SPEECH – LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY
What is the role of the Speech- Language Pathologist?
Speech-Language Pathologists (sometimes called Speech Therapists,) assess, diagnose, and treat disorders related to speech, language, cognitive-communication, voice, swallowing and fluency. They also work to prevent these disorders as well. Speech –Language Pathologists develop an individual plan of care tailored to each person’s needs and this treatment may be individual or group. Speech-Language Pathologists are an important member of a collaborative team when addressing the needs of a child with developmental disabilities.
What is Speech-Language Therapy?
Speech and language therapy is the treatment provided to children/adults to facilitate all these aspects of communication (such as language, articulation, fluency, voice, pragmatic language and swallowing) and to maximize a person’s ability to communicate. Speech and language therapy should be provided by a state licensed and ASHA certified speech language pathologist or speech-language therapist. (American Speech and Hearing Association)
What is the role of Speech-Language Pathologists in Autism?
Speech-Language Pathologists play a significant role in screening, diagnosing, and enhancing the social- communication development and quality of life of children, adolescents/ adults with autistic spectrum disorders. Because all individuals with ASD have difficulty acquiring appropriate social use of communication and many have difficulty acquiring language skills, they need help from an SLP to help them maximize their communication skills or to find an augmentative/alternative method of communication. (ie. sign language or PECS) e.g. Picture Exhange Communication system
Components of Speech-Language Therapy
LANGUAGE is the system that we use to convey our thoughts and ideas both verbally and/or nonverbally. Language processing is the ability to understand spoken language, which begins very early in life. Language is made up of socially shared rules that include: word meaning (semantics), word structure (morphology), word order (syntax) and the rules of grammar. When a person has trouble with comprehension (receptive language) or sharing thoughts, feeling, ideas and feelings completely, (expressive language) then he or she has a LANGUAGE DISORDER.
Pragmatic Language involves the rules for social language. It is the ability to effectively use language to initiate, maintain, and engage others either verbally or nonverbally. Facial expression, eye gaze, body language and overall interaction with others determine the level of communicative intent. Pragmatics encompasses three major communication skills: 1) using language for different purposes such as greeting, informing, demanding, promising, requesting, 2) changing language according to the needs of the listener and 3) following rules for conversations and storytelling such as: taking turns, introducing topics, staying on topic, rephrasing when misunderstood, using non-verbal and verbal signals, proximity to someone when speaking, and using correct facial expression and eye contact. When children/adults have not mastered the rules of social communication, their ability to maneuver socially is greatly compromised, and there are negative effects to their self-esteem as well. Very often, this is a critical deficit with children with ASD and it needs to be addressed in language therapy.
Play Skills are a child’s ability to use, explore, manipulate, toys and objects in an increasingly creative and imaginative way. Play skills develop in conjunction with emerging language, and can be facilitated both within individual and group therapy.
SPEECH is the verbal means of communicating. Speech consists of the following:
Articulation is the way that we produce speech sounds, and often is connected with oral motor abilities, sensory function, phonological processing, and structure of the oral mechanism. Difficulties with articulation may occur at any age and result in reduced intelligibility of speech. There are many other deficits affecting articulation. For example, CAS (childhood apraxia of speech) is a neurological childhood disorder in which the precision and consistency of movements underlying speech are impaired. The core impairment in planning and/or programming movement sequences results in errors in speech sound production and prosody. One of the treatments to address the motor impairments of apraxia (CAS) is PROMPT, begun by Deborah Hayden which is manipulation by the therapist giving tactile-kinesthetic-proprioceptive input to the oro-motor structures for changing speech targets.
Voice is the use of the vocal folds and breathing to produce sound. These are the systems that affect rate, pitch, volume and quality of our verbal output. Difficulties in this area may result in hoarseness, breathiness or aphonia. In addition breath support for phonation and motor tasks is essential.
Fluency is the rhythm of speech and when this rhythm is impaired it can result in stuttering and other rhythm disorders affecting rate and intelligibility. When a person is unable to produce speech sounds correctly or fluently or has problems with his or her voice, then he or she has a SPEECH DISORDER.
What are feeding disorders?
-include problems gathering food and getting ready to suck, chew or swallow it.
-SLP may offer suggestions of how to “thicken foods” or change textures
What are swallowing disorders? (dysphagia)
disorders that occur at different phases of the swallowing process such as the oral phase, pharyngeal phase and the esophageal phase.
Intervention Goals
Intervention goals should consider both verbal and nonverbal discourse skills. Verbal discourse skills include attending, turn taking, initiating conversation, maintaining conversation, breakdown and repairs, metalinguistic knowledge, sociolinguistic sensitivity, and terminating conversations appropriately. Nonverbal discourse skills include use of gestures, eye gaze, facial expression, posture, proximity and body contact.
Courtesy of Barbara Laufer, MS, CCC-SLP, Dramatic Pragmatics, 914-939-5585, BLspeech@aol.com
Some information obtained and adapated from ASHA
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