The ability to speak, communicate, and swallow/eat are major components of life. Losing Speech, Language, and/or Swallowing skills may be catastrophic. Adults may experience speech and language difficulties for a variety of reasons. The specific types of Speech and Language Disorders, and medical conditions that may cause them are listed below:
- Speech Disorders (Apraxia, Dysarthria, Stuttering).
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Language Disorders (Aphasia, Primary Progressive Aphasia).
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Cognitive-Communicative Disorders resulting from Right Hemispheric Brain Damage and Traumatic Brain Injury.
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Medical Conditions (Stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, Right Hemisphere Brain Injury, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Parkinson’s Disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Dementia, Huntington’s Disease, Oral Cancer, Laryngeal Cancer). Some of these medical conditions may also cause swallowing disorders (dysphagia).
Speech Therapy helps to enhance or restore communication and swallowing skills. It may also include activities to improve your ability to understand others, as well as to utilize thinking and effective problem-solving skills. If needed, therapy can facilitate the use of assistive communication devices. Treatment plans are designed to fit a patient’s individual needs. Progressive one-on-one care is provided to establish a partnership with each patient to achieve personal goals.
Speech and Language Disorders:
Many speech disorders and conditions affect our ability to speak and communicate. These disorders and conditions may range from saying sounds incorrectly to losing the ability to even speak or understand speech. Disorders may include:
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Fluency Disorders – Interruption in the flow of speech characterized by an unusual rate or rhythm of speech, hesitations, repetition of sounds or words, or prolongations of nouns, syllables, words, or phrases. Excessive tension in facial and/or neck muscles, struggle behaviors, and secondary mannerisms may also be present.
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Articulation Disorders – Difficulties with the way sounds are formed and put together, are often characterized by omitting, adding, substituting, or distorting sounds.
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Voice Disorders – When vocal quality, pitch, loudness, resonance, and/or duration are inappropriate for an individual’s age and gender.
Language disorder:
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Aphasia is a disorder that results from damage to the parts of the brain that contain language. Aphasia may cause problems with any or all of the following: speaking, listening, reading, writing.
What Our Patients and Families Say About Us!
“I almost lost my voice to Parkinson’s. I resigned myself to believing there was no hope for me. I told you in the beginning that I missed singing. You took me through this journey. It was very intense. But I made it! I have my singing voice. People no longer tell me that they can’t hear me. How can I ever thank you!”
“The care you provided to my father was excellent and highly professional. We were consistently informed of his progress. Our family training sessions were thorough, the information was just right, not overwhelming. By the time our Dad was discharged, we were confident that we could care for him! Mahalo nui!”
“My daughter started out just saying a few sounds, and within a few months, she progressed to short phrases. She used to be a very frustrated little girl because she couldn’t speak, but now she’s happy. We never thought we’d ever say that she talks too much! But now she does! Thank you!”