Each May, National Speech-Language-Hearing Month provides an opportunity to raise awareness about communication disorders and the role audiologists and speech language pathologists play in providing life-altering treatment.
Building a Strong Foundation
A person’s ability to communicate effectively is something that’s easy to take for granted until it’s compromised. Communication enables us to connect with others. It’s needed to learn, to earn a living, and to fulfill our basic wants and needs. Given this, it is critical people know the signs of communication disorders, and the availability of help from certified speech-language pathologists.
Licensed speech-language pathologists (SLPs) evaluate and treat individuals with a variety of communication disorders. They specialize in improving speech, language, cognition and swallowing function resulting from problems associated with strokes, head injury and neurological disease processes including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and A.L.S. They are also experienced in the evaluation and treatment of a wide variety of voice problems, including hoarseness resulting from vocal nodules, polyps or cysts and vocal changes due to neurological conditions.
SLPs also perform clinical swallow evaluations, assess for difficulty/aspiration risk and determine diet modification. It’s important to remember that eating and drinking are not only necessary for us to live but also are often at the center of our social gatherings. Swallowing problems can improve tremendously with treatment from SLPs.
Audiologists work hand-in-hand with SLPs to help improve patients' hearing. They provide comprehensive diagnostic services for auditory and related impairments as well as habilitation and maintenance of children with hearing impairments. The overall goal is to optimize and enhance the ability of the patient to hear as well as to communicate.
Please take the time to congratulate this talented group of professionals for all that they do to enhance the quality of care for our patients.