Speech-Language Pathology Services

Difficulty with paying attention, remembering information, planning, and problem solving that makes approaching daily problems a struggle. This is related to speech-language pathology because we use internal language to help us with our thinking skills. Individuals who have had strokes, brain injuries, concussions, and communication disorders of dementia may exhibit these challenges.

Weakness or structural changes to the mouth and/or throat can affect the way individuals chew and swallow. Challenges in this area can put people at high risk of aspiration (when food/liquid goes “down the wrong pipe”), which can result in pneumonia.

An acquired language disorder (often from a stroke) that can make it challenging or almost impossible to communicate one’s thoughts. Often, these individuals know what they want to say, but just can’t say it.

A mild traumatic brain injury resulting in a variety of physical and cognitive changes, including reduced attention, memory, planning, organization, problem solving, and the ability to control emotions. This can last less than a week for some or years for others without receiving the right care to properly manage this type of injury.

The ability to speak clearly may be affected for a number of reasons. Developmental speech-sound disorders (i.e. articulation disorders) affect many young children and their ability to be understood clearly. Other children may present with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS), which is a motor planning disorder that affects intelligibility. As people get older, weakness that is caused by a stroke or brain injury may result in slurred or “garbled” speech (dysarthria).

When children have a substantially limited food/drink repertoire that affects their ability to gain weight, eat meals with their family, and enjoy mealtimes. This may be a result of a number of factors, including sensory integration challenges, oral motor deficits, and food sensitivities.