These difficulties may result from:-
Speech pathologists evaluate an individual’s voice, fluency, speech, language and literacy skills using a number of formal and informal measures. A range of assessment tools are administered which measure and evaluate a person’s ability to use and understand language (spoken and written).
Therapists are trained in remediating communication difficulties such as aphasia (loss of understanding and/or expression of language), apraxia (difficulty executing and carrying out learnt purposeful movements for producing speech sounds) and dysarthria (a speech disorder where muscles of the mouth, face and respiratory system are weakened).
Clients are able to receive assessment and therapy services in their home, nursing home, day program or clinic. Goals target improving quality of life and functional use of language in everyday home and community contexts.
Some professional voice users, e.g. telephonists, teachers or actors may experience challenges with the quality of their voice and require assessment and management to enable them to fully participate in their daily life.
Dysphagia is the medical term for any symptom of swallowing difficulty. It may be due to problems with the tongue, muscles of the throat or the food passage. It can be caused by structural, physiological and/or neurological impairments affecting one or more stages of the swallow process- pre-oral (prior to food entering the mouth), oral (when food is in the mouth), pharyngeal (when food is in the throat) and/or esophageal stages (when food is in the oesophagus).
