Have you or your child ever struggled with speech? Whether it’s a childhood stutter, aphasia, or one of the many other afflictions that can keep children and adults alike from communicating effectively, there are some solutions. Speech therapy is an effective treatment for a wide variety of language-related issues.
What is speech therapy in Coconut Grove?
Speech therapy is a type of treatment administered by speech-language pathologists or SLPs. SLPs determine the type of problem that a person has, usually articulation, fluency, resonance, cognitive, or feeding problems.
- Articulation issues are the ones that deal with the clarity of speech.
- Fluency issues are problems with the flow of speech, such as stuttering.
- Resonance issues are issues with volume, quality of speech, and tone.
- Feeding problems are problems with chewing or swallowing
- Cognitive problems are issues with the language portion of the brain, which can be triggered by a wide variety of issues.
As for what speech therapy usually consists of, it depends on the type of problem the SLP is trying to treat. Usually, people who deal with a lisp or children who are slow to speak would be considered to have “articulation issues.” When treating this, the speech-language pathologist will practice different speaking drills and demonstrate different tongue and mouth shapes to help them grasp the sounds. Similarly to articulation issues, speech-language pathologists might treat fluency and resonance issues with drills as well, with the addition of other techniques. Feeding problems are treated differently, more like physical therapy with specific massages and therapies.
Who can use speech therapy in Coconut Grove?
As was mentioned above, speech therapy is for anyone who has any kind of speech or language issue. Speech therapists can even treat some reading and spelling disorders! However, there are three major categories of people who use speech therapy.
First, of course, are children with speech issues. Whether it is toddlers who are not meeting the right speech developmental checkpoints, older children with stutters or a lisp, or children with dyslexia and dyspraxia, a speech therapist might be the right choice for your child.
Second, are both children and adults with autism or other genetic disorders can benefit enormously from speech therapy. Whether it’s feeding issues or communication issues, speech therapy in Coconut Grove can help children and adults with autism communicate and have a better quality of life.
Lastly, adults and children who struggle with speech issues or aphasia due to traumatic brain or other kinds of injury often use speech therapy to help them regain lost speech skills. For example, people who have strokes often need to re-learn how to speak for a multiplicity of reasons. Perhaps they lost control of part of the muscles in their mouth or had an injury to the part of the brain that controls language.
What are the results of speech therapy?
Speech therapy is not a cure for speech issues. There is no pill or quick fix for many of the problems that children and adults can face. Speech therapy is instead a method of teaching people how to cope with their specific issues. Most of the time, the specific issue will still exist. However, over the appropriate amount of time, a speech-language pathologist will be able to teach you how to work around your issue, presenting to the public as if that issue is minimized or erased.
Speech therapy is most effective when you get involved in your treatment, and faithfully do the exercises assigned to you, especially at home. You can’t simply trust that your speech therapist is like a pill or a surgery that will repair your speech problem just by being exposed to them. Instead, like some kinds of physical therapy, you slowly have to train the muscles of your mouth and the connections in your brain to do something that they are not accustomed to. This takes time and patience, and listening to your speech-language pathologist and doing what they assign to you even when they are not present is the best way to succeed.
How to get Speech Therapy in Coconut Grove?
To give speech therapy, a speech-language pathologist must have at least a Master’s Degree in speech-language pathology. There are many centers throughout Coconut Grove and the surrounding areas, but here at Qualicare, we want to serve you to the best of our ability. Contact us today to start on your journey of healing today!
