How to become an audiologist or speech therapist

Official title: Audiologists and speech therapists

Also called: Audiologist, Language therapist, Speech pathologist, Speech therapist

Audiologists and speech therapists evaluate, manage and treat physical disorders affecting human hearing, speech, communication and swallowing. They prescribe corrective devices or rehabilitative therapies for hearing loss, speech disorders and related sensory and neural problems, and provide counselling on hearing safety and communication performance.

Main tasks

• Evaluating hearing, speech and language performance in patients to determine the nature of hearing and communication disorders
• Administering hearing or speech/language tests or other examinations using specialized diagnostic instruments and equipment, and interpreting test results alongside other medical, social and behavioural diagnostic data to determine appropriate courses of treatment
• Planning, directing and participating in counselling, screening, speech rehabilitation and other programmes related to hearing and communication
• Prescribing hearing aids and other assistive devices according to patients’ needs and instructing them in their use
• Planning and conducting treatment programmes to manage physical disorders affecting speech and swallowing
• Counselling and guiding hearing and/or language-impaired individuals, their families, teachers and employers
• Referring patients and families to additional medical or educational services if needed

Ways in

• University: Allied Health degrees, Offered by 11 universities in Hong Kong

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: HK$48,000 a month
• About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Related jobs

• Physiotherapists
• Optometrists and ophthalmic opticians
• Dieticians and nutritionists
• Health professionals not elsewhere classified
• Environmental and occupational health and hygiene professionals

Not sure this is for you? Take the 2-minute career quiz

Questions people ask

How do I become an audiologist or speech therapist?

Ways in include: Allied Health degrees.

Do you need a degree to become an audiologist or speech therapist?

Usually. 88% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Will AI change the work of an audiologist or speech therapist?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026