Speech Language Pathology Assistant jobs in Chicago, Illinois

[kasey_co]

I am from Georgia and plan on moving to Chicago in a few months. As a back up plan for grad schools I have started looking into working as an SLPA in the Chicago area. Does anybody have any information or advice about doing this, especially in the Illinois area. Thanks so much.

[sayjo]

My husband and I were just talking about this the other day. He is an SLP and commented that he didn't think that Illinois allowed SLPAs (he's never seen one and he's worked in a lot of different SLP facilities in the Chicago area).  They do, but it seems like jobs are few and far between.

 

You might want to think of an additional Plan B in case you have trouble finding work as an SLPA in the Chicago area.  Remember, there are a lot of SLP schools around here and many recent grads stick around for a few years after graduation, leading to a high number of qualified SLPs in the region.

 

Another idea might be to work in a special education setting in a school.  For example, in Chicago, there is a school run by Easter Seals, exclusively for children with autism.  Since most children at the school require their own aide, they are constantly employing people to work there.  That would definitely look good if you have to reapply next year, and I feel like a job as an aide is a lot easier to acquire than an SLPA job.  This is just my opinion though, and I could be wrong about SLPA job availability.

[kasey_co]

@sayjo

 

Yeah I am finding that SLPA jobs are really hard to come by in Illinois. I was looking into being state certified, but Illinois is so much harder than Georgia. That is a really good idea though to work in special education setting! I will definitely be looking into the school run by Easter Seals. I am still hoping Midwestern University or Saint Xavier work out though! Just trying to do anything to make this move up to Chicago possible!

[sayjo]

 Here's the webpage.  They employ a lot of SLPs too, so you might be able to observe some of them if you work there!