Welcome
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY
ESLA is the umbrella organisation for Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) associations across Europe. We currently have 35 member associations, representing over 40,000 SLT professionals.
ESLA’s strategic objectives are:
- Be the authoritative voice of Speech and Language Therapy in Europe,
- Increase recognition, promotion and protection of the profession,
- Ensure the sustainability of the organisation.
ESLA is the umbrella organisation for Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) associations across Europe. We currently have 30 member associations, representing over 50,000 SLT professionals.
ESLA’s strategic objectives are operationalised through working groups known as Task Forces, each led by a member of the ESLA Board.

ESLA webinar series - "Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS): Differential Diagnosis"
For the ESLA Webinar Series: "Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS): Differential DIagnosis"
Dr. Edythe Strand, PhD, CCC-SLP
Thursday 30th November, 2023
Register here: https://cutt.ly/9wEPoozc
The Board
The members of the Board were elected during the General Assembly
held in Austria in May 2022, for a period of three years.
Chair
Norma Camilleri
- Malta -
Deputy Chair
Fofi Constantinidou
- Cyprus -
General Secretary
Ellianna Mantaka-Brinkmann
- Greece -
Treasurer
Giuseppe Mancini
- Italy -
Board member responsible for Professional Education
Blazenka Brozovic
- Croatia -
Board member responsible for Communication and Engagement
Sahra Mengal
- Denmark -
Board member responsible for Professional and Scientific-based Standards
Raluca Trifu
- Romania -
ESLA Administrator
Gianmatteo Farabolini
ESLA Administrator
Theresa Bloder

Our Objectives
Vision
European Speech and Language Therapy Association (ESLA) is the leading organisation representing the interests of the Speech and Language Therapy profession in Europe.
Mission
ESLA is the authoritative voice of the Speech and Language Therapy profession across Europe and supports the common interests of its member associations.
ESLA aims to increase the visibility and awareness of Speech Language Therapy in Europe and beyond, by actively promoting the profession and safeguarding professional and educational standards.
The voice of European Speech and Language Therapists
ESLA promotes the profile and reputation of the SLT profession to the European Commission, other relevant authorities and related organisations, by publishing statements and policies advocating the value of our services for people with communication and swallowing difficulties.
ESLA STATEMENT ON EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION (EDI)
The values and activities of ESLA are based on the principles of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights as stated in the
- United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
- European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms &
- Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The members of ESLA are the national professional organizations of SLTs / orthophonistes / logopèdes / logopédistes meeting the criteria for membership set out in our Statutes. Each of these associations have their own Statutes and/or Statement of professional standards, incorporating a commitment to ethically based practice that promotes the values of equality, diversity and inclusion.
ESLA actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and specifically promotes equality of access to health, education and social care services for all the populations and communities with whom we work.
ESLA also promotes and protects the value of cultural diversity across the SLT professional membership, as being essential to most appropriately meet the needs of the increasingly diverse societies we serve.
As part of our commitment to advocacy, ESLA undertakes an annual campaign for raising public awareness of communication and swallowing difficulties and the role of Speech and Language Therapy.

SLT Professional Practice
ESLA supports the Speech and Language associations across Europe by promoting quality standards for professional practice that is both evidence-based and ethically-based. ESLA promotes continuing professional development opportunities for qualified practitioners to stay updated in their own field.
SLT Professional Education
SLT education reflects the scientific and interdisciplinary bases of the profession in medicine, education, linguistics and psychology. ESLA maintains updated information on the relevant statutory and legal requirements across Europe relating to standards in healthcare education and competency-based frameworks for assuring patient access to quality care.


SLT Clinical Practice
Speech and Language Therapists work with individuals of all ages, whose communication and/or swallowing difficulties arise from medical, cognitive, psychological, or social factors. The professional role includes direct intervention as well as providing training and advice for others; with the aim of supporting optimal development or recovery of skills and maximum independence for the individual.
SLT across Europe
ESLA promotes mobility of employment for SLTs across Europe, within the relevant regulatory and legal frameworks of all our member associations. ESLA actively advocates the SLT professional profile to the European Commission, other relevant authorities and related organisations.


NetQues
The Network for Tuning Standards and Quality of Education programmes “NetQues” was an important collaborative project of 65 partners, representing 27 European member states. The project addressed the challenge of ‘tuning’ the SLT professional education across Europe by defining benchmarks for best practice in teaching, learning and assessment. The project concluded in 2013 and the final report can be accessed here.
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Member associations
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Countries
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SLT Professionals
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Languages | English and French
What's On

November 10 2023
Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS): Differential DiagnosisResearch ResourcesESLA webinar series - "Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS): Differential Diagnosis"Dr. Edythe Strand, PhD, CCC-SLP will give an interesting talk on “Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS): Differential Diagnosis”. Differential diagnosis of CAS has historically been difficult and controversial due to lack of a biomarker. There is now good consensus regarding the characteristics associated with this […]
September 22 2023
ESLA WEBINAR – SLT/P role in supported decision-making and mental capacity assessmentESLA WEBINAR - SLT/P role in supported decision-making and mental capacity assessment Research suggests that people with communication disabilities want to be involved in making decisions about their lives. This includes decisions about treatment, care, where they live, how they spend their time, and their financial arrangements. Across the world, healthcare laws, policies and best practice guidance make […]
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June 19 2023
ESLA webinar – Narrative as a window onto the mindESLA webinar - Narrative as a window onto the mindResearch ResourcesWe are delighted to announce our upcoming webinar, with the title "Narratives as a window onto the mind", held by Prof Dr. Roel Willems. Humans are drawn to narratives in childhood as much as in adulthood. In his work, Prof. Roel Willems have used narratives as […]
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March 28 2023
COTEC ESLA Impact AwardEvery day occupational therapists and speech and language therapists work collaboratively to provide excellent, impactful and evidence based assessment and intervention. The COTEC-ESLA Collaboration for Impact Award was established in 2022 in order to highlight and celebrate this interdisciplinary work in clinical practice. COTEC represents more than 205,000 occupational therapists while ESLA (the European Speech […]
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