The Ultimate Guide For Speech Therapy

Speech therapy is designed to address language and speech related disorders in humans. They can also provide preventive care before the onset of severe language and speech impairments. Speech therapy is provided by a speech therapist, who is a health professional.

A majority of patients suffer from conditions like stutter, speaking with improper rhythms, late talking, apraxia, aphasia and many more. Causes of these speech problems may be anxiety, stress, strokes and brain injury. In such cases, various speech therapies are given according to the symptoms. Some common speech therapies are to meet the health specialists and discuss beneficial exercises to improve the condition.

Most of the speech disorders are symptomatic. For example: If a person is diagnosed with stuttering problem, they can also be diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Problems like inability to speak clearly can be often due to neurological problems like stroke or brain injury. To overcome these problems, a speech therapist also has to be a good counselor or psychiatrist. A speech therapist communicates with patient’s family members and explains what role they can play for speedy recovery of the patient. A speech therapist can also demonstrate speech therapy techniques which can be executed and practiced at home. There are many speech therapists in Newbury Park who are actively involved in improving speech related disorders.

One activity that is commonly performed by speech therapists is allowing patients to talk on topics of their own interests. This technique can be effective as a patient is more driven to communicate an idea or their likes effectively. A speech therapist could also make a list of words or phrases which the patient finds difficult to understand or speak. Then they can be shown how to pronounce these words correctly. This therapy is also very effective. In another type of therapy, the speech therapists explain to patients that they are not the only ones suffering from such disorders. They show various examples, directories and web pages to the patients who suffer from similar problems. This helps to release the patient’s anxiety and nervousness. This could build confidence in them and could eventually help to overcome their problem.

There are quite a few options available for availing speech therapy. However, sometimes the private speech therapists may be very expensive. There are some independent foundations, like CASRF, that provide quality therapy without charging anything. This foundation is active in California across multiple locations and they strive to provide a hope and a future for kids seeking speech therapy.

Nowadays many children are affected with speech related disorders. If your child has been referred to a speech therapist, then some of the therapies are like follows.

Speech Therapy for Late Talkers

If your infant should be talking by now, but is not, them a speech therapist can help you. The speech therapist will encourage your child to talk. Withholding their favorite toy until they ask for it can motivate the child to talk. For some children, use of sign language, picture cards or hearing tests can be included.

Speech Therapy for Children Suffering from Apraxia

Such children face difficulties in saying certain syllables or making noises. Children with apraxia will need one to one training sessions. One way to improve their capability is to make them say syllables in front of a mirror. They may also give the child various assignments which need to be completed at home.

Speech Therapy for Stuttering

Stuttering is the most common problem that develops during childhood or adulthood as well. A common method of treatment is to teach the patient to control their rate of speaking. Speaking too fast can lead to stuttering. Hence, practicing in a slower and more fluent manner can be really helpful. To overcome stuttering, multiple sessions have to be taken with the speech therapist.

Speech Therapy for Aphasia

This disorder is caused due to some damage in brain which leads to difficulty in speaking. A speech therapist might use techniques like drills for improving specific language skills, therapies to improve conversational skills and communication skills.

Speech Therapy for Hard of Hearing and Deaf Children

Children who have been diagnosed with a hearing issue often has to get speech therapy because they often end up with speech and language issues as well. For example, Christy’s daughter was born with a bilateral hearing loss and received speech services since she was a baby. Doctor’s were able to catch her hearing loss at an early age. When she was born, the hospital conducted a newborn hearing screening. During the screening, it revealed a potential hearing loss. She ended up having several other hearing tests to confirm that she had a bilateral hearing loss. The speech therapist tries to help them learn their speech sounds once they are fitted with hearing aids or a cochlear implant. Speech therapy is necessary in order to help them bridge the gap in their language skills.

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