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speech therapist

speech therapist

6 3.3
A person who helps people who have trouble speaking or using words
  • noun
  • /spiːtʃ ˈθɛrəpɪst/
translation icon : logopeda
  • After the accident, he started visiting a speech therapist to regain his ability to speak clearly.
  • speech therapists provide

For example, with King's Speech, it's not just a guy who stutters and hires a speech therapist is the king of England.

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Examples

  • At that time, Sam was receiving special education services for articulation from the speech therapist.

    Academic text (2014)
  • For 15 years, McDermott had been going to see a speech therapist.

    Blog text (7)
  • You know, my brother is a speech therapist.

  • Sister Anna brought in a speech therapist once a week to work with her.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The speech therapist can provide exercises and ideas that might help.

    Academic text (2006)
  • And one of the things that speech therapists do is get people to sing what it is they're trying to say.

  • Despite daily sessions with the school speech therapist, his whistle had only been tamed to a blustering wheeze.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Schools may have to provide everything from extra time for tests to tutors, speech therapists, or full-time aides.

    Academic text (2002)
  • In this sequel to Light a Single Candle, Cathy Wheeler is college-aged and seeking a degree as a speech therapist.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Mrs. Richardson, Regina's speech therapist, would hook her up to a biofeedback machine that monitored the tension in her throat muscles.

    Fiction book (1999)

Surface Forms

Morphology

speech + therapist

The compound 'speech therapist' straightforwardly combines 'speech' (the act of speaking) with 'therapist' (a professional who treats disorders), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes a professional who treats speech or language problems. This is a regular, compositional noun–noun profession label common across languages and thus readily understandable to B1 learners.

Etymology

Speech therapist combines speech and therapist. speech means 'talking' and therapist means a person who 'helps people get better', so imagine someone who works with a person on their talking with exercises, and you have a speech therapist, a specialist who finds and helps with problems in speech and language.