How to Become a Speech Therapist in West Virginia

West Virginia boasts of a solid community of speech-language pathologists, linked by the West Virginia Speech, Language, and Hearing Association (WVSHA), a network of volunteers that promotes networking and the acquisition of professional knowledge while advocating for speech-language pathologists (SLPs), audiologists, and deaf educators in the State of West Virginia.

To become a speech therapist in West Virginia, you must earn state licensure through the Board of Examiners of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, which requires earning a master’s degree in speech-language pathology, completing a clinical fellowship, and passing an exam for speech-language pathologists.

Follow these steps to become a licensed speech-language pathologist in West Virginia:

	Earn a Speech Therapist Degree: Complete a Master’s Degree Program in Speech-Language Pathology
	Pass the National Examination to Qualify for a Provisional License
	Apply for a Provisional License and Complete the Required Clinical Fellowship Program
	Become Licensed and Begin Your Career as a Speech-Language Pathologist
	Maintain SLP Licensure and Complete Continuing Education Requirements

Step 1. Earn a Speech Therapist Degree: Complete a Master’s Degree Program in Speech-Language Pathology

The Board of Examiners requires all licensed SLPs to have a master’s degree in speech-language pathology from an approved college or university. Most SLP graduate programs receive their accreditation through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA).

The CAA accredits both online and campus-based programs. Online programs, in addition satisfying the needs of working professionals with demanding schedules, are particularly beneficial in states like West Virginia, which has only two CAA-accredited SLP programs.

Foundational Course Requirements

Many graduate programs do not specifically require a bachelor’s degree in communicative sciences and disorders, but it can give you a strong advantage. Students who have not previously completed any courses in an undergraduate program in the field may be required to complete a pre-professional program or take additional courses at the beginning of the graduate program.

Typical foundational courses include:

• Phonetics
• Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech Mechanism
• Language Acquisition
• Introduction to Communication Disorders
• Diagnostic Audiology
• Aural Rehabilitation

Graduate Program Requirements

Master’s degree programs in speech-language pathology consist of about 48 credits and take between 2 and 3 years to complete.

Courses you can expect to complete in these programs include:

• Evidence-Based Practice in Communication Disorders
• Neurophysiological Bases of Speech and Language
• Child Language and Literacy Disorders
• Advanced Stutter Disorders
• Craniofacial Anomalies
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Near the end of your graduate program, you’ll be completing a clinical practicum. West Virginia requires a 400-hour clinical practicum for licensure.

Step 2. Pass the National Examination to Qualify for a Provisional License

Before you can begin your clinical fellowship in West Virginia, you must pass the national SLP exam.

To register for the exam, follow the instructions on the Praxis registration page. You can take the exam at a Praxis test center in one of the following West Virginia cities:

• Athens
• Beckley
• Charleston
• Huntington
• Martinsburg
• Morgantown

You must complete the exam’s 132 questions in 150 minutes. The exam is broken up into three categories, which you can study with the provided study materials. Here are some topics you can expect to see on the exam:

• Foundations and Professional Practice – 1/3 of the exam
  • Development and performance
  • Common communication and swallowing disorders
  • Counseling and collaboration
  • Ethics
  • Client advocacy
• Screening, Assessment, Evaluation, and Diagnosis – 1/3 of the exam
  • Screening for disorders
  • Developing case histories
  • Speech sound production
  • Fluency
  • Disease processes
• Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation of Treatment – 1/3 of the exam
  • Monitoring treatment progress
  • Follow-up processes
  • Social aspects of communication
  • Communication impairments
  • Hearing and aural rehabilitation

To pass the exam, you need to score 162 on a scale of 100-200.

Step 3. Apply for a Provisional License and Complete the Required Clinical Fellowship Program

After passing the national SLP exam, you can now apply for a provisional license and begin your clinical fellowship. To become a licensed SLP in West Virginia, you must complete a clinical fellowship of at least nine months of full-time work.

In your clinical fellowship, you’ll be working directly with patients while supervised by a licensed speech-language pathologist. Much of your work will be determined by the demands of the patients and clients and the nature of the practice setting, which is why ASHA has created a Scope of Practice for SLPs. The Scope of Practice discusses research, counseling, assessment, and advocacy in details, along with other tasks.

The fellowship provides you with your first chance to gain independent exposure to clinical practice outside of your graduate program while being paid for the services you render. This is your chance to start your career in the practice setting and specialized area of focus that interests you, so take time in selecting your fellowship sponsor.

Just a sample of some of the employers of SLPs in West Virginia include:

• Soliant Health, Martinsburg
• Wheeling Hospital, Wheeling
• Genesis Rehab Services, Beckley
• West Virginia University Healthcare, Martinsburg

You must hold a provisional license while completing your clinical fellowship. The application for the provisional license must be received by the Board no later than 30 days into your clinical fellowship.

To receive a provisional SLP license, you must complete an Application for Provisional License and submit it to the Board, along with:

• An official transcript from the college or university where you earned your SLP master’s degree

• Proof of your passing Praxis exam score

• A completed Postgraduate Professional Experience (PPE) Agreement form (must be completed by you and your supervising SLP)

The license lasts for a year and can be renewed once.

Optional CCC-SLP Certification

Upon passing the national SLP exam and completing the required post-graduate clinical fellowship, you will also qualify for the CCC-SLP (Certificate of Clinical Competency in Speech-Language Pathology) through the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

This optional designation denotes an advanced level of professionalism and commitment to continuing education.

To apply for this designation, you must complete the Application for the CCC-SLP and submit it to ASHA, along with an official copy of your graduate transcript, an official copy of your SLP exam score sent directly from Praxis, and a completed SLP Clinical Fellowship Report and Rating Form.

Step 4. Become Licensed and Begin Your Career as a Speech-Language Pathologist

To apply for an SLP license in West Virginia, you must complete and submit the Initial License Application for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology to the Board, along with a copy of your graduate transcripts and a copy of your exam score sent directly from Praxis.

To qualify for licensure, you must also take and pass the Jurisprudence Examination that covers state laws as they relate to providing speech-language therapy services.

As a licensed SLP in West Virginia, you may choose to pursue your career in a variety of settings, such as hospitals, rehab facilities, schools, private practices, and even offer your services through telepractice.

You can view some of the latest SLP job listings through the West Virginia Speech, Language, and Hearing Association Career Center.

Step 5. Maintain SLP Licensure and Complete Continuing Education Requirements

You must renew your West Virginia SLP license biennially on December 31. You can renew your license online.

To renew your license, you must ensure you complete at least 20 hours of continuing education during the two-year renewal period.

Both ASHA and the West Virginia Speech, Language, and Hearing Association are excellent sources of continuing education opportunities.

Speech-Language Pathology Salary in West Virginia

Experienced speech-language pathologists in West Virginia earned an average salary of $73,638 ($35.41 hourly) as of 2016 according to the state’s Department of Commerce. Throughout the state, SLPs earned $63,637 ($30.60 hourly) on average that year.

The Department provides detailed salary and hourly wage information for speech-language pathologists in West Virginia by region. In comparing earnings from throughout the state, salaries were found to be exceptionally high in the Southeast region of the state (ranges shown from average to 70^th percentile):

Kanawha County:

• Annual: $60,460 – $67,152
• Hourly: $29.07 – $32.28

North:

• Annual: $66,055 – $79,463
• Hourly: $31.75 – $38.21

Northeast:

• Annual: $65,836 – $75,058
• Hourly: $31.65 – $36.09

Northwest:

• Annual: $57,873 – $65,161
• Hourly: $27.83 – $31.34

Panhandle:

• Annual: $58,323 – $65,804
• Hourly: $28.04 – $31.63

Southeast:

• Annual: $70,604 – $84,111
• Hourly: $33.94 – $40.44

Southwest:

• Annual: $66,038 – $76,413
• Hourly: $31.75 – $36.73

A High Concentration of SLPs and More than 2,300 Employers in West Virginia

West Virginia boasted the 4^th highest concentration of jobs for speech-language pathologists in the country in 2015 according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Two metropolitan areas had particularly high concentrations:

• 3^rd—Cumberland
• 7^th—Parkersburg-Vienna

The SLP profession is “in demand” in the Southeastern and Southwestern parts of the state according to the West Virginia Department of Commerce. The Department expects the number of jobs for SLPs in the state to increase nearly 10% between 2014 and 2024. This level of growth should generate an average of 31 job openings each year during the ten-year period leading up to 2024.

The US Department of Labor in partnership with the private company Infogroup® detailed the number of organizations that employ speech-language pathologists in West Virginia. They identified 2,320 businesses, schools, and non-profit agencies that employ SLPs in this state. The major types of employers are shown below:

Healthcare Organizations:

• Physical Therapists: 359
• Home Health Services: 306
• Hospitals: 142
• Nursing and Convalescent Homes: 84
• Health Care Facilities: 47
• Speech Pathologists: 43
• Hospices: 39
• Medical Centers: 34
• Audiologists: 29
• Cancer Treatment Centers: 19

Schools:

• Schools: 1076
• Religious Schools: 54
• School Districts: 11
• Schools with Special Academic Education: 10

SLP Practices in West Virginia’s Major Cities:

Shown below are some of the speech-language pathology practices in West Virginia. Their presence here should not be construed as an indication that they are currently hiring:

Charleston:

• Jennifer L. Dennison
• Nichole Blankenship
• Cara Stone
• Scottish Rite Childhood

Huntington:

• Bailey B. Clay
• Carrie Lynn Childers
• Kelly Rutherford
• Lacie D. Casto
• Sarah Clemins

Martinsburg:

• City Hospital Smart Healthplex
• Jamie Jones
• Lynelle McFarland

Morgantown:

• Morgantown Childhood Language
• Jennifer Haines
• Robert Ann Yauger

Parkersburg:

• Catherine Beebe
• Samantha Foggin

South Charleston:

• Amber Rae Tincher

Speech-Language Pathology Salaries in West Virginia and Its Regions

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provides annual salaries and hourly wages for speech-language pathologists in the major cities and rural areas of West Virginia as of 2015:

Back to Top