Speech-Language Therapists evaluate and treat a variety of communication disorders. These disorders include the following:
Articulation: Difficulty forming words due to poor motor planning, structural impairments such as cleft palate or surgery, and sensory disorders due to hearing loss.
Receptive language disorders: Difficulty understanding or comprehending oral and written language. This includes challenges following directions, learning new vocabulary words, and comprehension of written material.
Expressive language disorders: Difficulty with expressing selves. These difficulties may be due to, but not limited to, limited vocabulary, syntax, and sentence structure.
Reading disorders: Difficulties with phonemic and phonological awareness, blending words, and overall reading comprehension.
Pragmatic disorder: Difficulty initiating and maintaining conversations, problem solving, and understanding context clues in social environments.
Fluency disorders: Difficulty expressing oneself due to stuttering or cluttering, which disrupts the natural rhythm and flow of speech.
Who can benefit from speech and/or language therapy?
Speech/language therapy can benefit a variety of individuals with the following disorders/disabilities/delays:
- Progressive Neurological Disorders
- Autism
- Intellectual Disabilities
- Social pragmatic
- Stuttering/Cluttering
- General reading disorder and dyslexia
- Articulation impairments, including Apraxia of Speech
- Cognitive-communication impairments (i.e. brain injuries, strokes)
- Deaf or Hard of Hearing
- Social-Emotional Impairments
Speech/language therapy can also benefit individuals who wish to change their voice, resonance, or patterns for the following reasons:
- Accent modification (reducing strong accents)
- Voice and Communication Change for Transgender/Gender Diverse Individuals
