Speech therapist salary (real numbers)

Speech is an important tool for person-to-person communication. With the help of speech, we can not only convey some information, but also convey the acquired personal experience to others.

Unfortunately, the age of rapid dissemination of information has brought another problem - a large number of people with speech defects. Speech problems are not only found in children; they are also typical for people who have suffered from various illnesses or who have been frightened as a result of some life situation or incident.

People of an amazing profession - speech therapists - will come to the aid of such people. What is the area of professional activity of specialists in the correction of speech defects? How much do speech therapists receive per month for their necessary and difficult work? Where can you get this young specialty?

Responsibilities of speech therapists

A speech therapist works to correct speech defects most often in children. This specialty arose recently, about half a century ago. Then humanity came to understand that difficulties in pronouncing words are not physical disabilities. And they can be corrected using various psychological techniques. Therefore, a speech therapist is a profession that combines the experience and observation of a good doctor, and the talent of an attentive and patient teacher.

A specialist in this profession must be able to:

diagnose various types of speech disorders;
develop correction programs for organizing individual and group classes;
deals with the elimination of pronunciation defects and the development of phonemic hearing in children;
consults parents whose children have speech disorders and maintains speech cards;

In order to professionally perform his duties, a speech therapist needs to have a deep knowledge of the physiological characteristics of the child’s body, the structure of the speech apparatus and its possible pathologies. It is also necessary to have speech therapy massage skills to relax the laryngeal muscles and other parts of the speech apparatus.

Only a highly professional speech therapist is able to provide his patient with the necessary psychological assistance, adapt him to the social environment and help him in self-improvement and getting rid of inferiority complexes.

Most often, specialists in the correction of defects are employed on the staffing list of kindergartens, in hospitals and children's clinics, in centers for psychological rehabilitation and correction of speech and hearing disorders in children. There is the possibility of private practice, i.e. organizing the work of your own speech therapy room.

Definition of the profession “speech therapist” and its characteristics

A speech therapist is a specialist involved in the development of the articulatory (speech) apparatus, mainly in children of preschool and primary school age.

Its functions also include the correction of speech disorders ( speech aphasia ), restoration of speech functions of adults who have suffered a stroke or external severe brain injury. It is this that can lead to a violation of speech functions. In their work, speech therapists (defectologists) often use modern correctional techniques.

In addition, speech therapists and speech pathologists actively help in the development of speech in children with developmental and health needs. In each case, the speech therapist draws up an individual patient treatment card.

It is this specialist who helps eliminate common speech deficiencies even among educated and adult people, such as stuttering, burr, and lisp.

What factors influence the salary level of a speech therapist?

The following factors influence the salary level of speech therapists:

Place of work . The earnings of specialists from government agencies are lower than those of employees of private speech therapist offices.
Work experience and qualification category . The salary of young specialists without a category is extremely low, about 12-14 thousand rubles.
Availability of private practice . The amount of payment for one speech therapy session is influenced by the specialist’s experience, the characteristics and complexity of speech pathologies, as well as the financial capabilities of the client.
The level of the incentive part of the speech therapist's remuneration . The criteria for calculating this part are independently determined by each educational organization.

These criteria most often include:

reducing the proportion of students (pupils) with speech disorders;
consulting parents of students (pupils);
exemplary maintenance of the speech therapy room;
generalization and presentation of one’s own methodological experience, etc.

Speech therapist's monthly income

The article has already touched on the average salary of a speech therapist.

This begs the question: how much does a speech therapist earn per month? Much depends on length of service.

As practice shows, in educational and preschool institutions, in clinics, the salary of a speech therapist starts at 10 thousand rubles, if the specialist has no work experience and relevant skills.
If you have little work experience (more than a year), the salary varies from 18 to 23 thousand rubles.
If you have more than three years of experience in this area, the income level can start from 23 thousand rubles and reach 45 thousand rubles per month.

These data on the earnings of speech therapists were collected in different regions of Russia. But the more developed the region and the more populated, the higher the income level.

Salary level for speech therapists in Russia

Compared to other categories of teaching staff, speech therapists have a lower bar for hourly work. Their rate in educational organizations is calculated based on 20 hours of teaching work per week.

In addition, speech therapists working in a special (correctional) educational institution or in a special group (special class) for children with speech disorders receive a 15-20% increase in wages.

But, despite the increasing coefficient, the salary of speech therapists is small, it amounts to 15-60 thousand rubles. monthly.

Thus, the average salary of specialists in the correction of speech defects on average does not exceed 25 thousand rubles, which is significantly lower than the average monthly salaries of specialists in other professions in Russia.

Additional bonuses

Speech therapists have some social bonuses. Among them:

the length of the working day is 4 hours, which is 2 times lower than that of people of other professions – 8 hours;
big annual vacation in summer. If a speech therapist works in a kindergarten or in an additional education organization, then he will rest for 42 calendar days. The vacation of preschool employees for children with disabilities lasts 56 days;
Speech correction specialists have opportunities for self-development and professional development. This includes visiting and active participation in thematic conferences and seminars;
The most important advantage of speech therapists is the opportunity to conduct private practice, which can bring significant income to the specialist.

How much do speech therapists earn in Moscow?

Moscow speech therapists earn an average of 35-50 thousand rubles per month. These are quite low salaries for the capital region. But despite this, the number of resumes of applicants for the vacancy is very large, about ten.

This is due to the social bonuses of the profession. Most speech therapists in Moscow work part-time, which means their incomes are higher than the average earnings.

What is the salary of speech therapists in different Russian regions?

Speech therapists in the northern capital receive 30-45 thousand rubles a month for their work. In Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Omsk, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod, the average monthly salary of specialists in this profession is 25-30 thousand rubles.
Speech therapists in Volgograd, Samara, Ufa, Perm and Voronezh earn less than others, 18-25 thousand rubles.

Why is the work of a speech therapist difficult?

Today, children with delayed speech development are increasingly being brought to see a specialist. It can be diagnosed at about 2-3 years of age. In this case, the speech therapist must have sufficient qualifications to refer the child for a medical examination. After all, very often speech delay is caused by the immaturity of the speech zone of the brain and its damage. Therefore, medical correction of such a disorder is first necessary.

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Then the speech therapist comes into play. But its function is not limited to teaching the child some movements of the lips and tongue. The problem lies not in the muscles, but in the immaturity of the brain. Therefore, the speech therapist spends a lot of time ensuring that the child understands the mechanism of internal speech, the structure of speech utterances, and the principles of constructing a dialogue. With normal speech development this is not necessary. Thus, simultaneously with these activities, the speech therapist expands the child’s passive vocabulary, and only then moves on to producing sounds and consolidating these sounds in speech.

The difficulty lies in the fact that sometimes damage to the speech area of the brain is associated with some kind of neurological disease. And a novice speech therapist should not dream of obedient and compliant languages - it will take a long time to establish contact with each of the children with such disorders. And at the same time, it is often necessary to work with parents, since in the era of gadgets many simply do not pay enough attention to communication in families.

How much do speech therapists earn abroad?

Foreign speech therapists in European countries have a monthly income that greatly exceeds the income of their Russian colleagues. So in the UK, the salary of a speech therapist is 4.3 thousand euros (300 thousand rubles). German specialists earn 4 thousand euros (280 thousand rubles). In France, the salary level for speech therapists is 3.5 thousand euros (250 thousand rubles), in Italy – 3.1 thousand euros (220 thousand rubles), in Greece – 1.8 thousand euros (120 thousand rubles). rub.), in Poland – 0.9 thousand euros (72 thousand rubles).

in the United States have the highest incomes . The salary of a school speech therapist reaches 63 thousand dollars a year (3.8 million rubles), and a specialist in a preschool organization earns 56 thousand dollars (3.4 million rubles).

About the difficulties and work routine of a specialist

It would be a mistake to believe that the work of a speech therapist is connected only with private lessons. In addition, his responsibilities include maintaining documents, such as: speech cards for all patients, plans for personal sessions, a work process diary, etc. And this entire list is necessary for reporting to the relevant authorities. You need to be prepared for the fact that an auditor may come at any time, and in this case not only the specialist, but also his superiors may suffer. As a rule, it is from the monotonous process of compiling reports that a specialist can become more exhausted than from training with his students.
A speech therapist can work in institutions such as kindergartens, hospitals, and specialized clubs. It can be assigned to a specific group or to all groups at the same time. His salary depends on his length of service and the specific place of work.
In medical institutions, speech therapists have to deal with patients who have speech impairments due to previous injuries, certain diseases or operations.
And the last option for earning money for a speech therapist is to create your own small business, namely, to offer your services as a private performer. If your priority is a good salary, then this will be the best option for you.

A speech therapist can officially register an individual entrepreneur or LLC after receiving written approval from the state. But there are pitfalls here, because in this case you will have a lot of expenses. These are costs for renting the appropriate premises, advertising, and tax deductions.

For this reason, in reality everything is arranged much simpler. The specialist simply receives clients at home. In this case, you can also separately draw up an agreement with municipal structures, such as a kindergarten. This will allow you to combine official work and your own business. Over time, if you can build a large enough client base, you can make a decent living from your craft.

What subjects must be taken by applicants who have chosen this type of activity and want to study to become a speech therapist? Firstly, when entering a pedagogical university, you need to pass exams in Russian language and literature.

In conclusion, I would like to wish our readers, as always, success! Firmly follow your chosen path, do not be afraid of difficulties and pitfalls, improve your skills. Don't forget that in any business you can endlessly learn something new. And then any task will be within your reach. We hope that the description of this type of activity attracted you, and perhaps the profession of speech therapist will become your lucky ticket to life. In addition, you will be guaranteed a high salary if you become a truly worthy specialist.

Many people simply underestimate the profession of a speech therapist. But this is a very important and necessary craft for society. Everything about the profession of a speech therapist will be discussed in our article.

What pension payment can a speech therapist expect?

Like all teaching staff, speech therapists have the right to a preferential pension, provided they have worked in an educational institution for at least 25 years. In order to apply for such a pension, you need to contact the pension fund branch at your place of residence.

The level of pension provision for speech therapists is low, it is about 10-12 thousand rubles.

Unfortunately, people in such a necessary and important profession as speech therapists have low incomes. Although there is hope that the Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation will be implemented and the level of salaries of specialists will increase by 30%.

More about the work of a speech therapist

This specialist tries to work with each client personally, delving specifically into his problem. It is important to establish good contact with the client at the beginning of cooperation. Why is it important? The fact is that those who have distortions in their spoken speech are very embarrassed about it and are reluctant to open up in a conversation with another person. Due to this specific nature of the work, a specialist develops the habit of almost always communicating with other people sympathetically and carefully.

The interaction process begins with special speech training exercises. Of course, the duties of a speech therapist include telling their clients how best to achieve the desired result, how to hold their tongue and lips. After these exercises, classes move into the phase of gradual sound correction. Then the corrected sound is combined into syllables and then into individual words. Along with this, classes can be conducted aimed at improving auditory attention and fine motor skills. All this necessarily takes place mainly under the guise of a game. As a rule, sound correction lasts about 3 months, but this period can be longer.

Who exactly is this specialist? Let us immediately note that to become a speech therapist, you do not need specialized medical education. You can obtain the specialty of a speech therapist by graduating from a pedagogical institute.

Professional Responsibilities

It is especially important to list the main professional functions and responsibilities of the employee. It is what a speech therapist does that best characterizes the profession itself.

What are the main responsibilities here? Here are the most basic ones:

qualitative examination of patients, during which the main features of speech development should be identified;
making a diagnosis, identifying the main problem;
a set of methods and methods of treatment;
carrying out the main groups of work - so-called classes with a speech therapist (this includes conducting exercises, issuing “homework”, assistance in the development of basic speech abilities);
evaluation of results based on the results of classes, comparison of results with initial data.

Thus, a specialist such as a speech therapist has a fairly large and structured number of responsibilities. Reviews of the work of these professionals are, as a rule, entirely positive. And it cannot be otherwise: a person has studied and practiced methods for developing human speech characteristics for at least five years. Of course, this is bearing fruit.

First group of job benefits

Like any other work activity, the profession of a speech therapist has a number of “spiritual” and “material” advantages. If we talk about the intangible component, then the only thing worth highlighting is usefulness. The point is that, despite not the smartest opinions, the profession of a speech therapist is still very useful and necessary for society.

Every person wants to speak clearly, competently and clearly. There are probably no people in the world who would like their own speech impediments. A speech therapist comes to the rescue here.

Getting a profession

Where can I get training to become a speech therapist? Today, in almost every major city in Russia or other CIS countries, there are many higher educational institutions that are ready to provide their services for quality education of citizens. Work as a speech therapist can be obtained after training in such institutions as:

MGPU - Moscow State Pedagogical University. Today this university remains one of the best pedagogical institutions in the world. Here you can qualitatively master the profession of a speech therapist, after which you can work in leading clinics, schools and other institutions in the country.
Sholokhov Moscow State Humanitarian University is the country's leading humanitarian university.
RGPU named after Herzen is another elite pedagogical university.
Wallenberg Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology.

Naturally, there are many other universities in the country that are ready to provide a course in speech therapy.

Features of the profession

The profession of a speech therapist has many interesting and surprising features. Some of them are worth talking about separately.

A speech therapist must have incredible patience. It is probably no longer a joke to say that the best speech therapist would be some soulless robot. After all, you need to love your job very much in order to give the same recommendations time after time, in a calm manner, to not the most assiduous children (and even some adults). Excellent speech therapists are people who can convince even a child how important it is to be able to speak beautifully and clearly. But, unfortunately, not everyone can create the necessary motivation in a patient.

A speech therapist must be an excellent psychologist. Each patient must have an individual approach. If this is a child, you need to remember the basics of developmental psychology, critical and lytic periods; if this is an adult, mature person, it is worth remembering that he may have various kinds of complexes and mental disorders.