speech-language pathology

speech-language pathology,

1 the study of abnormalities of speech and language.

2 the diagnosis and treatment of abnormalities of speech and language as practiced by a speech pathologist.

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pathology [pah-thol´o-je]

1. the branch of medicine treating of the essential nature of disease, especially of the changes in body tissues and organs that cause or are caused by disease.

2. the structural and functional manifestations of a disease. adj., adj patholog´ic, patholog´ical.

clinical pathology pathology applied to the solution of clinical problems, especially the use of laboratory methods in clinical diagnosis.

comparative pathology that which considers human disease processes in comparison with those of other animals.

experimental pathology the study of artificially induced pathologic processes.

oral pathology that which treats of conditions causing or resulting from morbid anatomic or functional changes in the structures of the mouth.

speech pathology (speech-language pathology) a field of the health sciences dealing with the evaluation of speech, language, and voice disorders and the rehabilitation of patients with such disorders not amenable to medical or surgical treatment. See also speech-language pathologist.

surgical pathology the pathology of disease processes that are surgically accessible for diagnosis or treatment.