Speech Therapy is a treatment designed to help people with communication, language, and swallowing skills. The treatments are conducted by Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) with a goal of helping people improve their talking skills, social comprehension, fluency, and other language skills. The SLP will diagnose the patient that they are working with and design an action plan to help them achieve their communication goals. People who struggle to communicate may need speech therapy in order to learn how to best interact with others.¹

What conditions do speech therapists work with?

Speech therapists work with a variety of conditions. Here are some individuals a speech therapist works with:

• Aphasia: Aphasia is a condition that affects how you speak and understand language. It can often occur due to a stroke or a condition that blocks the part of the brain that processes language. Some signs of Aphasia include incomplete sentences, incomprehensive words, inability to comprehend reading, and not understanding what someone told them.²
• Apraxia: Apraxia can occur when someone is unable to perform the correct actions with their body. For speech, this results in slurred speech or being unable to say the right words. Long words can sometimes pose the biggest challenge.³
• Articulation disorder: An articulation disorder occurs when someone is unable to say the right sounds. Common examples include replacing “r” with “w,” or “th” with “s.” People with articulation disorders typically have trouble with the fine motor skills required to move their mouth, lips and teeth correctly.⁴
• Dysarthria: Dysarthria is a speech language disorder when the muscles in the lips, throat, lips and tongue don’t work the way they should. Talking too slow or fast, slurred words, talking loudly, and sounding robotic are signs of dysathria.⁵
• Expressive disorders: This is a lifelong condition that can affect an individual’s ability to use language. People with this condition can understand others but have trouble talking back. They often struggle to create sentences that make sense.⁶
• Fluency disorder: A fluency disorder can interrupt the flow of normal speech. Stuttering and cluttering are two examples of fluency disorders. A fluency disorder can make it difficult for someone to speak clearly, such as repeating a word or phrase several times.⁷
• Receptive disorders: This disorder makes it difficult for someone to understand what another person has said. Individuals with receptive disorders will often respond in ways that do not make much sense to those around them. This can make it hard to connect to other people.⁸
• Resonance disorders: A voice’s resonance is the quality that comes from the throat, and people with a resonance disorder have a change in the way air and sound move through the throat. This can be due to an opening, blockage, or an inconsistent movement of the velopharyngeal port.⁹

How do speech therapists help their patients?

Speech therapists work with their patients to help them learn to communicate better. The type of care and exercises a speech therapist will provide will depend on the individual’s needs and personal condition.

How do I know if I need speech therapy?

People who have speech disorders are individuals in need of speech therapies. To learn if you or a loved one needs speech therapy, a healthcare provider will often provide initial screenings to find the root cause.

Some reasons you might need speech therapy include:

• Difficulty speaking clearly
• Slurred words
• Vocal changes
• Swallowing disorders
• Trouble remembering words or conversations

Where is speech therapy offered?

Speech therapy is offered at a variety of locations, including:¹⁰

• Nursing homes
• Speech therapy practices
• Hospitals
• Schools
• Daycares