What is Speech Therapy?
Speech Therapy is a therapeutic intervention much like physical and occupational therapy. However, instead of habilitating/rehabilitating gross and fine motor movements of the body, speech therapists do so with the muscles in the mouth and larynx. But that is not all speech therapists do. They also assess, diagnose and treat language disorders, swallowing disorders, fluency disorders, voice disorders, orofacialmyofunctional disorders, adn problems with cognition that interfere with communication.
What Does a Speech Therapist Do?
Speech Therapists work with infants, elders and everyone in-between addressing issues that may interfere with effective and efficient communication and swallowing. These issues may cause individuals to become frustrated, embarrassed, withdrawn, or depressed. They may also hinder one's ability to interact fully with multiple communication partners in multiple environements, limiting and individuals' ability to experience new thing and live a rich, full life. With the the help of Speech Therapists, individuals are given the tools to learn, understand, and use language in everyday situations. Some of these include:
- language intervention activities - These exercises involves interaction with you talking to you. The therapist may use pictures, books, objects, or ongoing events to stimulate language development. The therapist may also model correct pronunciation and use repetition exercises to build speech and language skills.
- articulation therapy - Articulation, or sound production, exercises involve having the therapist model correct sounds and syllables for you, often during regular activities. Articulation therapy involves physically showing a you how to make certain sounds, such as the "r" sound. A speech-language therapist may demonstrate how you should move your tongue to produce specific sounds.
Conditions We Treat
A speech therapists scope of practice is vast so many speech therapists specialize in areas of personal interest. Check out the profiles of our Speech Therapists at Primary Therapy Source to get a better understanding of their personal interests, specialties and endeavors.
Populations served and services provided by the Speech Therapists at Primary Therapy Source include the following:
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