The work in the laboratory is supervised by faculty members who are licensed and certified members of these professions. Working with children and adults, the pathologist can determine whether communication problems exist and decide the best method of treating them. Communication disorders may be caused by head trauma, stroke, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, laryngeal cancer, cleft palate or birth defects. There is a great need of these professionals in public and private schools, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, health departments, research laboratories, colleges and universities, and in private practice. Although they work closely with other professionals such as physicians, teachers, psychologists, and social workers, the speech-language professional is independent and does not work under direct medical supervision.
Audiology is a discipline closely related to speech-language pathology.
It is the study of normal and defective hearing. Audiologists are often hired by industry and the public sector to initiate hearing conservation programs. They also serve as consultants and give expert testimony on environmental noise and occupational noise-induced hearing loss. Additionally, audiologists provide services in hospitals, college and university clinics, rehabilitation centers and in private practice. Xavier s program affords students the opportunity to have supervised, hands-on experience working with children and adults in diagnosing and recommending solutions to hearing problems.