What Is Speech Therapy?

Speech therapy deals with the diagnosis and treatment of speech disorders and communication problems. This is done by speech-language pathologists, also known as speech therapists.

To improve communication, speech therapy techniques can be used. These techniques include language intervention activities and articulation therapy. They are dependent on the type of speech or language disorder.

Speech therapy may be necessary for speech disorder in children or speech impairments in adults due to injury or illness such as stroke or brain injuries.

Why would you need speech therapy?

Speech therapy can treat many speech and language disorders.

Articulation disorders : A articulation disorder refers to the inability or difficulty with certain word sounds being formed. This speech disorder can cause a child to drop, swap, distort or add words sounds. Distorting a word could be described as saying "thigh" rather than "this".

Fluency disorders : This affects speech flow, speed and rhythm. Fluency disorders include stuttering and cluttering. Stuttering is a condition that makes it difficult for a person to make a sound. They may also have difficulty understanding speech and may find their speech blocked, interrupted or repeated. People with cluttering speak fast and often combine words.

Resonance disorders : When the airflow in the nasal and oral cavities is blocked or restricted, a resonance disorder can occur. This affects the voice quality by altering the vibrations. This can also occur if the pharyngeal valvule doesn't close correctly. Cleft palate, neurological disorders and swollen tonsils are all common causes of resonance disorders.

Receptive disorder : Someone with receptive-language disorder has difficulty understanding and processing the words of others. You may appear uninterested in what someone else is saying, have difficulty following directions or have limited vocabulary. A receptive language disorder can also be caused by autism and hear loss.

Expression disorders : Expressive language disorder. This is a condition that makes it difficult to express or convey information. An expressive disorder can cause problems with the ability to form accurate sentences. For example, incorrect verb tense could be a problem. This condition is often associated with developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome or hearing loss. It may also be caused by head trauma or a medical condition.

Cognitive-communication disorders : Difficulty communicating because of an injury to the part of the brain that controls your ability to think is referred to as cognitive-communication disorder. It can lead to memory problems, difficulty solving, and difficulty speaking or listening. It could be due to biological conditions such as abnormal brain development, neurological conditions, stroke, brain injury or stroke.

Aphasia : A acquired communication disorder that impairs one's ability communicate with others. Aphasia can also affect a person's ability read and write. Aphasia is most commonly caused by stroke, but other brain disorders may also be a cause.

Dysarthria : A condition that causes slow or slurred speech. This is caused by weakness or inability of the muscles responsible for speech. This condition is most often caused by neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis (MS), amytrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS), stroke and other conditions that can cause facial paralysis, throat weakness or facial paralysis.