What is Speech therapy?
An Overview of Speech Therapy
Speech-language therapy refers to the treatment of patients with language or speech disorders that hinder effective communication. It can also involve treating patients who have trouble swallowing. There are several ways in which speech disorders can develop. These are:
- Injuries to the brain nerves
- Structural abnormality
- Paralysis to the muscles
- Developmental disability
Children are prone to experiencing communication disorders, with studies showing that 8% of those between 3-17 years have experienced a communication disorder within the last 12 months. A speech pathologist can work with such children to create an individualized treatment plan.
Speech therapists are also referred to as speech-language pathologists. They offer support and treatment to people with speech disorders. These are trained professionals who can evaluate and provide treatment to people with language, speech, or swallowing disorders.
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How Does Speech Therapy Work?
Speech-language pathologists work with children and adults to achieve the best treatment results. However, the treatment technique can differ depending on the extent of the speech disorder and a patient’s age.
Speech Therapy for Children
Children with communication and speech disorders can benefit from one-on-one speech therapy sessions or those offered in groups or classrooms. Speech therapists assess the condition they have to determine which option would be effective. The therapists then design a treatment plan with various activities to help the child recover. The child can continue with speech therapy at home by repeating the exercises. They include:
Language Activities
Children learn best during play and fun activities. Under this form of therapy, the SLP engages the child in playing and communicating with them using books, pictures, or objects that stimulate language development. Using repletion, the speech therapists can demonstrate how to pronounce words, increasing the kid’s language skills correctly.
Feeding and Swallowing Therapy
If the child has weak oral muscles, it can affect feeding, which can lead to malnutrition. To address such issues, you can take your child to visit a speech pathologist. What does a speech therapist do in this case? They use oral exercises which strengthen a child’s muscles. They can also use different foods, which improves a kid’s oral awareness which helps solve chewing and swallowing issues.
Articulation Therapy
Sound pronunciation exercises, also known as articulation, help children to improve on their pronunciation. The speech-language pathologist models correct syllables and sounds in sentences or words for the child. The therapy can be performed during age-appropriate play. The SLP shows the kid how to produce specific sounds that they struggle with and how to move their tongue to make the sound.
Exercises
There are various activities and exercises the SLP integrates. They involve the lip, tongue, and jaw movement, which help strengthen the muscles. They can also include facial massage for strengthening muscles around the mouth which helps with communication and speech in the future.
Speech Therapy for Adults
If you are looking for speech therapy for adults near me, you may need to know the therapy techniques you can expect. When treating speech therapy in adult patients, the SLP can use various techniques. These are:
Social Communication
The speech-language pathologists rely on memory activities, conversation exercises, and problem-solving activities, which improve communication.
Breathing Exercises
In cases where patients suffer have resonance issues, the speech therapist can use breathing exercises to treat the disorder.
Swallowing Exercises
After suffering from conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, oral cancer, traumatic brain injury, or a stroke, patients may need a little more help with speech and swallowing. A speech pathologist will work with such patients by introducing swallowing exercises to help rebuild lost muscle strength.
Mouth Exercises
You can go through mouth exercises which help strengthen oral muscles that help with improved communication.
Conditions Leading to Speech Therapy
There are several conditions that can benefit from speech therapy. They include:
Aphasia
Aphasia refers to a disorder that leads to speech and language difficulty. It can be a result of damage to some parts of the brain that control language. Conditions such as a stroke can cause aphasia.
When one is suffering from aphasia, they may have an inability to express themselves or understanding language. They can also have problems with writing or reading.
Stuttering
This speech disorder is characterized by sound, words, or syllables repletion. A person with this condition can repeat or prolong syllables, words, or phrases. They know what they want to say, but they experience problems with clear speech as the natural flow of speech is disrupted.
Specific Language Impairment
SLI or specific language impairment disorder causes issues in children affecting their ability to develop language skills. The condition affects how the child listens, speaks, writes, or reads. The condition is also referred to as language delay, developmental dysphasia, or developmental language disorder.
SLI can also affect people as they become adults. Therapy speech-language helps treat this condition. It improves the specific issues faced by the person and improves their work and social life.
Articulation Disorder
One can suffer from an articulation disorder without it being linked to another speech or language disability. It refers to people who have issues with producing sound that involves the articulators. The articulators include lips, tongue, palate, teeth, and respiratory system.
If you have a phonological disorder, you can correctly make the sounds but still use the wrong word’s sounds.
Resonance Disorders
Another condition treatable using speech-language is resonance disorder. When there is a blockage or obstruction to the regular flow of air through a person’s mouth as they communicate, it can cause resonance disorder. The disorder changes the vibrations that help one talk, which makes speech unclear. Children with cleft palate often experience this condition.
Conclusion
Inability to speak correctly can affect one’s social and academic life. Children who struggle with speech development need care from speech-language pathologists to help them overcome these challenges. Adults who have suffered traumatic conditions such a stroke can also require speech therapists to help them improve feeding and regain communication ability.
