The Power of Communication

Speech Therapy for Adults

Communication is the cornerstone of building and maintaining quality relationships. It allows us to build meaningful connections, strong relationships and drives understanding. This is what motivates me as a therapist! I have a strong desire to support my patients in a way that enhances their relationships and interactions with others across all environments.

Our clinic serves both pediatric and adult populations, but in today's blog I'd like to focus on the adult population. Speech therapy can benefit adults with a variety of communication and swallowing disorders. So, who would benefit from speech therapy? What does treatment look like and how would one pursue this type of rehabilitation?

In today's blog we will discuss a few different candidates for therapy. For those who have suffered a stroke, treatment can be time sensitive and vital for regaining lost skills like word retrieval, speech clarity, memory, swallowing and overall vocal quality.

Speech Therapists work with stoke patients to aid in recovery and most skills are regained in within the first six months after a stroke occurs. This is why it is so important to get into therapy as soon as possible. Treatment may target oral and respiratory muscle strength, safe swallowing practices to avoid risk of aspiration, diet recommendations, programs to increase the function of the swallowing mechanism, memory deficits, the ability to retrieve the words you wish to speak and more!

Let's learn about the different types of Aphasia by clicking on the links here for a definition of each. Expressive Aphasia Receptive Aphasia Global Aphasia Anomic Aphasia Apraxia of Speech is a motor speech disorder that makes it difficult to articulate certain sounds in words. This is sometimes called "acquired" apraxia of speech because it is a result of damage to portions of the brain. Dysarthria is also commonly called "slurred Speech". This is due to muscles becoming weak and difficult to control.

I want to spend a few minutes discussing Dysphagia because it is often unknown that speech therapists specialize in this area. Dysphagia (or swallowing difficulty) is often identified by a wet or gurgly sounding voice during or after eating, extra effort or time is needed to chew or swallow, recurring pneumonia or chest congestion, food or liquid leaking or getting stuck in the mouth, weight loss/dehydration and feeling the sensation that something is stuck in the throat. Swallowing disorders may be caused by stroke, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis and other neurological diseases, cancer in the mouth, throat, esophagus, injury and/or surgery involving the head and neck. Also, when a person undergoes radiation of the head and neck region, fibrosis or hardening of tissue, can occur over prolonged time which impacts a person's ability to effectively swallow and speak. Treatment may target strengthening and increasing movement of all structures in the mouth and throat. It’s my job to determine what structures are not functioning properly and providing therapy to increase these skills. Speech therapists also offer diet recommendations to keep the patient safe and to avoid risk of aspiration happening.

What is voice therapy? Voice disorders are common but there is not enough education out there to assist people in recognizing the signs and symptoms. Vocal deficits may present as vocal strain, hoarseness, breathiness, shallow breathing, decreased level of loudness, just to name a few. Voice disorders often accompany those who have Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders, and people who consistently speak a great deal, or have to speak loudly, just to name a few. We offer services to increase appropriate vocal qualities which can increase a person’s independence, quality of life, and social interactions.

I want you all to know that Full Circle Therapy is here for you, your friends and your family. Be attentive, ask questions, trust your instinct, seek assistance, and pursue improved quality of life. Be an advocate for yourself to do what is needed to meet your needs and wants.