Speech, Cognitive, & Communication Therapy
Areas of Treatment
Please Note: This list is not exhaustive, though the most common areas of evaluation & treatment are detailed below.
ACCENT MODIFICATION
Accent modification (formally referred to as accent reduction) improves communication professionally and personally by training use of the American English accent. Accents are to be celebrated, not stigmatized, and modifying your accent will only help you become more easily understood, not reduce or eliminate its beauty.
APHASIA
Aphasia is a language impairment that can affect all areas of language including verbal expression, auditory comprehension, written communications, and reading comprehension. Most common cause of Aphasia are stroke and traumatic brain injury.
ARTICULATION/LISP REDUCTION
Articulation differences occur when there is difficulty producing speech sounds (for example, your /s/ sound might sound like /th/ sound, your /r/ sound might sound like a /w/, etc.). Articulation therapy trains the speech muscles (lips, tongue, mandible) to go where they need to go, when they need to go there.
COGNITIVE DEFICITS
Cognitive deficits result from brain cell death via trauma (car accident, slip and fall, stroke, etc.), via neuro-degenerative disease (dementia, Parkinsons), or neuro-divergencies (ADHD, developmental cognitive impairment). Cognitive therapy trains/re-trains memory, attention, problem solving abilities, thought organization, reasoning skills, time management, etc. to improve your quality of life.
DYSLEXIA
Dyslexia is a learning disability in reading. People with dyslexia have trouble reading at a good pace and without mistakes. They may also have a hard time with reading comprehension, spelling, and writing. Dyslexia therapy trains phonological and morphological processing skills to make reading and writing more manageable.
DYSPHAGIA (Swallowing Disorder)
Dysphagia is a swallowing disorder involving the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, or gastroesophageal junction. Dysphagia therapy includes use of swallowing exercises, compensatory swallowing strategies, food/drink consistency modification, and caregiver/patient education.
FLUENCY DISORDER/STUTTERING
People who stutter may repeat parts of words (repetitions), stretch a sound out for a long time (prolongations), or have a hard time getting a word out (blocks). Stuttering is more than just disfluency, it may also include tension and negative feelings about talking resulting in avoiding certain words or situations. Fluency therapy uses speech fluency tools to obtain a more natural speech pace, and improve your confidence in how you think and feel about your speech.
GENDER AFFIRMING VOICE TRAINING
Individuals may seek gender affirmation services to make their voice and/or other aspects of their communication congruent with their gender identity and/or gender expression. Speech therapy assists in modifying the voice and other aspects of communication. Aspects of verbal and nonverbal communication trained include vocal pitch, intonation, voice quality, resonance, fluency, articulation, pragmatics, and vocalization.
MOTOR SPEECH DISORDERS
Motor speech disorders include apraxia and dysarthria. Apraxia is difficulty starting and producing voluntary speech movement patterns when there is no weakness or paralysis of the speech muscles. Dysarthria is weakness of the muscles of the mouth, face, and respiratory system that may result in imprecise articulation, soft voice, rapid or slow speech, and/or reduced intonation.
PEDIATRIC FEEDING DISORDERS
Pediatric feeding disorders are impaired oral intake that is not age-appropriate, and is associated with medical, nutritional, feeding skill, and/or psycho-social dysfunction. Feeding disorders can include problems with sucking, eating from a spoon, chewing, or drinking from a cup. Pediatric feeding disorder therapy may involve training oral motor and oral sensory skills, swallowing, and mealtime behaviors to ensure the wellness of the child.
SPEECH/LANGUAGE DELAY
Speech and language delays occur when a child is not able to use words or other forms of communication at the expected ages. Language delays include problems understanding what is heard or read. This can also include difficulties putting words together to form meaning. Speech/language therapy involves improving your child's receptive and expressive language skills.
VOICE DISORDERS
Voice disorders occur when voice quality, pitch, and/or loudness differ or are inappropriate for an individual’s age, gender, cultural background, or geographic location. A voice disorder is present when an individual expresses concern about having an abnormal voice that does not meet daily needs—even if others do not perceive it as different or deviant. Voice therapy may include exercises for improved speaking behaviors, digital manipulation of speech mechanisms, and/or breathing techniques to power vocalizations.
NOT SEEING YOUR AREA NEEDING TREATMENT?
Speech, cognitive, and communications differences are vast and much too much to define on this page. If you're struggling with something that hasn't been mentioned here, please contact me to discuss. If I'm not experienced or qualified to assist your needs, I will gladly assist you in finding a therapist better qualified.