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What Is A Speech-Language Pathologist?
What Is An Audiologist?
What Are Communication Disorders?
Characteristics Of Common Communication Disorders
What Causes Communication Disorders?
What Are The Signs Of A Communication Disorder?
What is Myo-Functional Therapy?
What To Do If You Suspect A Speech-Language Problem
Insurance Issues
What Is A Speech-Language Pathologist?
A Speech-language pathologist is a professional educated in the study of
human communication, its development, and its disorders. By evaluating the
speech and language skills of children and adults, the speech-language
pathologist determines if communication problems exist and decides the best way
to treat these problems.
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What Is An Audiologist?
An Audiologist is a professional educated in the study of normal and impaired
hearing and specifically focuses on aural habilitation. The audiologist
determines if a person has a hearing impairment, what type of impairment it is,
and how the individual can make the best use of remaining hearing. If a
person will benefit from using a hearing aid or other listening device, the
audiologist can assist with the selection, fitting and purchase of the most
appropriate aid and with training the individual to use the aid effectively.
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What Are Communication Disorders?
Communication disorders can be grouped in two main categories:
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Hearing Disorders are characterized by an inability to hear
sounds clearly. Such disorders may range from hearing speech sounds
faintly, or in a distorted way, to profound deafness.
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Speech & Language Disorders affect the way people talk
and understand. These disorders may range from simple sound
substitutions to not being able to use speech and language at all.
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Characteristics Of Common Communication Disorders
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Hearing
Conductive: sound is not conducted efficiently through the outer
and/or middle ear, causing speech and other sounds to be heard less clearly
or to sound muffled. This kind of hearing loss can often be medically
or surgically corrected.
Sensorineural: caused by damage in the inner ear or nerve pathways to
the brain. Certain sounds are heard less distinctly than others,
causing distortion and reduced understanding of speech. While this
kind of hearing loss is usually not medically correctible, people with
sensorineural hearing loss can often be helped by using a hearing aid or
other amplification device.
Mixed: a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss.
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Language
Delayed Language: is characterized by a marked slowness in the
development of the vocabulary and grammar necessary for expressing and
understanding thoughts and ideas.
Aphasia: the loss of speech and language abilities resulting from
stroke or head injury.
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Speech Disorders
Stuttering: an interruption in the flow of rhythm of speech,
characterized by hesitations, repetitions or prolongations of sounds,
syllables, words, or phrases.
Articulation Disorders: difficulties with the way sounds are formed
and strung together, usually characterized by substituting one sound for
another (wabbit for rabbit), omitting a sound (han for hand) or distorting
sound (shlip for sip).
Voice Disorders: characterized by inappropriate pitch (too high, too
low, never changing or interrupted by breaks); loudness (too loud or not
loud enough); or quality (harsh, hoarse, breathy, nasal).
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What Causes Communication Disorders?
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Hearing: Some of the causes of hearing loss are
chronic ear infections, heredity, birth defects, health problems at birth,
certain drugs, head injury, viral or bacterial infection, exposure to loud
noise, aging, and tumors.
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Speech and Language: Some of the causes of speech and
language disorders are related to hearing loss, cerebral palsy and other
neuromuscular disorders, severe head injury, stroke, viral diseases, mental
retardation, certain drugs, physical impairments such as cleft lip or
palate, vocal abuse or misuse, and inadequate speech and language models;
frequently, however, the cause is unknown.
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What Are The Signs Of A Communication Disorder?
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Hearing: Hearing loss might be suspected when a
person responds inconsistently to sounds, when sounds seem to be ignored,
when a person turns his ear towards the sound, cups his ear with his hand,
frequently asks the speaker to repeat, turns the TV or radio up too loud, or
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Speech and Language Disorders might be suspected when
a person's speech or language is markedly different from that of others of
the same age, sex, or ethnic group; when a person's speech and/or language
is difficult to understand; when a person is overly concerned about his own
speech; or when a person frequently avoids communicating with others.
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What
is Myo-Functional Therapy?
Myo-functional therapy is an approach to teach a person how to swallow
correctly and re-train the facial muscles. Its purpose is to treat the
swallowing problem, the associated facial muscle imbalance, speech production
issues and to compliment ongoing and / or potential orthodontic / dental issues.
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What
To Do If You Suspect A Speech-Language Problem
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Contact a speech language pathologist
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Discuss the issue with your pediatrician or primary care physician
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Pursue a speech-language-hearing screening or a speech-language evaluation
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Insurance
Issues
Medical insurance is quite reluctant to cover Speech Therapy unless related
to a medical etiology and / or a medical necessity. Speech Therapy
services are generally covered if the diagnosis is related to stroke, trauma,
accident, injury, or congenital conditions. For this reason, I keep my
fees very reasonable. My fees are a small margin above an individual's
required co-pay. My intent is to be a low cost provider to individuals
requiring this specialized and valued service.
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Early intervention is
the key for children. Speech, language, and communication is the basis for
literacy!
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