Speech-language pathologists help people with various disorders that affect their communication. These disorders can include aphasia, speech and language delays, stroke, brain injuries, hearing loss, stuttering, autism, developmental disabilities, and more.
Speech-language pathologists need specialized knowledge and skills to treat these disorders. They may also work long hours and have a large caseload.
Articulation Therapy
Articulation refers to the movement of the tongue, lips, jaw and vocal cords to produce speech sounds. Children with articulation disorders have difficulties producing certain speech sounds, which can interfere with the development of language skills.
Usually, a child can fix some of these problems on their own, but in some cases, the sound errors may be more challenging to correct and require professional help.
The therapist will first identify which sound is causing the problems and begin by isolating that single sound. It will take time and patience from the therapist, but getting your child to practice the sound consistently is essential.
After the target sound has been mastered in words, sentences and stories, it’s time to practice the sound in conversation. It will involve conversing with your child when attempting to produce the target sound, but they may still make errors.
Mandibular Therapy
A speech therapist from ??Physio Inq uses several types of techniques to assist a patient in achieving better jaw opening and mouth closure.
For example, the speech therapist may give a visual cue when the child is ready to start with movement for a particular sound in the target word, such as /m/, /b/ or /p/. It is called a “touch” cue because she uses her hands to gently touch the child’s throat, helping to remind him that the tongue needs to move to produce the target sound.
In other cases, the therapist might place her fingers on the child’s lips when he is needed to make a “lip” sound in the target word (lips sounds are /m/, /b/ and /p/). It can help the child feel how the tongue must move to create the lip sound.
Alternatively, the therapist may place her fingers on the client’s tongue and gently press them together to help her client learn to move the tongue differently for speech targets. It can also help the client remember that she should only use one finger to press her tongue for a given sound, such as /m/ or /b/.
The therapist may also utilize a tongue depressor to help her client with movement and strength in the tongue. If her client has difficulty with movement, she will try to help them develop a stronger tone of voice and tongue motion by having them move their tongue up, down, left, and right while adding resistance with the tongue depressor.
Phonological Therapy
Phonological therapy is a type of speech-language pathology treatment that addresses phonemic processes. It can focus on phonological processes, including stopping, fronting, and weak syllable deletion.
A child’s phonology skills are used to produce sounds and make sentences, so it is essential to identify and treat the phonological disorders that can interfere with communication. These disorders may affect more than one sound or be related to another language disorder, so a doctor must conduct an assessment to rule out other possible causes for the speech problems.
The therapist works with the child to help them develop the skills to make the correct sounds and sentences. They may use various activities to practice the sounds and sentence structures. These activities can be done in group or individual sessions.
There are many different kinds of phonological therapies. Some are more effective than others. For example, a recent study found that certain models are more effective for children with specific severities of speech disorders. These include ABAB-Withdrawal and Multiple Probes, Maximal Oppositions, and Modified Cycles.
These therapy techniques include minimal pairs (two words that differ by just one sound). Using a minimal pair can draw attention to the sounds in a sentence and increase the child’s motivation to work on these sounds.
Other phonological therapy techniques include sound-to-letter and letter-to-sound correspondence. These techniques are often used to improve written expression in those with aphasia or phonological agraphia.
A phonological therapy session is usually long and involves lots of repetition of the sound. The child is also shown the physical ways they should be making the sounds, such as where to place their tongue and teeth and how to form their lips.
Therapy sessions can last 7 to 18 months, depending on the child’s needs. They are generally held a few times a week and are 30 to 60 minutes long.
A therapist often starts with simple sounds to build up the child’s confidence before moving on to more complex ones. Some therapists believe that simple sounds should be treated first, while others feel that the more complex sounds should be mastered before going on to more complicated ones.
