Speech Language Pathologist

About the role

Speech & Language Pathologists provide services to develop, enhance, or restore functional communication, speech, language, and/or feeding/swallowing skills of clients whose abilities to communicate effectively and/or to eat safely and efficiently are threatened or impaired by physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and sensory impairments. Speech & Language Pathologists at NAPA Center complete skilled assessments and provide skilled intervention to infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents with a variety of diagnoses that impact speech production, receptive language, expressive language, social-pragmatic skills, and feeding/swallowing skills within the professional scope of practice. The role requires all therapists to work as part of a multidisciplinary team and provide evidence-based interventions to clients that include complex communication and feeding needs.

Requirements

• Minimum qualifications include completion of at least a Master of Arts or Applied Science in Speech-Language Pathology, Communication Disorders, Communication Sciences and Disorders, or equivalent, from an accredited university.
• Must have and maintain state license with the appropriate licensing board.
• Clinical Fellows are welcome to apply. However, licensed SLPs must have and maintain ASHA CCC credentials.
• Experience in a pediatric setting with exposure to children and/or young adults with complex disabilities is preferred.
• Background clearance by the DOJ and FBI.
• Annual TB test clearance.
• CPR and First Aid certificates.
• Good physical health and fitness, including the ability to frequently perform, on a daily basis, the following movements over a 6-8 hour period without experiencing pain or abnormal fatigue:
  • Lift, push or pull up to and including 50 pounds with hands and wrists as therapeutic handling is manually intensive
  • Independently transfer dependent patients up to 85 pounds
  • Independently offer contact guard assistance for ambulatory patients of up to 125 pounds
  • Maintain extended periods of standing and/or sitting on the floor for up to 7 hours per day
  • Move from floor to standing position back to floor frequently (6-7 hours) throughout the day
• Create a safe, professional, and supportive environment where clients, families and colleagues feel empowered to succeed.
• Ability to communicate confidently and effectively with clients and other medical professionals.
• Display a level of professional empathy towards clients and the ability to develop rapport.
• Maintain appropriate professional boundaries with clients and their families.
• Exercise discipline by completing all documentation, reporting requirements and training in an accurate and timely manner.
• Team player that can demonstrate the values for working as part of multi-disciplinary team to advance a client’s needs.
• Demonstrates the ability to take on additional responsibilities with time, including assessment and development of treatment plans for more complex cases, supervision of therapy aides/volunteers and additional clinic responsibilities.
• Ability to travel for periods of time for training/treating may be required.

Responsibilities

• Assessment, diagnosis, and treatment with documentation of speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, and feeding-swallowing disorders primarily in the pediatric population.
• Possess general knowledge of child development to assess and refer families to other disciplines when appropriate.
• Assess a client’s communication and/or feeding/swallowing skills using a variety of standardized tools and clinical observation/informal analysis to identify primary impairments and determine a plan for treatment.