Patient

What is speech therapy and why is it so important?

woman-teaching-child-speech-therapy

Being able to effectively communicate vocally is something many of us take for granted on a regular basis. Telling the barista your coffee order, expressing your feelings to others and communicating your needs are difficult for people with a speech impediment. However, there is help in the form of speech therapy that can improve an individuals speech and overall quality of life. 

July 8th, 2021

At MyHealthCare, we believe everyone should be able to get the allied health treatment they need, regardless of cost. 

With more than 17 years’ experience, MyHealthCare has helped several hundred thousand patients reach their health care goals with affordable budgeted payment plans.

Speech therapy is performed by speech pathologists who use techniques to help improve communication. This includes articulation therapy, language intervention activities and others depending on the type of speech or language disorder of the individual. 

Why do people need speech therapy?

There are many language disorder’s a speech pathologist can help treat including the following: 

  • Articulation disorders: Articulation refers to making sounds and the production of these sounds. This involves many coordinated movements of the tongue, teeth, lips, palate and lungs. When an individual has an articulation disorder they are unable to properly form sounds which distorts what the person is saying. For example, a person with an articulation disorder may struggle to say the word “this” and instead pronounce it as “thith.”
  • Fluency disorders: This disorder has an effect on the flow, speed and pace of an individuals speech. Stuttering is a common fluency disorder, this is where a person has trouble getting out a sound, repetition of a part of a word or their speech is interrupted. 
  • Receptive disorders: A receptive language disorder is when a person struggles to understand and process what others are saying. This disorder often leaves the individual with limited vocabulary as they struggle following directions and are unable to interact with others. 
  • Expressive disorders: This disorder is when an individual has difficulty conveying or expressing information and trouble forming accurate sentences. 
  • Cognitive-communication disorders: This type of disorder often happens after an injury to the brain that controls your speech and listening skills. Speech therapy helps to relearn communication. 

How effective is speech therapy? 

Speech therapy is incredibly effective in helping both children and adults develop their communication skills. 

A study of over 700 children with speech or language difficulties saw a  significant improvement when undergoing 6 hours of speech therapy over 6 months, as opposed to no treatment at all. 

Another study also saw that speech therapy effectively treated communication difficulties in adults who had cognitive-communication disorders. 

Speech therapist helping child

What do speech pathologists do? 

There are many strategies to help increase communication for an individual, depending on the type of disorder and the severity. 

  • Language intervention activities: This is when a speech pathologist plays with a child using talking, pictures books or an ongoing event to increase language development. By using correct vocabulary, grammar and repetition exercises, the child is able to build stronger language skills. 
  • Articulation therapy: This is when a speech therapist models the correct sounds and syllables in words and sentences so the individual is able to grasp the correct pronunciation. The speech pathologist will also show them how to make certain sounds such as the ‘s’ sound and show them techniques such as how to move their tongue and lips. 
  • Oral motor therapy: This consists of exercise routines to help with strengthening the muscles in and around the mouth. This type of therapy is commonly used for people who have suffered a physical injury and they are unable to speak properly.
  • Lee Silverman Speech Therapy: This is a comprehensive treatment used to assist with a patients volume, articulation and respiratory ability. This therapy helps to strengthen the laryngeal muscles, in turn increasing vocal control. 

How long does treatment last?  

Each individual case and disorder is different, so there is no way to tell how long an individual will need treatment. Some people will need to see a speech pathologist once a week or in other cases, more often. 

Treatment time also varies, if the speech impediment isn’t severe, it may only be a couple of weeks. However, in other cases treatment can be ongoing for years. 

Speech therapy is an incredibly important medical treatment that assists millions of people across the globe with verbal communication and swallowing.

 

If you are thinking of seeing a speech pathologist to assist with your speech or comprehension, we have affordable treatment plans so you can get the assistance you need. 

Many Australian’s delay or avoid seeing an allied health practitioner because of cost. At MyHealthCare we connect patients with the treatment they need by offering simple, interest-free Payment Plans that can be paid off over time with affordable instalments.