Speech therapy is often considered a service that helps young children with pronunciation or other language problems, but older adults can also benefit from these services. Adult speech therapy is an essential aspect of recovery programs for illness or injury and can often help manage other medical conditions involving language, speech, and eating.
Who Needs Speech Therapy Service?
Speech problems in adults can happen after an injury to the brain or an illness such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, or Multiple Sclerosis. Accidents involving the throat, jaw, or facial structure can impede speech. These five common problems indicate a need for speech therapy.
Dysphasia and Swallowing Problems
Cancer and some neurological issues can affect swallowing, chewing, and speaking because of impaired movements of the lips, jaw, tongue, larynx, and throat. A speech therapist can help patients regain movements or learn how to work around them.
Stuttering
This disorder causes people to have a hard time pronouncing words, stretching them out, or repeating them. Adults with stuttering problems can work on them by overcoming situational fear and working on methods to minimize stuttering.
Apraxia
Brain injury from disease, stroke, trauma, or a progressive condition like dementia, results in this motor speech disorder. Patients have trouble pronouncing words as the brain has difficulty planning and sequencing the necessary movements to speak. Other symptoms include speech errors, inconsistency, and constant groping for the right words.
Dysarthria
Another motor speech disorder, Dysarthria, occurs when speech muscles have become weakened, damaged, or paralyzed, causing slurred or difficult-to-understand speech. Patients have no control over their tongues, vocal cords, and larynx. The disorder can also affect respiration, phonation, and articulation. Typically, Dysarthria results from stroke, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Multiple Sclerosis.
Aphasia
Adults can develop aphasia following brain damage, resulting in a partial or total loss to produce and process language. Patients have trouble naming people, places, or events, may mix up words or have difficulty putting them together, and speak in short phrases or single words. Several types of aphasia, ranging in severity, are common, including Global aphasia, Broca’s aphasia, and Wernicke’s aphasia
If you or your loved one struggles with the aforementioned conditions, schedule an appointment for a free, speech therapy assessment.
What Happens During Adult Speech Therapy?
All patients needing a speech therapy program in Dallas undergo an initial assessment to determine the cause of problems. The therapist can devise an action plan for sessions. Each plan is customized, with patients receiving “homework” before the next session. Your session may include the following components.
Breathing Exercises for Resonance
These help improve voice production by making patients aware of oral vibratory sensations on the face, lips, teeth, and nose. Increasing vibrations occur through easy phonation and then progress through basic gestures to conversational speech. These exercises are common for stuttering or fluency disorders.
Oral Muscle Exercises
Those who have trouble making their speech understood can expect exercises to strengthen the muscles involved in speech. Voice problems have various medical causes, including vocal cord lesions or muscle tension. You initially practice sounds, followed by words, sentences, and conversations.
Conversational Struggles
Some patients, such as those who have suffered strokes, benefit from drill-based and functional strategies like sentence generation tasks to improve vocabulary and word retrieval. Functional activities like role-play conversations or preparing tasks can help patients regain confidence.
What Makes In-Home Speech Therapy a Preferred Choice?
In-Home Speech therapy is an excellent choice for seniors who have limited mobility. It’s also safe as patients are more relaxed in familiar surroundings.
Many families prefer in-home speech therapy because caregivers can participate and help progress, there is no issue with a commute, being at home breeds familiar routines and reinforces progress, and working from home maximizes therapy sessions.
Long-term Benefits of Adult Speech Therapy
In-home adult speech therapy has myriad benefits. These include:
- Significant improvements in disease-related disabilities
- Reduced swelling and improved oral health
- Helping patients articulate ideas
- Boosting social confidence
- Helping to eliminate or reduce stuttering
- Strengthening weakened vocal cords
- Easing dementia symptoms
- Preventing unwanted weight loss
Angel Home Healthcare Services Brings Speech Therapy Home
If you seek a comprehensive and caring speech therapy program in Dallas or other home health care services, contact Angel Home Health Care. Our compassionate professionals can provide you or your loved one with the health care needed in a familiar setting. Contact us today for an in-home consultation.