Speech therapists are those professionals who can help correct communication and improve speech, especially in children who have difficulties.
These difficulties can be motor or cognitive, and prevent them from mastering an adequate form of communication and linguistic expression, so specialized intervention is required.
This is where speech therapists come in, who help these people improve their natural function of speech, reading and phonics. Now you can learn a little more about its functions and what disorders intervene in the following article.
What is a speech therapist?
A speech therapist is a health expert who specializes in alterations or pathological disorders derived from speechand human hearing, generally their audience is children, but there may be remote cases of young people and adults with some linguistic alteration. They are responsible for the study, diagnosis and treatment of language, with the aim of improving people’s adaptation to their environment and the functionality of their communication system.
Speech therapy
Language therapy, speech therapy or speech therapy is the form of intervention of these experts in human language. In this type of treatment, they are responsible for detecting the origin of the problem and creating an adequate plan to reverse any damage to the auditory, oral and writing functions or improve any difficulty presented by another type of alteration. They can work together with other health specialists such as pediatricians, educational psychologists orChild Psychologists to create a more comprehensive approach.
Duties performed by speech therapists
The functions of the speech therapist are very diverse , since they act in a fairly wide field.
1. Diagnosis of pathological alterations
They are responsible for studying, evaluating and treating children who have some type of pathological disease that affects their speech therapy. Either by some type of malformation, problems in childbirth or by a degenerative disorder and makes an appropriate intervention plan for each need and affected area of the patient, in order that they can reverse the damage or improve the negative effects and thus have greater functionality in the environment.
2. Intervention in the area of literacy
Language is not limited only to speaking and listening, but also to the understanding and development of reading and writing skills in a person. There are those that, due to an organic disease, learning difficulty or a certain degree of cognitive delay, present complications when it comes to having a correct way of applying these skills.
3. Improve voice usage habits
Did you know that there are bad habits and uses of the voice that can affect it? As you are reading it, the voice is nothing more than the sound produced when air passes from the lungs to the larynx, and then meets the vocal cords that vibrate with the air and produce the sound of our voice.
Therefore, people who have breathing problems, difficulty swallowing, voice tonality imbalance may not only wear out the duct, but also tend to develop nodules and other problems on the vocal cords, thus affecting the voice.
4. Psychopedagogue counseling team
Speech therapists can work together with other health specialists and also provide advice in the educational area, both in regular institutions and those for children with disabilities. Its function is to determine if the difficulty that a child presents in the areas of language and communication are due to an organic problem, as well as to create educational plans so that these children (including young people and adults) can have a better learning.
5. Auditory, oral and writing rehabilitation
One of the main functions of speech therapists is to design rehabilitation treatment plans for their patients, so that they recover a functional and adaptive level of writing, language and communication skills. In this way it can help them to have a better adaptation to their environment and not be demotivated in the face of this difficulty.
6. Socio-assistance care
Speech therapists not only deal with children, although these are their main audience, but also offer assistance services for adults and older adults who have some type of degenerative problem that is affecting their speech-language skills. Providing intervention services, diagnosis and appropriate treatment plans for any type of population.
Disorders intervened in speech therapy
As we already mentioned, speech therapy covers many aspects of human communication , so the speech therapist intervenes in the following disorders.
1. Language and literacy disorders
These refer to those problems related to expression and comprehension.
1.1. Aphasia
It occurs as a consequence of a brain injury in a person with normal linguistic development. So it is an acquired disease that affects the functionality of understanding and expression.
1.2.Disorders of language development due to deprivation
This category refers to those disorders that the child develops due to little or no stimulation on the part of the parents to understand and practice the skills corresponding to language (speech, reading comprehension, expression, pronunciation, etc.)
1.3. Language disorders in intellectual disability
These disorders occur when the child has some type of cognitive or intellectual delay, generally present in diseases such as Down syndrome, severe autism and pervasive developmental disorders, or also due to brain injury.
1.4.anomie
It is a type of disorder that affects oral expression, in which the person finds it difficult to name things or express the lexicon correctly.
1.5. Ideomotor apraxia
In this, the loss of understanding is focused on objects, that is, it is difficult for the person to know what these objects are used for.
1.6. Mutism and language inhibition
Also known as selective mutism, it is an anxiety disorder where the person is in constant fear of speaking, so they are restricted from doing so to the point of appearing mute.
1.7. Alexia
Full or partial loss of reading comprehension and ability due to a brain injury.
1.8. Agraphia
Complete or fragmented loss of writing ability due to acquired brain injury.
2. Speech disorders
These are difficulties or inabilities to modulate speech well in certain circumstances.
2.1.Dissatisfied
It is an inability to correctly articulate the phonemes, for which the person is not able to pronounce some words. It is due to an alteration of certain sounds.
2.2. Orofacial apraxia
It occurs when the person is unable to control the muscles of the joint area, making disjointed gestures.
23.Stuttering and fluency disorders
Stuttering is a very common problem in the child and adolescent population and if it is not treated in time it can represent a challenge in adulthood. It is characterized by an impediment in the fluent expression of speech.
Speech fluency disorders refer to those problems in which the person repeats or maintains sounds, words or syllables for a long time.
2.4.dysarthria
It refers to a disorder of the motor functionality of speech, affecting fluency, speed or slowness, coordination and movement of the facial muscles.
2.5.Apraxia of speech
This disorder implies a difficulty in the execution of the movements learned for speech. Due to cognitive, intellectual, motor, attention or stimulation problems.
3. Disorders associated with degenerative processes
As the name implies, they are disorders that are caused by progressive and degenerative diseases.
3.1. Presbycusis
It is a progressive disease of listening to high-frequency sounds, it is due to the deterioration of the auditory system and is mainly caused by age.
3.2.Impairment of language and communication due to aging
As the name suggests, they are disorders caused by the age of the person, whose system of expression, communication and understanding deteriorates. To avoid rapid progression of this, it is necessary to perform occupational exercises and games of mental agility.
4. Orofacial disorders
These disorders are caused by an alteration in the orofacial musculature that prevents a correct expression of speech and communicative language.
4.1.Reconstructive Orofacial Disorders
These occur as a consequence of a facial reconstruction on the lips, as is the case with cleft lip or tumors, where the person cannot articulate words or sounds correctly.
4.2. Dysglossia
It is characterized by being a disorder in the articulation of phonemes, as a result of alterations in the anatomy or functionality of the articulatory organs.
5. Voice disorders
These occur as a result of a misuse of the tonality of the voice or due to a problem in the vocal cords.
5.1. Dysphonia
Alteration of the use of the voice in its different characteristics (tonality, intensity and timbre). It is derived in two types: hypertonic or hyperkinetic (excessive tone) and hypotonic or hypokinetic (weak tone).
5.2.hypophonia
It is a significant decrease in the intensity of the tone of voice that is produced not by misuse, but by a neurological origin.
5.3.Vocal cord paralysis
This is a very serious disease as it affects the functionality of the vocal cords and therefore the ability to swallow, phonation and breathing.
6. Swallowing disorders
These problems are caused by a type of disturbance in normal swallowing ability.
6.1.atypical swallowing
It is an anomaly in the way of swallowing food and liquids, with an incorrect movement, affecting the orofacial muscles.
6.2.dysphagia
It is a swallowing disorder that prevents the correct movement of food. In some way it is an impediment to swallowing, so it can cause malnutrition, choking and articulation problems in speech.
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.
