Louisiana Support Personnel Requirements

The following information includes speech-language pathology and audiology support personnel requirements in educational and other practice settings. The information is reviewed on an annual basis. Please be advised that regulations and policy may change at any time, so always check with your state for the most up-to-date information.

Speech-Language Pathology

School Setting Requirements

Speech-language pathology assistants must be state licensed and have ancillary certification from the Department of Education, which authorizes service as a speech pathology assistant only, not as a regular classroom teacher.

Requirements are:

Bachelor's degree in speech-language pathology from a regionally accredited institution
At least 100 clock hours of supervised clinical practicum
Valid for three years and renewable by request of the Louisiana employing authority

Statutory and Regulatory Requirements

Speech Pathologist Assistants

In order to be licensed as a speech pathologist assistant, one must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution, good moral character, and completed a 225-hour supervised clinical practicum the first 100 of which shall have been obtained through a regionally accredited educational institution or its cooperating programs, or completed a combination of supervised clinical practicum as well as supervised on-the-job training.

The Board may grant a provisional speech pathologist assistant license to those individuals who have met all of the requirements stated in number 1 above except for the supervised on-the-job training. This person must have completed a minimum of 100 of 225 supervised clinical practicum hours and is working to complete the remaining hours on-the-job and/or through a regionally accredited educational institution or its cooperating programs.

The speech pathologist supervising a speech pathologist assistant must provide a minimum of 1 clock hour per week of on-site, in-view supervision and a minimum of 1 clock hour per week of alternative supervision.
The supervising speech-language pathologist must have a minimum of 1 year of full-time professional speech-language pathology experience following the postgraduate professional/employment experience.
The speech-language pathologist supervising a provisional speech pathologist assistant must provide a minimum of 3 clock hours of on-site, in-view supervision per week and a minimum of 2 clock hours of alternative supervision.
The licensed speech-language pathologist may not supervise more than three assistants or provisional assistants.
Speech pathologist assistants must complete at least 10 hours of continuing education per year.

Speech-Language Pathology Aides

Speech-language pathology aides must be of good moral character, at least 18 years old, possess appropriate communication skills, and have a high school diploma or General Educational Development certificate.
Aides are exempted from licensure requirements but must be reported on the annual renewal form.
Supervision for speech-language pathology aides must be periodic direct observation by a licensed speech-language pathologist once per month during the initial year.
It is recommended that aides be afforded continuing education opportunities.

Audiology

School Setting Requirements

No additional requirements.

Statutory and Regulatory Requirements

Audiology aides must be of good moral character, at least 18 years old, possess appropriate communication skills, and have a high school diploma or General Educational Development certificate.
Aides are exempted from licensure requirements but must be reported on the annual renewal form.
Supervision for audiology aides must be periodic direct observation by a licensed audiologist once per month during the initial year.
It is recommended that aides be afforded continuing education opportunities.

Resources

For further information on laws and regulations for speech-language pathology and audiology support personnel in educational and other practice settings, please visit these websites:

School Setting Requirements:

To see where your state stands on support personnel licensure trends, please view the trends charts which are updated annually:

Questions regarding state advocacy issues? Call ASHA at 800-498-2071 and ask for the State Advocacy Team.