What do Speech-Language Pathologists Do?

Our Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are 

communication and swallowing experts!

Definition of a Communication Disorder

A communication disorder is an impairment in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts of verbal, nonverbal, and graphic symbol systems (ASHA, 1993). A communication disorder may be evident in the processes of hearing, language, and/or speech. A communication disorder may range in severity from mild to profound. It may be organic or functional in nature. It may be congenital or acquired. Individuals may demonstrate one or any combination of communication disorders. A communication disorder may result in a primary disability or it may be secondary to other disabilities. 

     Taken from ASHA  the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Speech and Language Disorders


Speech is how we say sounds and words. People with speech problems may:


Language is the words we use to share ideas and get what we want. A person with a language disorder may have problems:

    Taken from ASHA  the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

What SLPs help you with: 

Speech Sounds – how we say sounds and put sounds together into words. Other words for these problems are articulation or phonological disorders, apraxia of speech or dysarthria. 

Language – how well we understand what we hear or read and how we use words to tell others what we are thinking. In adults you may hear this problem called aphasia. 

Social Communication - how well we follow rules like taking turns, how to talk to different people, or how close to stand to someone when talking. 

Voice - how well our voice sounds. We may sound hoarse, lose our voice easily, talk too loud or through our nose, or be unable to make sounds. 

Fluency - also called stuttering, is how well our speech flows. Someone who stutters may repeat sounds, like “t-t-t-table,” use “um” or “uh” or pause a lot when talking. 

Cognitive Communication – may include problems with memory, attention, problem solving, organization, and other thinking skills.

 Swallowing - sucking, chewing, and swallowing food and liquid. A swallowing disorder may lead to poor nutrition, weight loss, breathing difficulties, and other health problems. 

SLP services are often essential for the following conditions: 

• Aphasia 

• Autism Spectrum Disorder 

• Stroke (CVA or TIA) 

• Dementias 

• Traumatic Brain Injury and Concussion 

• Swallowing (Dysphagia) 

• Neurological Disorders (such as MS, ALS, Parkinson’s Disease, or tickborne illnesses) 

Prevalence and Incidence of Communication and Swallowing Disorders At-a-Glance  


Taken from  Speech-Language Pathology Medical Review Guidelines  

Definition of Speech-Language Pathology 

Speech-language pathology services are those services necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of swallowing (dysphagia), speech-language, and cognitive-communication disorders that result in communication disabilities. Speech-language pathologists treat disorders of speech sound production (e.g., articulation, apraxia, dysarthria), resonance (e.g., hypernasality, hyponasality), voice (e.g., phonation quality, pitch, respiration), fluency (e.g., stuttering), language (e.g., comprehension, expression, pragmatics, semantics, syntax), cognition (e.g., attention, memory, problem solving, executive functioning), and feeding and swallowing (e.g., oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal stages). (ASHA, 2007a) 


Etiologies Potential etiologies of communication and swallowing disorders include:  neonatal problems (e.g., prematurity, low birth weight, substance exposure)  developmental disabilities (e.g., specific language impairment, autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder)  auditory problems (e.g., hearing loss or deafness, central auditory processing disorders)  oral anomalies (e.g., cleft lip/palate, dental malocclusion, macroglossia, oral-motor dysfunction)  respiratory compromise (e.g., bronchopulmonary dysplasia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)  pharyngeal anomalies (e.g., upper airway obstruction, velopharyngeal insufficiency/incompetence)  laryngeal anomalies (e.g., vocal fold pathology, tracheal stenosis, tracheostomy)  neurological disease/dysfunction (e.g., traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, cerebral vascular accident, dementia, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)  psychiatric disorder (e.g., psychosis, schizophrenia)  genetic disorders (e.g., Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, velocardiofacial syndrome). 

Further detail is provided in ASHA’s Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology on the ASHA Website at http://www.asha.org/policy/SP2007-00283/. 

Eligibility for services or for evaluation is indicated if one or more of these factors are present: 

1. Referral from the individual, family member, audiologist, physician, teacher, other speech-language pathologist, or interdisciplinary team because of a suspected speech, language, communication, or feeding and swallowing disorder. 

2. Failure to pass a screening assessment for communication and/or swallowing function. 

3. The individual is unable to communicate functionally or optimally across environments and communication partners. 

4. The individual is unable to swallow to maintain adequate nutrition, hydration, and pulmonary status and/or the swallow is inadequate for management of oral and pharyngeal saliva accumulations. 

5. The presence of a communication and/or swallowing disorder has been verified through an evaluation by an ASHA-certified speech-language pathologist. 

6. The individual’s communication abilities are not comparable to those of others of the same chronological age, gender, ethnicity, or cultural and linguistic background. 

7. The individual’s communication skills negatively affect health, safety, social, emotional, educational, or vocational status. 

8. The individual’s swallowing skills negatively affect his or her nutritional health or safety status. 

9. The individual, family, and/or guardian seek services to achieve and/or maintain optimal communication (including alternative and augmentative means of communication) and/or swallowing skills. 

10. The individual, family, and/or guardian seek services to enhance communication skills.     Taken from ASHA  the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Speech-Language Pathology services include, but are not limited to, helping others in the following areas:

 

·        Speech – difficulty with articulation, apraxia (motor sequencing of movements), dysarthria (slurred speech) and stuttering/fluency

·        Language – difficulty expressing one’s self or understanding what others say (known as specific language impairment in children or if acquired in adulthood is called aphasia) and disorders of reading and writing also called alexia and agraphia

·        Cognition – difficulty paying attention, remembering, solving problems and maintaining independence

·        Pragmatics – difficulty with social skills and interpretation of non-verbal communication

·        Voice and Resonance –  lack of voice, hoarseness, breathiness, and decreased loudness

·        Swallowing – things going down the wrong way, coughing or choking with food/drink, unintended weight loss, malnutrition, repeated pneumonias and change in swallowing after tracheostomy

 

The above challenges or problems may be caused by the following:

 


AAC

Acid Reflux

Agraphia

Alexia

ALS

Alzheimer’s Dementia

Anomia

Anoxic Injury

Aphasia

Articulation Disorders

Asperger’s Syndrome

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Bell’s Palsy

Brain Tumor

Closed-Head Injury

Cochlear Implant

Coma

Concussion

CVA

Dementia

Developmental Delay

Developmental Disorders

Drug Overdose

Dysphagia

Encephalopathy

Esophageal Dysphagia

Genetic Disorders

Glossectomy

Guillain-Barre Syndrome

Head and Neck Cancer

Hearing Impairment

Huntington’s Chorea

Iatrogenic Causes

Laryngectomy

Lewey Body Dementia

Lou Gehrig’s Disease

Medical Mystery

Mild Cognitive Impairment

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Multiple Sclerosis

Myasthenia Gravis

Neurological Disorders

Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

Oral Cancer

Parkinson’s Disease

Pick’s Disease

Pharmacological Side Effects

Phonological Disorders

Pragmatics

Primary Progressive Aphasia

Radiation Effects

Rhabdomyolysis

Right Hemisphere Dysfunction

Sjögren’s Disease

Stroke

Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

Swallowing

TBI

TIA

Tick-Born Diseases

Tip-of-the-Tongue Syndrome

Tracheostomy

Trauma

Ventilator Dependence

Xerostomia

Zenker’s Diverticulum


The Center for Communication, Cognition and Swallowing, LLP


Rutland, Vermont


The Center for speech therapy!


Providing private, personalized care with excellence and compassion.