General Health
Speech therapy is an intervention service
that aims to help children with communication difficulties, both verbal and
nonverbal. These services are provided by speech therapists, often known as Speech
and Language Pathologists (SLPs).
People with speech impairments can receive
help from speech therapy since it improves their ability to communicate and
removes the stigma associated with their condition. Correct speech is one of
the primary goals of speech therapy, along with learning to pronounce words
correctly and building up speech muscles.
Speech therapy can help with a wide range
of communication issues, from something as minor as a raspy voice to as severe
as a complete inability to communicate after suffering brain damage. Depending
on the type of disorder, added medical or psychological interventions may be needed.
Articulation Disorders are problems with
making sounds in sentences or saying words in a way that makes the
listeners hard to understand. A kid with this speech disorder may change,
omit, distort, or add word sounds. For example: They may substitute ‘thith’
instead of ‘this,’ ‘tat’ instead of ‘cat’, etc…
Speech-language pathologists use
articulation therapy to help people who have trouble articulating different
sounds properly. They do this by demonstrating how the articulators should be
placed.
Aphasia is a condition in which a person
has trouble communicating due to brain damage. Listening, reading, and writing
impairments are also the possible symptoms. Adults who have had a stroke often
end up with aphasia.
Speech therapists are particularly
important in diagnosing aphasia since they assess a person's ability to
understand others, explain themselves, and even swallow the food.
Fluency therapy helps people who have
trouble with the speed, consistency, or flow of their speech. Fluency problems
can make it hard to communicate and affect the overall quality of life. Speech
therapists use different methods, such as the extension technique, the modified
airflow technique, the lilypad technique, etc... to treat this kind of disorder.
A voice disorder is when the voice has
problems with pitch, tone, volume, and other traits. Professionals trained in
speech-language pathology play a vital role in the evaluation, diagnosis, and
treatment of voice abnormalities.
Speech therapy methods can also be used to
help people who have trouble swallowing when they eat or drink. There are several
reasons why a child might have trouble eating. A speech therapist might be able
to help a child who has trouble eating by giving them exercises to make their
mouths stronger, make their tongues move more, and help chew better.
A popular speech therapy method is used to
help children who have reached the age when they should have started talking
but have not. Your child may be referred to a speech therapist if they have not
started talking by the time they should have started. To get your child to open up and talk, the therapist may engage in some
playful interaction with him. Sometimes, depending on the situation, taking
away a toddler's favourite toy until he or she begs for it can get them
talking.
People with apraxia have trouble speaking
certain words and making certain sounds. In this problem, the person knows what
to say or talk, but words do not seem to come out. The speech language
pathologist figures out the main reason by using a variety of assessment
methods, such as an oral motor assessment, a melody of speech assessment, and a
speech sound assessment.
Stuttering is a problem that usually
starts in childhood but may also develop in adults. Stuttering is generally seen as a type of behavioural problem.
Speech therapists will try to teach your child who stutters how to change their
behaviour, which may help them control their stuttering.
A popular way to help your child with stuttering is to
teach them how to slow down their speech, since speaking too quickly can make
some people's stuttering even worse.
Methods used in speech therapy for
treatment include:
For the treatment to work in the long
term, it is important to practise the techniques at home daily. To deal with
any speech related disorders, make sure to reach out to a Speech and Language
Pathologist (SPL). Reach out to professional speech therapists on HealthSy if
you feel that you or your loved ones need help and support. HealthSy
provides quality home-based speech therapy consultations and therapies through
its partners in 12 major cities such as Chennai, Coimbatore, New Delhi, Noida,
Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kochi, Kolkata, Vizag, Gurugram, Mumbai and Ahmedabad.
Tags:
Children, adults, and the elderly can benefit from speech therapy for issues like developmental delays, post-stroke problems, voice disorders, and age-related changes.
The length of speech therapy depends on individual needs and progress. Some may improve in a few sessions, while others might need therapy for months or longer.
Speech therapy includes several types: articulation therapy for pronunciation, language therapy for vocabulary and grammar, fluency therapy for stuttering, voice therapy for voice quality, swallowing therapy for eating difficulties, and cognitive-communication therapy for memory and problem-solving issues.