Adults may require a Speech-Language Therapist’s (SLT’s) services for a number of reasons. Certain injuries and medical conditions create communication disorders, which may decrease a person’s self esteem and be very hard to surmount alone. No matter what your age is, we are trained to help rebuild the mental and physical components of speech and language after injury, as well as to provide caring support as you progress through the challenges of rehabilitation. Several areas of difficulty will more commonly be underlying reasons justifying speech therapy for adults – these are briefly reviewed below.
Support for Medical Conditions
Speech-language therapy may be required for medical conditions which affect the physical components of communication, or for those which have mental symptoms. Examples of illnesses which affect a person’s physical ability to produce words include laryngeal cancer and Huntington’s Disease. Dementia and ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) are examples of issues affecting the cognitive processes involved with speech. Treatment may involve assistance with swallowing, oral muscle tone, speech clarity or training to improve a client’s mental processing and ability to utilise language.
Treatment After Accidents
If accidents or injuries occur that traumatise the brain in any way, it can affect a person’s speech clarity or their ability to find and utilise language. Difficulty with language is often call Aphasia. A typical issue that adults have within aphasia is word retrieval – being able to say the word that they know and what to say. The good news is, the brain is very capable of recovering from traumatic injury when properly stimulated and trained. We encourage you to consider speech-language therapy if you require rehabilitation from:
Stroke.
Traumatic brain injury.
Any other damage to the right hemisphere of the brain.
An SLT may also assist with treatment after accidents where AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) is required, and speech for people with tracheostomies or ventilators.
Assistance with Speech Clarity
Speech-related issues may perhaps be the most well-known component of speech therapy for adults. Disorders that often require therapy include apraxia (difficulties with speech sound production), stuttering or lisps. Voice and accent modification can be considered an elective service, but if help is desired, we at Vocalsaints are trained to assist with these too.