In December 1990, the Cyprus Association of Speech Pathologists and Speech Therapists was officially registered. In 2001, the Cyprus House of Representatives passed the Registration of Speech Pathologists and Speech Therapists Law 136 (I)/2001 and the association was renamed the Association of Registered Speech Pathologists (ASLP). Speech pathologists are included among the Other Health Professionals and the profession is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health.
In order to inform and educate the public about issues related to the field, the Cyprus Association of Speech and Language Therapists organized an annual “Enlightenment Week” with various informational events from 1996 to 2006. Usually, the topics revolved around what the profession of a speech and language pathologist is, the various types of diseases, early intervention and more. Members of the association were hosted in various informational programs, both on television and radio, and lectures and events were organized where informative leaflets were given.
Since 2006, the “Enlightenment Week” has been replaced by the “European Speech and Language Therapy Day” which was established by the European Speech and Language Therapy Association (ESLA) and is celebrated throughout Europe every year on March 6. Cyprus has been represented in ESLA with two members since 1998. From 1998-2004, our representatives were simply observers, i.e. they did not have the right to vote. Since 2004, when Cyprus became a member of the European Union, our representatives have also acquired the right to vote.
Currently, the association has 682 active members, of which 58% work in the private sector, 32% in the Ministry of Education, Sports & Youth, 5% do not practice the profession, 4% work or study abroad and 1% work in the Ministry of Health.
