G.S. 90-294

§ 90-294. License required; Article not applicable to certain activities.

(a) Licensure shall be granted in either speech and language pathology or audiology independently. A person may be licensed in both areas if qualified in both areas.

(b) No person may practice or hold himself or herself out as being able to practice speech and language pathology or audiology in this State unless the person holds a current, unsuspended, unrevoked license issued by the Board or is registered with the Board as an assistant. The license required by this section shall be kept conspicuously posted in the person's office or place of business at all times. Nothing in this Article, however, shall be construed to prevent a qualified person licensed in this State under any other law from engaging in the profession or occupation for which such person is licensed.

(c1) The provisions of this Article do not apply to:

(1) The activities, services, and use of an official title by a person employed by an agency of the federal government and solely in connection with such employment.

(1a) The selling of over-the-counter hearing aids, as defined in this Article.

(2) The activities and services of a student or trainee in speech and language pathology or audiology pursuing a course of study in an accredited college or university, or working in a training center program approved by the Board, if these activities and services constitute a part of the person's course of study and that student or trainee is not registered with the Board as an assistant under G.S. 90-298.1.

(3) The fitting and selling of hearing aids by individuals licensed under Chapter 93D of the General Statutes.

(d) Nothing in this Article shall apply to a physician licensed to practice medicine, or to any person employed by a physician licensed to practice medicine in the course of the physician's practice of medicine.

(e) Repealed by Session Laws 2023-129, s. 12.1(c), effective January 1, 2024.

(f) The provisions of this Article do not apply to registered nurses and licensed practical nurses or other certified technicians trained to perform audiometric screening tests and whose work is under the supervision of a physician, consulting physician, or licensed audiologist, unless he or she is registered with the Board as an assistant under G.S. 90-298.1.

(g) The provisions of this Article do not apply to persons who are now or may become engaged in counseling or instructing laryngectomees in the methods, techniques or problems of learning to speak again.

(h) No license under this Article is required for persons originally employed by any agency of State government between October 1, 1975, and July 1, 1977, for the practice of speech and language pathology or audiology within and during the course and scope of employment with such agency.

(i) Nothing in this Article shall apply to a licensed physical therapy or occupational therapy practitioner providing evaluation and treatment of swallowing disorders, cognitive-communication deficits, and balance functions within the context of his or her licensed practice.

(j) The provisions of this Article do not apply to the selling of over-the-counter hearing aids as defined in G.S. 90-293. The sale of an over-the-counter hearing aid is solely a financial transaction and without additional services does not constitute treatment by an audiologist. (1975, c. 773, s. 1; 1977, c. 692, s. 3; 1981, c. 572, ss. 1, 2; 1987, c. 665, s. 2; 1989, c. 770, s. 17; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 688, s. 1; 1997-443, s. 11A.118(a); 2007-436, ss. 2, 3(a), 3(b); 2013-410, s. 47.7(a), (b); 2023-129, s. 12.1(c).)