Speech-language pathology is the study of disorders of speech and language. The field was referred to as ‘Speech and Hearing’ in earlier literature. Speech-language pathologists, sometimes also called speech therapists, asses, diagnose, treat and help prevent speech, language, cognitive, communication, voice, swallowing, fluency and other related disorders.
They provide a range of services including prevention, identification, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, teaching, counseling and consultation. They also engage themselves in basis and apply research activities related to human communication problems in language, speech, voice and fluency. They work with people who cannot make speech sounds or cannot make them clearly; those with speech rhythm and fluency problems, such as stuttering. They also work with people who have swallowing difficulties.
Speech-language assessment is a complex process. Assessing, describing, and interpreting an individual's communication ability requires the integration of a variety of information gathered in the evaluation process. In this assessmenet different types og equipment tests like quesionnaneris, scale rating,check lists.