LICENSED SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST
Children’s Intermediate Care Facility for Individuals with an Intellectual Disability or Related Conditions (ICF/IID)
Department Programs / Clinical Services
Reports To Children’s Therapy Center Director of Therapies
Employment Status Full-Time
Schedule Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Compensation Pay commensurate with experience, education, and professional credentials
Supervisory Responsibility May supervise licensed SLP assistants or interns when assigned and when all TDLR requirements are met
Position Summary
The Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) provides pediatric speech-language pathology services to children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and related conditions. The SLP assesses communication and swallowing/feeding needs; develops and implements individualized, measurable treatment programs; participates in the interdisciplinary team (IDT); and helps ensure that speech-language services are integrated into each child’s Individual Program Plan (IPP) and continuous active-treatment program. Services must promote functional communication, safety, self-determination, independence, participation, and prevention of regression.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Assessment, Evaluation, and Clinical Planning
- Complete timely, developmentally appropriate evaluations and re-evaluations of receptive and expressive language, pragmatic/social communication, speech sound production, motor speech, fluency, voice/resonance, oral-motor function, feeding and swallowing, and functional communication, as clinically indicated and within the SLP’s competence and scope of practice.
- Review relevant medical, developmental, behavioral, nutritional, hearing, educational, and social information; obtain or verify required consents, referrals, and orders according to law, payer requirements, and facility policy.
- Use standardized and criterion-referenced measures, observation, caregiver/staff interviews, communication sampling, and functional assessment methods appropriate to the child’s age, culture, language, sensory needs, cognitive abilities, and mode of communication.
- Identify strengths, risks, support needs, and functional priorities; communicate findings and recommendations clearly to the child, parent or legally authorized representative (LAR), IDT, QIDP, nursing staff, direct-support staff, and other authorized providers.
- Contribute relevant assessment information to preliminary admission evaluations, comprehensive functional assessments, annual reviews, transfers, discharges, and revisions required when needs or performance change.
Individual Program Planning and Active Treatment
- Participate as an IDT member in developing, reviewing, and revising each child’s IPP when speech-language pathology is a relevant service area.
- Develop functional, observable, measurable goals and objectives with defined baseline, teaching procedures, service frequency and duration, responsible staff, data-collection methods, generalization strategies, and criteria for mastery or revision.
- Provide or arrange the intensity and frequency of skilled speech-language services identified by the IDT and IPP, and promptly notify the QIDP/IDT when the planned service cannot be delivered or is no longer clinically appropriate.
- Embed communication interventions in the child’s daily routines and environments so skills generalize across residential, educational, community, recreation, self-care, and family interactions.
- Recommend modifications to objectives, teaching strategies, communication supports, or service levels based on objective data, clinical findings, health changes, or lack of progress.
Direct Therapy and Clinical Services
- Provide evidence-informed individual and group habilitation/therapy consistent with the IPP, clinical recommendations, applicable orders, professional standards, and the child’s rights and preferences.
- Use positive, person-centered, trauma-informed, and least-restrictive approaches; adapt sessions for sensory, behavioral, mobility, attention, and health needs without compromising clinical safety.
- Support functional communication through speech, gestures, signs, pictures, visual supports, communication boards, speech-generating devices, and other augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods.
- Assess feeding and swallowing concerns within professional scope; identify signs of aspiration or other risk; coordinate promptly with the physician, nursing, dietitian, occupational therapy, and other clinicians; and establish clear, authorized precautions, positioning, texture, pacing, and monitoring recommendations.
- Stop or modify treatment and initiate appropriate notification or emergency procedures when a child demonstrates distress, significant clinical change, suspected aspiration, injury, illness, or another safety concern.
AAC and Assistive Communication
- Conduct feature-matching, trials, and functional assessment of AAC options; recommend the most appropriate effective system based on the child’s communication, cognitive, sensory, motor, positioning, environmental, and support needs.
- When an ICF/IID augmentative communication device authorization is pursued, complete the applicable therapist assessment and supporting documentation accurately, including diagnosis, functional need, alternatives considered, medical-necessity justification, treatment/training plan, settings of use, support needs, and required signature/license information.
- Train the child, family/LAR, DSPs, nurses, teachers, and other authorized team members in device operation, implementation, programming boundaries, care, maintenance, and consistent use across environments.
- Monitor effectiveness, access, vocabulary, positioning, repair needs, and use of the communication system; recommend updates as the child’s abilities and needs change.
Documentation, Data, and Quality
- Complete accurate, objective, legible, signed, and dated evaluations, treatment plans, progress notes, data summaries, IDT reports, recommendations, discharge/transfer summaries, and other required records within established timeframes.
- Document the skilled service provided, the child’s response, measurable progress toward IPP objectives, caregiver/staff education, changes in condition, coordination activities, missed or declined services, and follow-up actions.
- Maintain records and billing information that accurately reflect services actually provided; protect confidentiality and release information only as authorized or required by law.
- Participate in utilization review, quality assurance/performance improvement, incident review, survey preparation, corrective-action activities, and clinical audits related to communication, swallowing, active treatment, or documentation.
- Maintain therapy materials, AAC equipment, and clinical supplies in safe, sanitary, secure, and working condition; follow infection-prevention procedures.
Training, Consultation, and Coordination
- Provide initial and ongoing competency-based instruction to DSPs and other staff who implement communication programs, mealtime supports, swallowing precautions, AAC systems, and data collection.
- Observe implementation in natural settings, provide coaching and corrective feedback, and report barriers or noncompliance to the appropriate supervisor and QIDP.
- Coordinate services with parents/LARs, physicians, nursing, dietitians, occupational and physical therapists, psychologists/behavior professionals, schools, outside providers, and other IDT members, while avoiding unnecessary duplication and preserving the facility’s active-treatment responsibilities.
- Participate in required staff development and provide formal or informal education on communication development, disability-specific supports, dysphagia/feeding safety, AAC, and person-centered interaction.
Rights, Safety, and Regulatory Compliance
- Protect each child’s dignity, privacy, freedom from abuse, neglect, exploitation, mistreatment, and unnecessary restraint; support informed participation by the child and parent/LAR in treatment decisions.
- Immediately report suspected abuse, neglect, exploitation, rights violations, serious incidents, falsification, unsafe practice, or other reportable events through required internal and external channels; do not delay a legally required report while awaiting supervisory approval.
- Follow applicable HHSC rules, ICF/IID Conditions of Participation, Texas licensing requirements, professional ethics, facility policies, emergency procedures, and infection-control and safety practices.
- Maintain professional boundaries and deliver services without discrimination, retaliation, coercion, or conflicts of interest.
Supervision (When Assigned)
- Supervise only interns or assistants for whom the SLP and supervisee hold current required licenses/approvals and an approved supervisory relationship is in place before services begin.
- Accept responsibility for supervised client services; retain responsibility for evaluation, interpretation, case management, treatment planning, and other duties that may not be delegated.
- Provide and document the type, frequency, and amount of supervision required by TDLR; ensure delegated duties are within the supervisee’s authorized scope and demonstrated competence.
Minimum Qualifications
- Master’s degree or higher in speech-language pathology, communicative sciences or disorders, or a closely equivalent field meeting Texas licensure requirements.
- Current, active, and unrestricted Texas Speech-Language Pathologist license issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR); license must remain current throughout employment.
- Knowledge of pediatric speech-language development, intellectual and developmental disabilities, functional communication, AAC, and feeding/swallowing principles.
- Ability to complete accurate clinical documentation, analyze data, develop measurable objectives, train staff, and collaborate effectively within an interdisciplinary program.
- Ability to satisfy all background, registry, health-screening, training, and other employment requirements applicable to staff serving children in the facility.
Preferred Qualifications
- ASHA Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP).
- At least two years of clinical experience serving children with IDD, autism, complex communication needs, developmental disabilities, or related conditions.
- Experience in an ICF/IID, residential program, pediatric clinic, school, hospital, or other interdisciplinary setting.
- Training or demonstrated competence in AAC assessment and implementation, pediatric feeding/swallowing, positive behavior supports, and trauma-informed care.
- Bilingual or multilingual clinical skills relevant to the children served.
- If supervision is assigned: TDLR supervisor approval and the experience required to supervise assistants or interns.
Core Competencies
- Child- and family-centered clinical judgment
- IDD-informed, functional treatment planning
- Interdisciplinary collaboration and staff coaching
- Clear written and verbal communication
- Objective documentation and data-based decision-making
- Ethical practice, confidentiality, and regulatory accountability
- Organization, reliability, and timely follow-through
- Calm, respectful response to behavioral or medical concerns
Physical and Work Requirements
- Work is performed in clinical, educational/program, and community settings and may require travel between Spectrum of Solutions locations during the workday.
- Must be able to sit, stand, walk, bend, reach, demonstrate therapy activities, use computers and AAC devices, and position materials throughout the workday.
- Must be able to respond promptly to urgent child-safety or health concerns and work in environments that may include variable noise, behavioral escalation, bodily fluids, and communicable illness exposure.
- Must be able to perform the essential functions of the position, with or without reasonable accommodation.
Schedule and Attendance
This is a full-time position normally scheduled Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Regular and reliable attendance is an essential function. The employee may occasionally be required to participate in training, IDT meetings, urgent consultations, survey activities, or child-specific services outside the normal schedule, consistent with organizational policy and applicable wage-and-hour requirements.
Regulatory and Professional Standards
The successful candidate must practice within the scope of a current Texas SLP license and comply with applicable Texas HHSC requirements, 26 TAC Chapter 551, 42 CFR Part 483 Subpart I ICF/IID Conditions of Participation, 16 TAC Chapter 111, professional ethics, mandatory-reporting laws, payer requirements, and Spectrum of Solutions policies. Duties and clinical assignments may be updated as governing requirements or children’s needs change.
