May is National Better Hearing and Speech Month. The Natchez-Adams School District celebrates successful speaking all day, every day, all year.

Speech-language pathologists provide screenings, assessments and therapeutic interventions on a daily basis. SLPs are required to follow state, federal and district guidelines. The Natchez schools are fortunate to employ seven SLPs.

A speech pathologist is someone who holds a master’s degree in speech-language pathology, communicative disorders or speech and hearing sciences from an institution recognized by the state board of education.

A certified SLP completes nine months of supervised professional employment under the auspices of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. Each certified SLP must obtain 10 continuing education units per year to maintain this certificate of clinical competence.

A speech therapist holds a bachelor’s degree in SLP or communicative disorders.

Five of the Natchez-Adams School District’s speech pathologists have attained a CCC and four are dually certified through the Mississippi Department of Health and the Mississippi State Department of Education.

At present time the district’s speech pathologists collectively have 72 years experience.

Speech services fall under the umbrella of special services within the Mississippi State Department of Education.

Federal law states that every child is entitled to a free appropriate public education. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, commonly known as IDEA, includes a provision called Child First.

According to Child Find, all children with disabilities residing in the state are in need of special education and related services, which includes speech therapy, will be identified, located and evaluated. Speech therapists provide on-site therapy at all schools, preschools and day cares in Adams County.

Children are screened, evaluated and treated for language, articulation, fluency, voice or developmental delays.

As we celebrate May as Better Hearing and Speech Month, let us commemorate the speech pathologists who work for the children of this county.

These speech-language pathologists encourage and facilitate successful speaking all day, every day, all year.

Ruth Anderson, CCC-SLP, is the lead speech language pathologist at the Natchez-Adams School District.