Outpatient Speech Therapy
 
Speech-language pathologists evaluate, diagnose, and treat speech, language, cognitive-communication, and swallowing disorders in individuals of all ages, from birth to geriatrics. Our outpatient speech therapy program provides services for the adult to geriatric population with a client-centered approach, individualized sessions, and home exercise programs designed to ensure carry-over across multiple settings.
 
 
Quality, individualized treatments are provided in the following areas:
 
·          Dysphagia –
  • Swallowing disorder affecting a person’s oral, pharyngeal, or esophageal phase placing them at risk for aspiration pneumonia.
  • Most commonly caused by neurological deficits including, but not limited to, stroke, TBI, Parkinson’s, and other neurological disorders as well as other deficits affecting the head, neck, and shoulders including, but not limited to, cancer and surgeries.
  • Treatment is determined based on the cause, symptoms, and severity.  
  • Treatment for dysphagia management often includes therapeutic exercises, diet modifications with therapeutic trials needed to advance diet as tolerated, neuromuscular electrical stimulation with certifications in both VitalStim and AmpCare, and extensive patient education regarding dysphagia and individual needs in order to reduce risk of aspiration pneumonia.

 

·          Aphasia
  • Communication disorder that results from damage to language center of the brain commonly resulting in a patient’s difficulty producing speech, difficulty listening and comprehending information, and/or difficulty reading and writing, but does not affect an individual’s intelligence.
  • Most commonly caused by stroke or CVA but can be caused by any neurological disturbance.
  • Treatment is variable based on type of aphasia and severity. Treatment targets the individual’s ability to understand words/questions, producing verbal expression and word finding, reading, writing, and functional communication in different settings.

 

·          Dysarthria
  • A motor speech disorder resulting from motor impairments/weakness in the lips, tongue, vocal folds, or diaphragm. Speech typically becomes slurred and sometimes unintelligible.
  • Most commonly caused by stroke or CVA but can be caused by any neurological disturbance.
  • Treatment is based on type of dysarthria, cause, and severity. Therapeutic exercises are used to strengthen the muscles needed for speech, improve respiratory support, improve intelligibility, and provide strategies for carry-over across multiple settings to ensure the communication of basic and medical needs.
 
·          Apraxia of Speech (AOS)
  • A motor speech disorder resulting from a disconnect (not muscle weakness) between the brain and articulators needed to produce speech appropriately. Speech often has inconsistent errors, impaired rhythm, and distortions.
  • Most commonly caused by stroke or CVA but can be caused by any neurological disturbance.
  • Treatment is focused on improving the planning, sequencing, and coordination of muscle movements needed for speech production. Emphasis is placed on repetition, pacing, and muscle “retraining.”
 
·          Cognitive Communication Impairments
  • Cognitive deficits varying in severity that affect a person’s ability to recall, maintain attention, insight, perception, problem solving, thought organization/reasoning, orientation, processing speed, executive function, and metacognition.
  • Most commonly caused by brain injury, stroke/CVA, or other neurological disorders.
  • Treatment for cognitive-linguistic deficits including retraining exercises for memory, attention, problem solving, higher level executive functioning, and social interaction and comprehensive education/practice of associated compensatory strategies across multiple settings.
 
·          Voice Disorders –
  • Treatment for voice disorders including respiratory support exercises, voice training, compensatory strategies to maintain vocal quality, and education/practice needed for appropriate carry-over in multiple settings. Clinicians are trained in Lee Silverman Voice Therapy (LSVT) for our patients affected by Parkinson’s Disease.
 
·          Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC)
  • Identification, programming, and intervention of Alternative and Augmentative Communication Devices (AAC) in order to improve the patient’s ability to communicate basic and medical needs.