§ 91A.001.Definitions

Two definitions, both keyed to a licence rather than to a description of the work.

"Audiologist" means an individual licensed to practice audiology by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. "Speech-language pathologist" means an individual licensed to practice speech-language pathology by the same department.

Licensure is the whole test, which makes the chapter’s boundary exact. A person holding the licence is within it; a person doing identical work without one is outside, whatever their training or experience.

That precision is the point of a liability limitation. A chapter protecting those who provide services "of a similar nature" would leave both the volunteer and the patient uncertain about where the protection ends.

The naming of the Department of Licensing and Regulation dates the provision usefully. These professions were regulated by the Department of State Health Services before licensing functions were consolidated, and the definition reflects the arrangement in place when the chapter was enacted.

The two professions are related but distinct. Audiology concerns hearing and balance — assessment, hearing aids, cochlear implants. Speech-language pathology concerns communication and swallowing disorders. They are commonly regulated together and commonly practised alongside one another, which is why one chapter covers both.

The chapter that follows gives immunity for services provided as a volunteer, and the applicability provision sets the conditions.

It sits in a group of parallel chapters covering volunteer health care practitioners generally and volunteer veterinarians, each drawn the same way.