists, or at least get a job that is directly related to psychology, that sadly isn’t the reality of the world. And if you’re disappointed and sad about that, then please, allow yourself to feel and process those emotions. Whatever you’re feeling about the difficulty of getting a psychology role after years of studying at university, those feelings are valid, normal and very understandable.
I’m feeling them too.
Therefore, at the end of this psychology podcast episode, you’ve learnt a lot about what a speech and language therapist does, who do they support, how to become a speech and language therapist amongst a whole host of other topics.
Here are some questions to think about:
· Do you have any interest in speech and language therapy?
· If yes, why? If not, then why not?
· Do you have any skills, qualifications or life experiences that might help you become a speech and language therapist?
· How do you think becoming a speech and language therapist might help your psychology journey?
· What’s stopping you from applying for speech and language therapy assistant roles?
I really hope you enjoyed today’s careers in psychology podcast episode.
If you want to learn more, please check out:
Applied Psychology: Applying Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology and More To Real World Problems. Available from all major eBook retailers and you can order the paperback and hardback copies from Amazon, your local bookstore and local library, if you request it. Also available as an AI-narrated audiobook from selected audiobook platforms and library systems. For example, Kobo, Spotify, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Overdrive, Baker and Taylor and Bibliotheca.
Have a great day.
Careers In Psychology Reference and Further Reading
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/allied-health-professionals/roles-allied-health-professions/speech-and-language-therapist
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/healthcare-support-worker/roles-healthcare-support-worker/speech-and-language-therapy-assistant
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