Speech therapy helps individuals who have difficulty understanding the language of others and those who have problems expressing themselves verbally. Speech therapy is used in people of all ages. The method and type of speech therapy used depends upon the reason that the patient is seeking the skills of a speech therapist.
Speech therapy deals with all kinds of communication problems
A speech therapist typically holds at least a master’s degree in speech-language pathology or a related field. This level of education is necessary because speech therapy involves making a diagnosis of the patient’s disorder and finding the right treatment for the language disorder.
Common reasons to see a speech therapist include ongoing stuttering, problems with articulation and fluency difficulties. The course of the speech therapy requires determining whether the language problems come from something simple, such as a child’s home condition or a lack of motivation. The speech therapist may determine that the source of the problem is more severe and originates from an illness or disability.
A large variety of illnesses and disabilities can cause speech disorders. These include, but are not limited to emotional illnesses such as anxiety, hearing loss, physical trauma following a stroke and slow healing following cancer surgery, particularly of the mouth and throat. Birth defects such as cerebral palsy or a cleft palate also play a huge role in patients seeking speech therapy.
Due to the varied nature of the illnesses speech therapy encompasses, speech therapists must work alongside many others in the health care profession. The ability to work as part of a team is a must have skill for the speech therapist, as they develop a comprehensive medical treatment plan that involves the contributions of, social workers, psychologists, physicians, physical therapists and nurses.
Another essential skill for a speech therapist is creativity. Much of speech therapy involves the type of exercises required to teach people how to form words correctly, and many of these tasks can seem repetitive in nature. A good speech therapist can take the dullness out of the task, especially for children, by incorporating fun items like toy whistles or Cheerios as a way to help the patient form their words.
Finally, a speech therapist must of course be understanding and sympathetic. Speech disorders like stuttering or stammering can cause great emotional problems and can have severe effects on the patient’s self-esteem. Along with psychologists and support groups like the NSA speech therapists must help the affected individual to find strategies to improve their everyday communication and cope with the negative effects of their speech disorder.