A school-based speech-language pathologist (SLP) is a trained professional who evaluates and treats children who have difficulty with speech and language skills. A school-based speech-language pathologist will target the above mentioned difficulties when they negatively impact a child's academic abilities.

Children may experience one or more of the following disorders:

• Speech sound disorders – difficulty pronouncing sounds
• Language disorders – difficulty understanding what they hear as well as expressing themselves with words
• Cognitive-communication disorders – difficulty with thinking skills including perception, memory, awareness, reasoning, judgment, intellect and imagination
• Stuttering (fluency) disorders – interruption of the flow of speech that may include hesitations, repetitions, prolongations of sounds or words
• Voice disorders – quality of voice that may include hoarseness, nasality, volume (too loud or soft)