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Reema Prakash M.S., CCC-SLP

What does a Speech-Language Pathologist actually do?

We know the most common answer: Speech Therapy!

Help a child with a lisp.

Help an adult communicate after a stroke.

Help a person with their stuttering.

Yes. SLPs help individuals overcome their speech, language, and communication challenges. But you might be surprised to see some lesser-known areas on this list.

Join us in celebrating National Speech-Language-Hearing Month! The spotlight is on what SLPs do: Connect. Communicate. Thrive.



Speech-Language Pathology Service Delivery Areas (Reference: www.asha.org)

This list of practice areas and etiologies (causes) is not comprehensive. Current areas of practice, such as literacy and executive functioning, have continued to evolve, whereas other new areas of practice are emerging.


Fluency

  • Stuttering

  • Cluttering

Speech Production

  • Motor planning and execution

  • Articulation

  • Phonological

Language- Spoken and written language (listening, processing, speaking, reading, writing, pragmatics)

  • Typical Language Acquisition

  • Natural Language Acquisition (Echolalia to self-generated language)

  • Phonology

  • Morphology

  • Syntax

  • Semantics

  • Pragmatics (language use and social aspects of communication)

  • Prelinguistic communication (e.g., joint attention, intentionality, communicative signaling)

  • Paralinguistic communication (e.g., gestures, signs, body language)

  • Literacy (reading, writing, spelling)

Cognition

  • Attention

  • Memory

  • Problem-solving

  • Executive functioning

Voice

  • Phonation quality

  • Pitch

  • Loudness

  • Alaryngeal voice

  • Gender-affirming voice therapy

  • Accent reduction

Resonance

  • Hypernasality

  • Hyponasality

  • Cul-de-sac resonance

  • Forward focus

Feeding and Swallowing (Dysphagia)

  • Oral phase

  • Pharyngeal phase

  • Esophageal phase

  • Atypical eating (e.g., food selectivity/refusal, negative physiologic response)

Auditory Habilitation/Rehabilitation

  • Speech, language, communication, and listening skills impacted by hearing loss, deafness

  • Auditory processing


Potential etiologies of communication and swallowing disorders include

  • Neonatal problems (e.g., prematurity, low birth weight, substance exposure);

  • Developmental disabilities (e.g., specific language impairment, autism, dyslexia, learning disabilities, attention-deficit disorder, intellectual disabilities, unspecified neurodevelopmental disorders);

  • Disorders of aerodigestive tract function (e.g., irritable larynx, chronic cough, abnormal respiratory patterns or airway protection, paradoxical vocal fold motion, tracheostomy);

  • Oral anomalies (e.g., cleft lip/palate, dental malocclusion, macroglossia, oral motor dysfunction);

  • Respiratory patterns and compromise (e.g., bronchopulmonary dysplasia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease);

  • Pharyngeal anomalies (e.g., upper airway obstruction, velopharyngeal insufficiency/incompetence);

  • Laryngeal anomalies (e.g., vocal fold pathology, tracheal stenosis);

  • Neurological disease/dysfunction (e.g., traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, cerebrovascular accident, dementia, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis);

  • Psychological or psychiatric disorder (e.g., psychosis, schizophrenia);

  • Genetic disorders (e.g., Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome, Rett syndrome, velocardiofacial syndrome); and

  • Orofacial myofunctional disorders (e.g., habitual open-mouth posture/nasal breathing, orofacial habits, tethered oral tissues, chewing and chewing muscles, lips and tongue resting position).


If you or your loved one is seeking speech therapy, please consult a licensed and certified speech-language pathologist for guidance. At Resonate Therapy Solutions, we provide skilled speech therapy services for children and adults in the comfort of home or via teletherapy. Schedule a consultation with us. https://www.resonatetherapysolutions.com 


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