Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be able to:

• Describe the purpose and scope of the speech-language therapy profession
• Define, describe, and classify communication disorders
• Understand the role of the speech-language therapist in these disorders and in collaboration with other health professionals
• Understand the role of the speech-language therapist in assessment and intervention
• Understand and describe the general theoretical approaches to intervention in the field of speech-language therapy
  

The course aims to develop the following general skills:

• Search for, analyse, and synthesise data and information using the necessary technologies
• Work independently
• Work effectively in teams
• Show respect for diversity and multiculturalism
• Demonstrate social, professional, and ethical responsibility and sensitivity to gender issues
• Promote free, creative, and inductive thinking

This course introduces students to the science of speech-language therapy and to disorders of language, speech, and swallowing. It focuses on classification systems for these disorders as well as on the basic principles of assessment and intervention in speech-language therapy.

The course is organised into 13 lectures:

1. Introduction – course content and objectives
   The science of speech-language therapy: historical background
   Professional opportunities and prospects
   Prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, rehabilitation
2. Definitions: health, illness, disease, sickness, quality of life
   The biomedical and the biopsychosocial model of health
   The concept of disability
3. Communication, language, and speech
   The speech chain
   Systems involved in speech: respiration, phonation, resonance, articulation, prosody
4. Language: form, content, and use
   Comprehension and expression (reception and production)
   Spoken and written language
   Reading and writing
5. Basic anatomy and physiology of the structures and systems involved in hearing and speech
6. Systems for the classification of disorders
   International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
   Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-5)
   International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) of the World Health Organization
7. Developmental disorders: classification and examples
8. Acquired communication disorders: classification and examples
9. Assessment: basic principles of evaluation
   What is included in a speech-language therapy assessment
10. Assessment tools: types of tools and examples of specific assessment instruments/tests
11. Intervention: basic principles of intervention and types of interventions
12. Planning intervention: clinical reasoning, choice of intervention, and goal setting
    Evidence-based practice
13. Final review

Final exam at the end of the semester (100% of the final grade). The exam will include short-answers and/or closed-ended (e.g., multiple-choice) questions.

Books

1. Anderson, N. Β., & Shames, G. H. (2011). Εισαγωγή στις διαταραχές επικοινωνίας (επιμ. Ν. Τρίμμης & Ν. Ζιάβρα, Επιμ.). Λευκωσία: Broken Hill.
2. Plante, E. M., & Beeson, P. M. (2011). Η ανθρώπινη επικοινωνία και οι διαταραχές της (3η έκδ.) (επιμ. Η. Παπαθανασίου & Λ. Μανωλόπουλος). Αθήνα: Παρισιάνου.
3. Burns, M. S. (2025). Γνωστικές και Επικοινωνιακές Παρεμβάσεις - Νευροεπιστημονικές Προσεγγίσεις στη Λογοθεραπεία. Λευκωσία: Broken Hill.

E-books and articles

1. Brosseau-Lapré L., &Rvachew S. (2018). Introduction to Speech Sound Disorders. San Diego: Plural.
2. Shipley, K. G., & McAfee, J. G. (2016). Assessment in Speech-Language Pathology. Boston: Cengage Learning
3. Crystal, D., & Varley, R. (1998). Introduction to language pathology. London: Whurr.

Related scientific journals

• Journal of Communication Disorders: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-communication-disorders
• Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research: http://pubs.asha.org/journal/jslhr
• International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/iasl20

https://eclass.uop.gr/courses/SLT138