An estimated 5–10% of adults in the United States experience a disorder that affects their ability to communicate with others, potentially impacting up to 40 million people! Speech therapy helps people regain or improve communication and swallowing skills after an injury, stroke, the onset of Parkinson’s disease, or other neurological or degenerative conditions. A speech-language pathologist (SLP) works with individuals to address challenges related to speech, language, voice, swallowing, and cognitive-related concerns. Understanding the nature of your specific disorder is an important step toward making meaningful progress in therapy. Many adults experience one of the five most common conditions outlined below.
Most Common Disorders Treated with Speech Therapy
Speech and swallowing disorders can arise from a wide range of injuries, illnesses, and neurological conditions. Below are the most common disorders treated by a speech-language pathologist.
Apraxia
Acquired apraxia of speech is a neurological motor speech disorder that affects the brain’s ability to plan and sequence movements required for speech. People often know what they want to say but struggle to coordinate the mouth movements needed to produce words accurately.
This condition may result from a stroke or traumatic brain injury. Common signs include difficulty initiating speech, inconsistent sound errors, omissions of sounds, and repeated attempts to say words correctly.
Aphasia
Aphasia is a neurological language disorder impacting the understanding and/or expression of language. It is commonly caused by stroke, brain injury, or other neurological conditions. Severity varies widely, but even mild aphasia can significantly impact quality of life.
The most common forms are either nonfluent or fluent aphasia, with various subtypes. With some types, individuals have difficulty finding words while speaking, struggle with speech that is fragmented or have trouble understanding conversations in groups or people who are talking quickly.
Dysphagia
Dysphagia is the medical term for difficulty swallowing. If left untreated, it can lead to serious medical problems. Dysphagia can be caused by neurological damage, injury, illness, disease, or other conditions that damage, weaken, or otherwise impact the nerves and muscles necessary for swallowing. It can also be caused by structural changes that result in a narrowing of the throat or esophagus.
Symptoms may include coughing or gagging during meals, a sensation of food sticking in the throat or chest, frequent throat clearing while eating, unexplained weight loss, food or liquid coming back up the throat, or difficulty moving food from the mouth to the throat when eating or drinking.
Dysarthria
Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder caused by weakness in the muscles used for speech. It often occurs following a stroke, or in association with conditions such as ALS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, or Huntington’s disease.
Dysarthria can affect articulation, voice quality, and breath support, resulting in speech that sounds slurred, mumbled, or excessively slow. Individuals with dysarthria may find it difficult to communicate effectively over the phone or in social situations due to reduced speech clarity.
Speech Therapy Techniques and Timelines
Speech therapy is highly individualized. Treatment methods, techniques, frequency, and duration depend on factors such as the nature and severity of speech and/or swallowing difficulties, medical history, personal goals, and tolerance for therapy intensity. Your speech pathologist will conduct an evaluation to establish a baseline and develop a personalized treatment plan. This will help in clearly understanding your specific needs and goals, your medical history, your strengths and weaknesses, and other prognostic factors. Therapy timelines are largely determined by the nature of your condition, your goals for treatment, and mutually agreed upon pace and frequency of therapy.
Neuro Speech and Swallowing Services
Neuro Speech & Swallowing Services provides comprehensive, evidence-based treatment for adult speech, voice, and swallowing disorders resulting from medically related conditions. We offer speech and swallowing therapy for adults in our comfortable clinical setting in Newtown, Pennsylvania, using individualized diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. Both in-person and teletherapy options are available, and most major insurance plans are accepted.
