What is a Speech & Language Pathologist?

WHAT IS A SPEECH & LANGUAGE PATHOLOGIST?

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) defines a Speech Language Pathologist in the following terms:

Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) work to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders in children and adults.

• Speech disorders occur when a person has difficulty producing speech sounds correctly or fluently (e.g., stuttering is a form of disfluency) or has problems with his or her voice or resonance.

• Language disorders occur when a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language), or sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings (expressive language). Language disorders may be spoken or written and may involve the form (phonology, morphology, syntax), content (semantics), and/or use (pragmatics) of language in functional and socially appropriate ways.

• Social communication disorders occur when a person has trouble with the social use of verbal and nonverbal communication. These disorders may include problems (a) communicating for social purposes (e.g., greeting, commenting, asking questions), (b) talking in different ways to suit the listener and setting, and (c) following rules for conversation and story-telling. All individuals with autism spectrum disorder have social communication problems. Social communication disorders are also found individuals with other conditions, such as traumatic brain injury.

• Cognitive-communication disorders include problems organizing thoughts, paying attention, remembering, planning, and/or problem-solving. These disorders usually happen as a result of a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or dementia, although they can be congenital.

• Swallowing disorders (dysphagia) are feeding and swallowing difficulties, which may follow an illness, surgery, stroke, or injury.

Additionally, SLPs:

• Provide aural rehabilitation for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

• Provide augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems for individuals with severe expressive and/or language comprehension disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder or progressive neurological disorders.

• Work with people who don't have speech, language, or swallowing disorders, but want to learn how to communicate more effectively (e.g., work on accent modification or other forms of communication enhancement).

In simpler terms, we help students communicate and understand communication skills. This includes:

A speech pathologist (aka speech-language pathologist, SLP, speech therapist) provides therapy for disorders of articulation, language, processing, voice, fluency, pragmatics, hearing, oral-motor and feeding/swallowing.

WHAT DOES A SPEECH PATHOLOGIST DO?

A speech pathologist serves many functions. Not only do they diagnose and treat speech and language disorders, they may also act as a consultant to educational, medical, and other professional groups; conduct research to develop diagnostic and remedial techniques; serve as a consultant to classroom teachers to incorporate speech and language development activities into daily schedules; and instruct staff in the use of specialized equipment and techniques for use within the classroom to assist with the development of all students' speech and language skills.

Below, you will find a list of definitions related to speech and language. These are designed to inform you of the different areas related to speech-language pathology and provide you insight regarding the area(s) that your child's therapy may be focusing on.

AREAS ADDRESSED BY YOUR SPEECH AND LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS:

• Articulation encompasses the letter sounds of language and how they are formed by the mouth. Because talking involves motor movements, learning to pronounce a sound correctly is similar to learning how to swing a baseball bat or type on a keyboard. The more times it is executed correctly, the more quickly the new movement or pattern can be executed correctly.

• Language involves the content of the utterances. This is an extremely broad area, which progresses and changes as we age. It also changes with different situations and demands. Receptive language refers to the understanding of information presented. Expressive language refers to the use of language to express wants, thoughts and needs.

• Fluency involves the smoothness in which a person is able to express thoughts and ideas. This is a complicated process, which often encompasses both speech and language. If there is a family history of stuttering, if the child is frustrated, or if it continues longer than 6 months, it is important to seek intervention from someone who is competent in treating fluency.

• Auditory processing is related to the way in which the brain receives and makes sense of information from the ear. It typically involves sorting out more complex tasks of the meaning of sounds. It may involve tasks such as responding to important sounds vs. unimportant sounds, such as ignoring the refrigerator noise and attending to a speaker. It may also involve hearing the differences between closely related letter sounds (d vs. t). Sometimes therapists will address tasks such as taking in complicated directions, processing them, and producing a response.

• With the increase in autism spectrum diagnoses, more focus is being placed on the pragmatic area of language, as it is one of the key areas impacted by autism. Deficits in this area of language are not limited to people on the autism spectrum, and although it is difficult to explain, it is clearly apparent to a listener when there are deficits. It involves the application of language to a situation. Therapy addresses interpersonal interactions, turn-taking, appropriate comments for specific situations, and making or maintaining conversation. These language skills are the basis of making and maintaining friendships, making personal connections, and having productive work interactions.

• Speech and language may both be affected as a result of a traumatic brain injury or stroke. This may be seen at any age, and typically those people will be seen in the hospital, and then sent to a rehabilitation facility. They may eventually receive services in community locations or school systems. Because the brain controls all areas of speech and language, deficits will be related specifically to the area in which the damage occurred.

• Feeding and swallowing disorders can be caused by the same deficits that cause disruptions in speech. Because SLPs are experts at the nerves and muscles of the mouth and throat, they are also knowledgeable in the process of biting, chewing and swallowing safely Dysphagia, or swallow dysfunction, may result from many causes. Children who are born prematurely may have significant difficulty with coordinating the suck:swallow:breathe process. Children may have a difficult time learning to coordinate chewing movements. Brain damage at any age may cause weakness or deficits in the actual swallowing of liquids or chewed foods.

• Hearing impairment may create speech deficits as well. Auditory verbal therapy is one specific type of treatment for hearing impairment, which follows specific protocols for teaching the brain to recognize and give meaning to the sounds being received by the ear. Children and adults may both benefit from amplification (hearing aids), but still need assistance in making sense of the information their ear is relaying to the brain.

• Children or adults who have significant impairments to spoken communication may rely on specialized devices to provide a way to communicate with those around them Augmentative communication may include simple low-tech devices, such as spelling boards or pictures, or more complex electronic devices, such as computer-based systems. These may be useful for teaching language to children with impairments, as well as providing a way to communicate. Because the usefulness of the devices is dependent upon how usable it is to the patient and family, it should be chosen after a careful assessment of the patient’s abilities and limitations. Therapists who specialize in Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) may be helpful because of their familiarity with the broad range of devices available.