Understanding Speech Therapy

Speech therapy is the assessment and treatment of communication problems and speech disorders. Speech therapy is a treatment for both children and adults. This training helps people with speech and language problems speak more clearly.

Who need speech therapy- speech therapy children, speech therapy for adults?

Speech therapy can be helpful for various conditions, and it is often approach for different reasons for children and adults.

Speech therapy in children is required for:-

• Speech delay,

• Autism,

• ADHD,

• Down syndrome,

• Stuttering,

• Articulation, and Phonological disorder,

• Expressive and Receptive disorder,

• Reading difficulties,

• Voice disorders, and

• Improving Handwriting in children.

However, speech therapy can be helpful for adults for reasons quite different from those mentioned above.

Speech therapy can help adults with:-

• Stuttering

• Articulation disorders

• Social anxiety

• ADHD

• Public speaking

• Communication issues that began in childhood but were never properly treated

• Communication issues post stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson's disease, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, or ALS

• Modify their accents or change the pitch, intonation, or quality of their voice

• Improving their confidence and communication abilities in the workplace, interviewing, and interacting with colleague.

How does speech therapy work?

Speech therapy is provided by a speech therapist and now-a-days preferred term is speech language pathologist. The aim of a speech language pathologist is to find the root cause of any speech, language, literacy, feeding, or oral motor in-coordination related conditions. It enables them to identify the unique strengths of each individual and work with them in order to improve their language and communication skills.

A speech therapist first performs a comprehensive evaluation and reviews your concerns. Based on the initial assessment the therapist formulates a specific therapy plan based on your needs and goals, it helps them track your progress during the therapy sessions.

The speech therapy activities also vary based on the goals. For instance, if the client has difficulty in pronouncing the “s” sound, the therapy begins with learning the sound by itself and working towards incorporating it in daily conversation.

The frequency of therapy sessions can range from daily sessions to weekly based on your diagnosis.

Duration of speech therapy.

We are often asked by clients how long will the speech therapy last, there is no easy, definite answer to this question. The length of speech therapy varies from client to client for various reasons. The duration of therapy can depend on:-

• Age

• Type and severity of underlying condition, for instance, and individual with speech sound disorder may complete therapy earlier than the person with aphasia post stroke.

• Frequency of therapy

• Individual's responsive to therapy.

The best way to maximize the benefits of speech therapy and reach your goal quickly is to practice your communication skills outside the therapy. Practice daily and reinforce what you learnt in the sessions. Another advice is not to miss the sessions, because missed sessions with just add up over time and will delay your progress.