Speech Therapy

A speech-language pathologist is a professional educated in the study of human communication, its development and disorders. By evaluating the speech, language, and swallowing skills of children and adults, the speech-language pathologist determines if communication or swallowing problems exist and decides the best way to treat these problems in conjunction with the referring physician. A thorough evaluation by a speech-language pathologist is needed to determine a person's communication strengths and weaknesses or swallowing deficits. A plan for meeting the individual's needs is developed after this evaluation. Some of the causes of speech, language and/or swallowing disorders are related to:

• hearing loss
• cerebral palsy and other nerve/muscle disorders
• head injury
• stroke (warning signs of stroke are sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm, or leg on one side of the body; sudden dimness or loss of vision; loss or slurring of speech, trouble talking or understanding speech; sudden severe headaches; and unexplained dizziness, unsteadiness or sudden falls. Any of these symptoms requires emergency medical attention, even if the symptoms are intermittent or they do not cause pain.)
• viral diseases
• cancer
• dementia
• mental retardation
• certain drugs
• physical impairments such as cleft lip or palate
• vocal abuse or misuse

• inadequate speech and language models

Frequently, however, the cause is unknown.

• Some of the speech-language pathology services we offer include:
• Articulation Remediation
• Early intervention promoting language development
• Aural Rehabilitation
• Swallowing Evaluation and Treatment
• Aphasia Evaluation and Treatment
• Cognitive-Linguistic Therapy
• Oral-Motor Therapy
• Dysarthria and Apraxia Treatment
• Voice Therapy
• Stroke Support Group for Survivors and Family