Public Act 103-1004
 
SB3467 EnrolledLRB103 37460 RTM 67582 b

    AN ACT concerning regulation.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Illinois Speech-Language Pathology and
Audiology Practice Act is amended by changing Sections 3.5,
8.5, and 8.6 as follows:
 
    (225 ILCS 110/3.5)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)
    Sec. 3.5. Exemptions. This Act does not prohibit:
        (a) The practice of speech-language pathology or
    audiology by students in their course of study in programs
    approved by the Department, or the performance of
    speech-language pathology assistant services by graduates
    who have obtained degrees as set forth in paragraph (2) of
    Section 8.5 of the Act, when acting under the direction
    and supervision of licensed speech-language pathologists
    or audiologists.
        (b) The performance of any speech-language pathology
    service by a speech-language pathology assistant or
    candidate for licensure as a speech-language pathology
    assistant, if such service is performed under the
    supervision and full responsibility of a licensed
    speech-language pathologist. A speech language pathology
    assistant or candidate for speech-language pathology
    assistant licensure may perform only those duties
    authorized by Section 8.7 under the supervision of a
    speech-language pathologist as provided in Section 8.8.
        (b-5) The performance of an audiology service by an
    appropriately trained person if that service is performed
    under the supervision and full responsibility of a
    licensed audiologist.
        (c) The performance of audiometric testing for the
    purpose of industrial hearing conservation by an
    audiometric technician certified by the Council of
    Accreditation for Occupational Hearing Conservation
    (CAOHC).
        (d) The performance of an audiometric screening by an
    audiometric screenings technician certified by the
    Department of Public Health.
        (e) The selling or practice of fitting, dispensing, or
    servicing hearing instruments by a hearing instrument
    dispenser licensed under the Hearing Instrument Consumer
    Protection Act.
        (f) A person licensed in this State under any other
    Act from engaging in the practice for which he or she is
    licensed.
        (g) The performance of vestibular function testing by
    an appropriately trained person under the supervision of a
    physician licensed to practice medicine in all its
    branches.
        (h) The performance of neurophysiologic intraoperative
    monitoring of the seventh and eighth cranial nerve by an
    individual certified by the American Board of Registration
    of Electroencephalographic and Evoked Potential
    Technologists as Certified in Neurophysiologic
    Intraoperative Monitoring only if authorized and
    supervised by the physician performing the surgical
    procedure.
(Source: P.A. 100-530, eff. 1-1-18.)
 
    (225 ILCS 110/8.5)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)
    Sec. 8.5. Qualifications for licenses as a speech-language
pathology assistant. A person is qualified to be licensed as a
speech-language pathology assistant if that person has applied
in writing or electronically on forms prescribed by the
Department, has paid the required fees, and meets both of the
following criteria:
        (1) Is of good moral character. In determining moral
    character, the Department may take into consideration any
    felony conviction or plea of guilty or nolo contendere of
    the applicant, but such a conviction or plea shall not
    operate automatically as a complete bar to licensure.
        (2) Has either:
            (A) received an associate degree from a
        speech-language pathology assistant program that has
        been approved by the Department and that meets the
        minimum requirements set forth in Section 8.6; or
            (B)(i) received a bachelor's degree in
        speech-language pathology, communication sciences and
        disorders, or other content area from an accredited
        college or university that has been approved by the
        Department and meets the minimum requirements set
        forth in Section 8.6, and (ii) completed the
        requirements for certification as a speech-language
        pathology assistant or completed an equivalent program
        as determined by the Department by rule.
        (2) Has received either (i) an associate degree from a
    speech-language pathology assistant program that has been
    approved by the Department and that meets the minimum
    requirements set forth in Section 8.6, (ii) a bachelor's
    degree and has completed course work from an accredited
    college or university that meets the minimum requirements
    set forth in Section 8.6, or (iii) a bachelor's degree in
    speech-language pathology or communication sciences and
    disorders from a regionally or nationally accredited
    institution approved by the Department, and evidence of
    completion of at least 100 hours of documented field work
    supervised by a licensed speech-language pathologist that
    is comparable to that completed in a speech-language
    pathology assistant program in this State.
(Source: P.A. 103-302, eff. 1-1-24.)
 
    (225 ILCS 110/8.6)
    (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2028)
    Sec. 8.6. Minimum requirements for speech-language
pathology assistant programs.
    (a) An applicant for licensure as a speech-language
pathology assistant must have earned 60 semester credit hours
in a program of study that includes general education and the
specific knowledge and skills for a speech-language pathology
assistant. The curriculum of a speech-language pathology
assistant program must include all of the following content,
as further provided by rule promulgated by the Department:
        (1) Twenty-four semester credit hours in general
    education.
        (2) Thirty-six semester credit hours in technical
    content areas designed to provide students with knowledge
    and skills required for speech-language pathology
    assistants, which must include (i) an introductory or
    overview course in of normal processes of communication
    disorders; (ii) phonetics an overview of communication
    disorders; (iii) speech sound disorders instruction in
    speech-language pathology assistant-level service
    delivery practices; (iv) language development instruction
    in workplace behaviors; (v) language disorders cultural
    and linguistic factors in communication; and (vi) anatomy
    and physiology of speech and hearing mechanisms
    observation.
        (3) Completion of at least 100 hours of supervised
    field work experiences supervised by a licensed
    speech-language pathologist at least 50% of the time when
    the student is engaged in contact with the patient or
    client. An applicant must obtain written verification
    demonstrating successful completion of the required field
    work experience, including a description of the setting in
    which the training was received and an assessment of the
    student's technical proficiency.
    (b) The Department may promulgate rules that change the
curriculum requirements of subsection (a) in order to reflect
the guidelines for speech-language pathology assistant
programs recommended by the American Speech-Language Hearing
Association.
    (c) Any applicant for licensure as a speech-language
pathology assistant who applies to the Department prior to the
effective date of this amendatory Act of the 96th General
Assembly or any person who holds a valid license as a
speech-language pathology assistant on the effective date of
this amendatory Act shall not be required to meet the new
minimum requirements for a speech language pathology assistant
program under subsection (a) of this Section 8.6 that are
established by this amendatory Act.
(Source: P.A. 96-1315, eff. 7-27-10.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
1, 2025.