LucilleOne misconception about speech-language pathology, also known as speech therapy, is the belief that it only works for patients who have difficulty talking. Did you know speech therapy does more than help patients with difficulty speaking? (Hint – voice therapy, picky eaters, and swallowing skills are all part of speech therapy!)
Speech therapist Sydney discuss about speech therapy. They also explain how speech therapists are able to help children and adults. You can read the entire article here!
Therapy For Speech, Language, And Nutrition
Pediatric speech-language therapists treat communication, articulation, or language disorders in children.
Stamford Health uses its expertise to determine a child’s current skill level in the areas of expressing, comprehension, and the production of sounds and other words.
Therapists use a variety to address speech or language impairments. Therapists use play-based activities to encourage and teach children to communicate.
Speech And Language Therapy: Adults
A speech therapist can help an adult for many reasons. Major life events, like cancer or traumatic brain injury, can affect how adults understand and produce their language.
These conditions not only can impact how an adult speaks but can also affect the way that language is processed in the mind. These conditions can make it more difficult to comprehend languages, such as word-finding or pronunciation.
Cognitive Linguistic Therapy
Stamford Health provides outpatient speech services to patients suffering from memory loss, traumatic brain damage, concussions, or traumatic brain injury. These impairments could include:
- Memory
- Attention
- Word-finding
- Thinking organization
- Reasoning
Speech therapists make it possible for patients to use research-based strategies to enhance their working memory for daily tasks.
Speech sessions are meant to teach patients how best to learn, process, and retain new information using materials that match their personal lifestyles and interests.
Voice Therapy
Voices can alter throughout the lifespan due to illness or disease or even misuse like talking too loud or too much. This can cause communication difficulties.
Stamford Health outpatient rehab speech-language therapists work with patients to improve the pitch, quality, and loudness of their voices. Voice problems could be caused by these factors:
- Vocal cord nodules
- Vocal fold paralysis/weakness
- Acid reflux is a cause of irritation
Swallowing Therapy
There are many factors that can influence how we bite, chew, and swallow food. Difficulty eating can have a huge impact on safety, health, and quality of life. Stamford Health speech-language pathologists can evaluate the swallow safety and function of patients.
The evidence-based research guide the tools and exercises that the team uses for strengthening the muscles involved in swallowing.
Modified Outpatient Barium Swallow Research
To evaluate swallow function in some patients, our team may use modified swallow studies. These are done in the radiology division. Modified swallow studies employ real-time X-rays to determine how someone swallows.
During the exam, the patient is offered food or liquid with contrast material (barium, sulfate). The test provides information regarding the overall swallowing process.
The speech-language pathologist can use these results to make recommendations for the safest and best liquids and diets.
You or someone you care about may need a modified barium swallow study.
