Speech therapy is a branch of medicine that helps people overcome communication problems and speech disorders.
It’s done by SLPs, who are often referred to as speech therapists but can also be called “Speech-language Pathologist” (SLP) worldwide.
Therapy for speech and language disorders can be as simple or complex, depending on the individual need.
Articulation therapy involves improving pronunciation by teaching proper techniques with fingerspelling letters while also developing lung capacity in order to speak more clearly without raising your voice significantly.
A huge part of being successful at this type of treatment is knowing how you’re coming across when speaking, so there are no further issues later down the line!
People with speech disorders need help from therapists who can provide rehabilitation in order to speak clearly again.
How Important is Speech Therapy
There are many speech and language disorders that can be treated with the help of a therapist.
- Articulation disorders are a problem with how sounds are formed. A child could have any number of these, and they may vary from swapping out one sound for another. Distorting the proper way that words should come together as well as adding extra letters or syllables in an improper location doing away completely with some letter combinations altogether!
- Fluency disorders affect the flow, speed and rhythm of speech. Stuttering is a type of fluency disorder that involves trouble getting out sounds or blocks in pronunciation to make words impossible for someone who has it regularly while cluttering often happens when people speak very quickly without paying attention, so they merge separate words together.
- Voice quality can be altered due to a resonance disorder. In this condition, the voice changes when it’s primarily produced in one part of your mouth or nose and then moves onto another area where there’s less airflow; because you’re blocking some sound waves from going through with each breath-in order for them, all reach their destination–your ears. It may also happen if the velopharyngeal valve doesn’t close properly (usually at night). A lot more serious conditions such as the cleft palate and neurological disorders like Parkinson’s.
- People with a receptive language disorder have trouble understanding and processing what others say. This can cause you to seem uninterested when someone is speaking, have trouble following directions or have a limited vocabulary in certain areas of life, such as art-related topics, which are favorite subjects for many artists! Other causes include autism spectrum disorders (ASD), hearing loss, and head injuries – all three will make it difficult at times but not impossible if they’re monitoring everything around them carefully enough.
- Expressive disorders. If you have an expressive language disorder, it can be difficult for others to understand what exactly is being said because of difficulties with verb tense and construction techniques, such as incorrectly using “they” when referring singularly or “that” instead of something else altogether! It’s associated mostly with developmental impairments but also occurs due to head trauma or medical conditions too.
- Cognitive-communication disorders can result from an injury to the part of your brain that controls thought. This leads to people having trouble communicating due not only do they have memory issues but also to problem-solving and difficulty speaking or listening skills as well! The cause might be biological such as abnormal development during childhood; however, it could also occur after a stroke/injury, which damages certain parts of our neurological system (such as major damage).
- A person who has aphasia may struggle to communicate with others in various ways. They might have trouble reading or writing, which makes it hard for them at work as well! The most common cause of this disorder is stroke; however, other brain disorders also lead people to have difficulty communicating due to their struggles on both sides: speaking and listening.
- While it may not sound very exciting, dysarthria is actually a really big deal. This condition occurs when someone has trouble controlling their speech muscles because of an illness or injury that affects the nervous system’s ability to use these muscle groups for producing words correctly.”
What Does Speech Therapy do?
The first step in the process is an assessment by a speech-language pathologist (SLP), who will identify what type of communication disorder you have and how best to treat it.
For Children
The SLP will work with your child to improve their speech and language skills.
They might do this through exercises in a classroom or small group setting, depending on the disorder they are working on at any given time – but often one-on-one sessions as well!
The type of activities changes based on age/needs, though so make sure you ask about those when looking into it further yourself because what works best for someone else might not necessarily be good advice right away.
- By interacting with your child through talking and playing, you can help stimulate their language development. You might also use books or pictures as part of an intervention to make things more interesting for them!
- When you’re trying to teach a child how to say new sounds, they should do so in an environment where there are other children around. The more social interactions with others their brain has during this process of learning the language and making different noises through practicing makes them much better at integrating these newly learned skills into everyday speech.
- The therapist will provide strategies and homework for you to do at home so that your child can receive speech therapy.
For Adults
Speech therapy can be a great way for adults who struggle with communication and swallowing difficulties caused by injury or illness.
The speech therapist would work on exercises that improve your ability to speak clearly, as well as train you on how better to use the muscles in order to accomplish what we say when speaking so there’s less risk of error!
Exercises may include:
- Improving cognitive communication by practicing problem solving, memory and organization. This will help to be more efficient with everything that involves thinking!
- The best way to improve your communication is through conversations. Conversations are everywhere, so it’s easy for you to be able to find one that will suit the needs of what exactly you want from them!
- Breathing exercises for relaxation and resonance.
- Different kinds of exercises to develop oral muscles.
If you’re looking for a way to help yourself communicate more clearly, there are many resources available. You can try speech therapy exercises from home by using the following:
- speech therapy apps
- language development games and toys, such as flip cards and flash cards
- workbooks
How long will therapy take?
Speech disorders can be either childhood-onset or adulthood onset.
Those that improve with age typically do so because they were present at an earlier stage in life, while others may need long-term therapy and maintenance care to maintain their functionality over time.
Speech therapy can have different outcomes depending on when it begins and with whom you practice.
For example, young children need to be involved in their treatment from an early stage for the best results since they’re still learning how speech works!
Conclusion
Speech therapy is a crucial part of the treatment plan for children and adults who struggle with speech delays or disorders.
With early intervention, these therapies can help improve communication skills as well as boost self-confidence in those struggling to communicate effectively.
The benefits that come from receiving Speech Therapy don’t stop there!
Not only do we make sure our patient’s voice sounds better than ever before, but they also gain confidence realizing now everything has been taken care of by professionals.
