Who is a speech therapist?

Speech therapy is an intervention service that focuses on improving a child's speech and capacities to understand and express language, including nonverbal communication. Speech therapists, or speech and language pathologists (SLPs), are the experts who provide these services. Speech therapy includes two components: 1) coordinating the mouth to produce sounds to form words and sentences and 2) understanding and expressing language (to address the use of language through written, body, pictorial, and sign forms, and the use of language through alternative communication systems such as  computers, social media, and iPads). In addition, the role of SLPs in treating swallowing disorders has widened to include all aspects of feeding.

Who needs to see a speech therapist?

Parents will often notice that something isn’t right but they don’t know where to begin.  Babies start learning from birth. They can’t say much, but they listen and learn the language, as well as how to differentiate between sounds. At about nine months, the babies have learned all of these sounds receptively and now need their motor skills to develop in order for them to start speaking the sounds. Early intervention therapy for kids aged 0-3 years old focuses on pre-linguistic skills, which are the foundation of language and essential for communication. Some children may have excellent pronunciation and may even be early readers, but they may need speech therapy to improve the process of using verbal and body language appropriately in social situations for everyday purposes such as having conversations, making requests, and making friends. Other reasons children may need speech therapy include medical conditions such as a brain injury or other infection that has affected their ability to communicate. Services often begin at a young age and continue as children enter school and begin to communicate with written language.

What is the difference between speech pathologist and audiologist?

While both professions deal with communication, they are very different. Audiologists focus specifically on hearing and aid hearing impaired people by assessing physical issues to devise treatment strategies. In contrast, speech-language pathologists focus on the cognitive ailments of communication. SLP’s work with a wider range of subjects, not only limited to those who have problems with hearing. Patients may include someone recovering communication after a stroke or another who wants to eliminate an undesired accent.

Does the speech therapist provide medication?

No, a Speech-Language Pathologist cannot prescribe any medications. Sometimes they help a doctor determine the efficacy of ADHD medications or seizure medications by filling out forms regarding these areas while a doctor evaluates the effectiveness of treatment or dosages.

What do speech therapists treat?

• Fluency — stuttering, and cluttering
• Speech — articulation
• Language — ability to comprehend spoken and written language
• Cognition — attention, memory, ability to solve problems
• Voice — characteristics of the vocal tone
• Auditory Habilitation & Auditory Rehabilitation — recovery techniques linked to speech, hearing & language disorders
• Swallowing disorders — stroke and congenital disorders
• Other services —  accent or dialect modification, professional voice development, transgender voice, business communication modification, and voice hygiene.

What are the benefits of speech therapy?

Speech therapy is known to improve overall communication for individuals with ASD and also improves their daily life functions as well as their ability to forge social relationships. Speech therapy helps the child develop the ability to express his or her needs. Speech therapy helps them to articulate words and sentences well and communicate in a way that others understand.

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