Louisiana State Characteristics of Licensure Law

The information below is collected from state licensure boards or regulatory agencies responsible for regulating the professions of SLP and/or AUD. It is intended for informational use only, and should not be construed as legal advice.

Contact the state's licensure board or regulatory agency for exact licensure, certification, or registration requirements in your jurisdiction.

Initial Licensure Requirements

1. Good moral character
2. Master's degree or equivalent from an accredited institution (75 semester hours)
3. Three hundred seventy-five hour supervised clinical practicum
4. Evidence of 9 months of supervised postgraduate professional employment or its part-time equivalent
5. Passage of an examination

Exemptions

• Federal employees
• Students properly identified as speech-language pathology or audiology trainees
• Physician or surgeons
• Hearing aid dealers
• Nurses performing routine hearing screening

Reciprocity

• The Board may license a speech-language pathologist or audiologist without examination or an SLP assistant on payment of a prescribed fee, an individual licensed by another state if:
• The requirements for licensure were at the date of licensure substantially equal to those requirements in force in this state at that time
• The state from whence the applicant comes accords similar privilege of licensure without examination to license holders in this state
• The state from whence the applicant comes requires successful completion of an examination as a condition of such licensure
• The Board may grant reciprocity to an individual pending the outcome of his/her application for licensure.
• The Board shall waive the examination and documentation of clinical practicum to applicants with a CCC.
• The Board shall waive the examination requirement for any applicant currently certified by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education as a specialist of speech-language pathology and currently employed in a school setting.

Interim Practice/Temporary Licensure

1. The Board may issue a provisional license to an individual who:
   Has completed all requirements for licensure except for the supervised postgraduate professional requirement; an individual may not hold such license for more than 3 years.
2. Has completed all requirements for licensure except for the supervised postgraduate professional requirement and the examination; an individual shall fulfill the exam requirement within 1 year from the date of original issuance.

Continuing Education for Licensure Renewal

• Ten clock hours per year
• Of the 10 hours, 5 must be in the area of licensure and the remaining 5 may be in areas related to the professions of speech-language pathology or audiology.
• Licensees may not carry over credits from one renewal period to the next.

Hearing Aid Dispensing

• Audiologists may dispense under an audiology license provided that they:
• Register with the Board the intent to fit and dispense hearing aids
• Comply with FDA guidelines for fitting and dispensing
• Provide documentation of 30 semester credit hours, with 21 hours in audiology and a minimum of 6 hours in amplification
• Complete 9 months of postgraduate professional experience under the supervision of a licensed dispensing audiologist
• A licensed audiologist who lacks the coursework and practicum requirements may also comply by:
• Completing 9 months of postgraduate professional experience under the supervision of a licensed dispensing audiologist
• Proof of successful completion of a study course by the National Institute for Hearing Instruments Studies or its equivalent

Support Personnel

• In order to be licensed as a speech-language pathology assistant, one must have:
• A bachelor's degree from an accredited institution
• Good moral character
• Completed a 225-hour supervised clinical practicum
• Completed supervised on-the-job training
• The Board may grant a provisional speech-language pathology assistant license to those individuals who meet all requirements for licensure as an assistant with at least 100 hours; the remaining 125 hours may be obtained on the job.
• The supervising speech-language pathologist supervising a speech-language pathology assistant must provide a minimum of 1 clock hour per week of on-site, in-view supervision and a minimum of 1 clock hour per week of alternative supervision.
• The supervising speech-language pathologist supervising a provisional speech-language pathology assistant must provide a minimum of 3 clock hours of on-site, in-view supervision per week and a minimum of 2 clock hours of alternative supervision.
• The licensed speech-language pathologist may not supervise more than three assistants.
• Speech-language pathology assistants must complete 10 hours of CE per year.
• Aides and others who are not licensed or provisionally licensed speech-language pathology assistants but who assist the licensed speech-language pathologist or audiologist in the performance of their duties are specifically exempted from licensure requirements.
• Speech-language pathology or audiology aides must be of good moral character, at least 18 years old, and have a high school diploma or GED.
• The licensed speech-language pathologist or audiologist must provide on-site, in-view supervision for 25% of the aide's patient/client contact time during the initial year of the aide's employment and for at least 10% of the aide's patient/client contact in the following years.

Note

• The abbreviation SLP or SP stands for Speech Language Pathology or Pathologist, as appropriate, the abbreviation AUD stands for Audiology or Audiologist, as appropriate, and the abbreviation HAD stands for Hearing Aid Dealer.
• All jurisdictions require applicants to achieve a passing score on a national exam, and all but Nevada, North Dakota, and Virginia require applicants to complete a post graduate professional experience requirement.
• The term "clinical fellow," used throughout, means a person completing the post graduate professional experience requirement.

Questions concerning data contained in this document can be addressed by calling 800-498-2071 and asking to speak to someone on the State Policy Team.