speech pathologist

speech pathologist

The Importance of Speech Pathologists in Communication Development

1. Introduction

Conversation is an important part of communication, but it is often taken for granted until a person experiences difficulties with it. By examining typical conversation, we can get greater insight into the complexities of communication and reasoning. In everyday conversation, communication is successful when the person sending the message (Speaker A) and the person receiving the message (Speaker B) have mutual understanding. This means that Speaker A sends a message, Speaker B accurately receives this message, and vice versa. If messages are not accurately received, there is a breakdown in communication. This is a common occurrence for people with language and/or learning disabilities such as autism and specific language impairment. Language-impaired children have difficulties with understanding and expression, so often have trouble understanding questions and fail to give appropriate answers. This can lead to frustration and embarrassment, both of which can have lasting effects on self-esteem. A speech pathologist can help by working with the child to build new skills and by making adjustments to the environment, thus increasing the chance of successful communication. For example, teaching the parent to ask questions in a way that the child will understand and also teaching the child an appropriate answer.

The ability to communicate with others is a critical life skill that is central to our social and emotional wellbeing. It is through communication that we express our basic needs and wants, and it is also through communication that we make our feelings known. Communication allows us to play with, influence, and control our environment, and it is through communication that we develop our social networks. Thus, the consequences of a communication disorder can be profound. It is for these reasons that speech pathology is of such vital importance to the overall development of an individual. This essay will discuss the importance of speech pathology in communication development, firstly by examining how the normal development of communication is established and what occurs when this development does not follow the typical course. The essay will then go on to discuss the specific ways that a speech pathologist can assist in the development of communication.

2. Role of Speech Pathologists

Children with language delays may be functioning well in all other areas of their life, and their problem may simply be that they are not talking as much or as clearly as other children their age. However, for children with other accompanying disorders (such as cleft lip or palate, cerebral palsy, intellectual impairment) or adults and elders who suffer from neurological damage or degenerative disorders (such as head injuries, stroke, or Parkinson’s disease), the communication disorder may significantly impact the quality of life. These individuals may have difficulty being understood; they may be frustrated at not being able to express their needs or communicate effectively, and communication disorders are often isolating, which can lead to feelings of marginalization in an already stigmatized population. Treatment for these individuals often aims at increasing their language competency so that they can participate more fully in education or employment, and enhancing their communication skills and confidence in social situations. Success in improving communication can be very empowering for clients and their families.

As a speech pathologist, working to diagnose a client’s communication disorder can be very challenging since there are no definitive ways to classify speech and language disorders. The cause of the disorder is often unknown, and sometimes it can be difficult to determine if a client is truly suffering from a communication disorder or if they are temporarily confused or disoriented. An initial step in assessing a client’s disorder is to compare their speech and language to an age-related developmental checklist. If it is found that a client’s speech and language is not consistent with their peers, a more in-depth assessment will be undertaken to determine the severity of the disorder and how best to treat it.

Because everyone speaks in a different way, and there is no one correct way to speak, there are a number of speech disorders and articulation problems that can hinder effective communication. A speech pathologist’s role is to work with these individuals and their families to assess, diagnose, and provide therapy or intervention for their communication disorders.

3. Techniques and Strategies in Speech Therapy

In the article, she describes the case of Harry, a man with severe dysarthria, who improved his communication skills through the use of augmentative communication. While AAC techniques can be both useful and efficient for many people with different speech and language problems, any form of speech therapy can be quite costly. However, some AAC devices can be very cost-effective. An example of such would be the use of picture and alphabet boards. They are relatively simple tools which can greatly benefit people with varying problems such as aphasia, apraxia of speech, or impairments resulting from stroke or head injury. Step by step instruction and demonstrations for specific devices can be useful for some speech pathologists to implement these strategies effectively into their treatment sessions.

Speech therapists use alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) techniques with clients who cannot improve their oral communication. These tools can range from picture boards, electronic communicators (which are machines that produce a given sound when a button is pushed), to complex computer systems that interpret written text into synthesized speech. According to Laura K. Ball, the director of the speech-language clinic at Purdue University, who co-authored the study, these tools not only help people with brain injuries communicate, but they can also speed up the recovery process by helping these people regain lost language and learning comprehension. People with severe dysarthria can also benefit from AAC techniques and devices, according to Kyla Gibbons in her article on “Treatment for Dysarthria.”

4. Collaborative Approach in Speech Therapy

– Doctors: help in diagnosing certain disorders/diseases with cause communication and/or swallowing disorders. With the physician’s diagnosis, the pathologist can determine the nature and severity of the disorder and recommend the appropriate treatment.

– Teachers: collaboration with teachers can help in identifying children with potential communication disorders at an early stage. It also helps in planning IEP goals for children with special needs. Teachers can be educated by speech pathologists about the impediments of children with communication disorders and they may be shown how to modify or provide different tasks to help those children learn.

– Audiologists: who are specialists trained to identify and measure hearing disorders, identify auditory processing disorders, provide habilitation and rehabilitation service, and provide training in speech reading. The audiologist and speech pathologist work together to decide the best way to help a child or an adult with a hearing and/or communication problem. The audiologist can identify hearing problems at an early stage which can disrupt the development of communication and lead to other speech language problems.

Serve as a good resource for the professionals and the consumers. The speech pathologists collaborate with the following professionals:

5. Conclusion and Future Perspectives

In conclusion, children with complex communication needs and their families, speech language pathologists, and teachers face a growing number of dilemmas and complexity around decision-making for communication interventions. This complexity is driven by the greater awareness of the importance of communication to children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development, the growing expectations for inclusion in education for all children including those with disabilities, and the rapid changes in communication technology. This paper has drawn on the ICF-CY to provide a framework for considering the multiple factors involved in making decisions about communication interventions. In examining the dynamic systems model of decision-making (DSDM), it is argued that decision-making for children with complex communication needs is complex, multifaceted, and dynamic. An effective decision-making tool must guide stakeholders through the process in a systematic way by organizing information, identifying priorities, and weighing up the potential costs and benefits of different options. Fueling the need for a comprehensive decision-making tool is research that has shown that intervention decisions for children with complex communication needs are often ad hoc with therapists being dissatisfied with decisions made and unsure of a best practice, therefore its development is highly relevant and timely. The proposed Communication Participation and Environment (CPE) tool is designed to assist therapists, teachers, and parents to build a comprehensive understanding of a child’s abilities, needs, and priorities for communication intervention, and to link this information to the most effective and efficient environmental and aided communication strategies.