Speech-Language Pathology Assistant

This course provides an overview of the field of speech-language pathology, including professional standards, legal and ethical issues and scope of responsibilities of the speech-language pathologist and the speech-language pathology assistant in health care and educational settings.

This course covers the fundamentals of anatomy, physiology and neurology related to speech production and hearing. Systems studied include respiration, phonation, articulation, resonation, hearing and neurological. In addition, information regarding feeding and feeding strategies will be covered.

This course covers the study of normal speech and language development. Topics include communication development and differentiation of normal from disordered communication. Hearing development, literacy development and language diversity will also be addressed.

This course provides a study of the articulatory foundations of the description and classification of speech sounds. It introduces the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), physiological properties of the speech mechanism, methods of transcription and dialectal variations. The emphasis will be on the auditory discrimination necessary for recording normal and disordered articulatory production.

Online Seminar will focus on specific challenges unique to online students as well as ways to address them including tips for improving time management, presentations and test-taking skills. Student will be expected to complete surveys throughout the semester and participate in discussion groups. Instructor input will help identify what courses to take, how to register for classes and help design a graduation plan. This course will be a bi-weekly virtual meeting.

This course is designed to develop students’ problem-solving skills and quantitative reasoning through topics including: problem-solving processes, logic, percentages, measurement, ratios and proportions, statistics, linear equations, geometry and trigonometry, and personal finance.

This course covers beginning clinical observation of practices and procedures in speech-language pathology and combines on-site observations with class discussion. Eight hours of observation in educational settings is required.

This course covers the promotion of professional growth opportunities for speech language pathology assistants. Students will explore tools and concepts necessary during the job seeking process and examine professional development as a new employee.

This course provides an overview of communication disorders, including classification, assessment and remediation of speech, language, literacy, swallowing and hearing disorders in children and adults. It addresses the role of the speech-language pathologist and audiologist in educational and medical settings and examines multicultural and multilingual diversity, developmental disabilities and collaboration with educators.

This course covers developmental stages of children from conception through adolescence including major theories of development and their application to parenting, teaching and other interactions with children.

This course will review principles of behavior management that apply to individuals with communication disorders. Theories of behavioral learning, causes of challenging behaviors, techniques for measuring behavior, and strategies for preventing and decreasing problem behaviors, and increasing cooperative/functional behaviors will be addressed. Students will practice behavior observation, measurement, and management techniques needed to promote prosocial skills of individuals with communication disorders and implement speech and language treatment services more effectively.

This class is designed to develop students’ skills in critical reading and in a range of writing tasks. It allows students to go beyond matters of comprehension and summary to evaluate and extend everything they read. It will assist students in discovering something meaningful to say and to use writing as a way to actively participate in discussions about certain subjects; it will also enable students to approach a topic in a creative manner, gather and evaluate information, organize ideas, write coherent sentences, and learn to revise and edit drafts.

This course includes review techniques for correct mechanics, grammar, and sentence construction. It introduces students to professional and technical writing, and it assists students in developing strategies for collaborative writing.

Prerequisite: ENGL 098 or qualifying placement score.

This course is an introduction to audiology, audiograms, hearing screening and hearing assessments. Also provided is an introduction to aural rehabilitation, hearing aids and hearing assistive technologies (HAT).

This course covers continued clinical observation of practices and procedures required in speech-language pathology in preparation for clinical fieldwork and combines on-site observations with class discussion. Seventeen hours of observation in educational settings is required.

This course provides an introduction to adult neurogenic communication disorders and speech and language therapy techniques used to treat these disorders. It examines the communication disorders of aphasia, dysarthria, apraxia, right hemisphere disorders, dementia, and traumatic brain injury.

This course focuses on speech sound disorders and therapy techniques to implement articulation and phonological therapy. Session planning, reporting progress and organization of therapy interaction are introduced. Cueing, reinforcement, feedback and choosing materials are covered. This course also reviews therapy approaches for neuromotor speech disorders, fluency and voice disorders.

This course explores language disorders and various intervention approaches. Students are introduced to therapy techniques appropriate for treating language delays and acquired disorders with toddler, preschool and school-aged populations. The course also addresses intervention for culturally and linguistically diverse children, as well as intervention for students with learning and developmental disabilities.

This course provides an introduction to common forms of augmentative and alternative communication, including manual communication and low- and high-tech AAC systems.

This course covers screening tools and processes used for speech, language, and hearing screening, and assessment tools and processes for speech and language assessment. It includes the administration of both screening and assessment, and completion of protocols with clients of varied ages.

This course covers organizational and functional skills required in the speech-language pathology workplace. Topics include interdisciplinary and supervisory relationships, client and public interaction, therapy plans, lesson plans, safety issues, technical writing, data collection, record keeping, computer applications, multicultural issues and behavior management.

This course is an eight-week, full-time field placement in an educational setting under the supervision of a state licensed speech-language pathologist. The field placement allows the student to practice the knowledge and skills related to speech and language interventions. Students will have an opportunity to request fieldwork site placements based on their areas of interest, strengths and goals for employment.