Speech Therapy

Speech language pathologists provide diagnostic evaluation and therapy services to children and adults who would like to receive these services through our outpatient clinics. Some of the issues that require treatment include:

• Articulation disorders: Difficulty forming the sounds necessary to speak clearly
• Voice disorders: Difficulties with pitch, voice quality (such as hoarseness, nasality and breathiness) or loudness of the voice
• Laryngectomy: Surgical removal of the vocal cords (voice box), requiring patients to learn how to speak again
• Tongue thrust: Speech or swallowing difficulties caused by dental abnormalities
• Stuttering: Interruptions in the flow or rhythm of speech
• Aphasia and dysarthria: Loss of speech or language abilities after neurological damage such as stroke, head injury and brain tumors
• Cognitive and communication deficits: Difficulties with memory, attention, information processing or thought organization as the result of stroke, head injury or brain tumors
• Dysphagia: Swallowing problems due to brain damage, neuromuscular disease, head injury or neck surgery

What does speech therapy involve?

Every person has a different experience in speech therapy. No two people experience speech and swallowing disorders the same way, so treatment needs to be customized to address each person’s unique needs.

Your first appointment with a speech language pathologist will be a consultation where you can discuss what you want to achieve through treatment. After learning more about you and your condition, the speech language pathologist will start designing your personalized treatment plan.

Treatment in speech therapy involves language activities, articulation therapy and swallowing therapy depending on your needs. You learn how to communicate more clearly through physical and mental exercises that help your brain and body grow more accustomed to speaking without a stutter, slur or whatever else is impeding your speech.

As caregivers experienced in working with patients of all ages, speech language pathologists can easily adjust treatments to better fit children and adults. Contact your nearest Adventist Health facility to learn more about our speech therapy programs.