Speech Therapy

Neurogenic speech and language disorders are caused by damage to areas of the brain that control speech and language. This damage may be caused by many different things including stroke (cerebrovascular accident), traumatic brain injury (TBI), tumors, or degenerative disorders.

Dysarthria

• Dysarthria refers to difficulties or changes in speaking that make speech difficult for others to understand. People may notice mouth, lip, or tongue weakness that affects their ability to speak. Speech may be slurred, too slow or too rapid, uneven rhythm or loudness, monotone, or nasal sounding.
• Treatment may focus on strengthening and coordination exercises as well as strategies to compensate and improve speech intelligibility/clarity

Aphasia

• Aphasia refers to difficulty using or understanding language and can affect both speaking and understanding language as well as reading and writing. People with aphasia often have difficulty with word finding in addition to other language difficulties. They know what they are trying to say, but have difficulty finding the correct word. Aphasia is most commonly associated with a stroke, but can occur following other brain injuries.
• Treatment for aphasia will frequently involve word and language exercises targeted to specific difficulties, such as naming items, word finding, answering questions, reading and/or writing.

Cognitive Therapy

• Following a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or other brain damage, some people experience cognitive difficulties including trouble with memory, attention, organization, or problem solving.

Evaluation

• An speech language pathologist and ENT physician work together when evaluating voice problems to determine the cause and rule out other medical issues.
• Videostroboscopy is completed with an ENT and speech language pathologist together to assess the health and function of the vocal folds. A flexible nasal endoscope is used to view the throat and larynx (voice box).
• The speech language pathologist will also take recordings of the voice and use a computer to analyze the recording to provide more information about a person’s voice troubles.

Treatment/Voice Therapy

• Voice therapy will include exercises to reduce hoarseness, prevent damage to the vocal folds, and reduce tension, strain, and vocal fatigue. The goal is to be able to use your voice in a comfortable and sustainable way, and to have strategies to prevent further problems with your voice.

Parkinson’s Disease

• Many people with Parkinson’s disease experience changes in their voice and speech such as speaking quieter. Specialized programs have been developed specifically for people with Parkinson’s disease.
  • LSVT LOUD
  • SPEAK OUT!

Gender Affirming Voice Therapy

• Those who are transgender or gender non-conforming may experience dysphoria involving their voice and feel their voice doesn’t reflect their gender. Gender affirming voice therapy can help a person to find their authentic voice that is comfortable and sustainable. Voice therapy will often target both pitch and resonance together, but may also include intonation, reflexive sounds, non-verbal communication, and other areas as desired.

Many different symptoms are associated with dementia including memory loss, difficulties planning and problem solving, and other troubles related to thinking. People with dementia may also develop difficulties with communication such as word finding difficulties, difficulties telling a cohesive story, and trouble understanding lengthy and complex information.

Treatment

• Treatment often focuses on strategies to help a person with dementia maintain as much independence as possible. These might be memory strategies, calendars, visual reminders, and other memory/planning aids.
• SLPs will work with family and caregivers to teach communication strategies to help minimize communication difficulties and frustrations.
• Speech therapy for dementia can also include a variety of exercises such as memory, planning, problem solving, and organization.

Your child may be referred for speech therapy services if presenting with the following conditions:

The list below is not exhaustive; therefore, does not include every possible presenting condition or difficulty we may treat.

Language Disorders

• 12-15 months of age and using no or few words
• 18-24 months of age and not combining two words together (e.g., “more milk” or “no cookie”)
• Utilizes an augmentative alternative communication (AAC) device to communicate
• Does not follow simple directives
• Difficulty understanding spoken or written language

Articulation/Speech Disorders

• Speech is unclear or unable to be understood by peers
• Difficulty producing specific sounds; for example:
  • Difficulty producing the “r” sound (‘wabbit’ for ‘rabbit’, ‘fauh-ee’ for ‘fairy’)
  • uses a “t” sound for a “k” (‘tate’ for ‘cake’)

Social Communication

• Difficulty understanding non-verbal/social cues
• Difficulty understanding the “rules” of conversation (i.e., taking turns as listener or and speaker)

Stuttering/Fluency

• Repeats sounds, parts of words, whole words or phrases, or prolongs parts of words

Voice

• Chronic hoarseness
• Complains of pain or discomfort when using voice

Feeding and Swallowing

• Difficulty swallowing liquids and/or solids
• Coughing/choking when eating or drinking
• Frequent gagging or vomiting during meals
• Eats only a very limited number of foods

Cognition/Traumatic Brain Injury

• Difficulty with memory, problem solving, attention, organizing, planning

A person needing speech pathology services is first seen by their primary care doctor. If a person is admitted to WinnMed due to a stroke, the patient may be seen for additional therapy once discharged from the medical center, either at home, at a nursing home, or as an outpatient.