News and Events
05/01/10
Helping People Communicate
What Is Speech-Language Therapy?
Speech-language therapy is the treatment children and adults with speech and/or language disorders, cognitive and swallowing skills. A speech disorder refers to a problem with the actual production of sounds in words, whereas a language disorder refers to a difficulty understanding or putting words together to communicate ideas
When Is Therapy Needed?
People might need speech-language therapy for a variety of reasons, including:
- Unclear speech
- Difficulties with language, comprehension, or expression
- Reading disorders or delays
- hearing impairments
- cognitive (intellectual; thinking) or other developmental delays
- weak oral muscles
- birth defects such as cleft lip or cleft palate
- autism
- motor planning problems
- difficulties with voice quality or volume
- swallowing disorders
- traumatic brain injury
- CVA (stroke)
Therapy should begin as soon as possible. Children enrolled in therapy early in their development (younger than 3 years) tend to have better outcomes than those who begin therapy later. Children older than 3 years of age can make excellent progress in their communication skills.
Speech Disorders and Language Disorders
Speech disorders include:
- Articulation - difficulties producing sounds in words or saying words incorrectly to the point that other people can't understand what's being said.
- Fluency - problems such as stuttering, repetitions (example: st-st-stuttering), or prolonging sounds and syllables (example: ssssstuttering).
- Resonance or voice - problems with the pitch, volume, or quality of the voice that distract listeners from what's being said.
- Dysphagia/oral feeding - difficulties with eating and swallowing.
Language disorders include:
- Receptive disorders- difficulties understanding or processing language.
- Expressive disorders - difficulty putting words together, limited vocabulary, or inability to use language in a socially appropriate way.
Our Specialists at Reavis Rehab
Our speech therapists are licensed professionals educated in the study of human communication, its development, and its disorders. By assessing the speech, language, cognitive-communication, and swallowing skills of children and adults, we can identify types of communication problems and the best way to treat them.
Our speech therapists work with patients one-to-one to overcome difficulties involved with their specific disorder. We find fun activities and exercises to strengthen a person’s areas of weakness within speech and concentrate on speedy progress.
In recognition of all the ways speech-language therapy contributes to society’s well-being and how speech therapists make such a difference in the lives of others, May has been designated as Better Hearing & Speech Month.
