What does a Speech Therapist do anyway?


Speech therapists do a LOT!  We work in hospitals, schools, clinics, and even home health.  Here is a list of our main responsibilities:

Aphasia (language loss due to stroke, brain injury, or sometimes dementia)
Speech Therapists work with patients to re-learn language skills they used to have before their injury/diagnosis (e.g. vocabulary, types of sentences they can say, understanding questions and conversations, etc.)

Alternative/Augmentative Communication
For some patients, functionally intelligible verbal speech is not easily or immediately accessible all the time. In such cases, Speech Therapists help patients and families adjust to using a new system of communication, such as an iPad with a "talking app", communication cards, a picture exchange system, etc. This can relieve the frustration of someone having trouble expressing themselves, and can even encourage and assist some patients with verbal communication in the long term.

Cognitive communication disorders
Speech Therapists work alongside Occupational Therapists to improve safety awareness, ability to understand and perform daily tasks, support memory with strategies, and recover abstract reasoning and planning (thinking skills).

Dementia
Speech Therapists provide training for patients and families to use routines and external memory strategies to learn safety procedures, manage activities of daily living, interact meaningfully with family and friends, and ease transitions during a time of changing skill-sets.

Developmental language disorders (sometimes called Specific Language Impairment)
Speech Therapists work with children to solidify language skills they have begun to explore (again: vocabulary, types of sentences they can say, understanding multistep commands, etc.) and to move on to the next step toward age-appropriate expression and understanding.



Dysphagia (Swallowing difficulties)
Speech Therapists provide strategies for safe swallowing—making sure food goes to a patient's stomach, rather than their lungs.

Feeding difficulties
Speech Therapists provide an environment for children to explore different kinds of food and mouth movements/sensations in a positive, no-pressure environment. They work with children to improve their oral-motor skills, sensory awareness, and attitudes toward food through play therapy. They also train families to help their children to feel safe to explore food at their own pace. It is important to also see a nutritionist to guide the Speech Therapist's choices for which types of foods to present in therapy and to guide the family's choices for nutritional supplements as the child increases their food repertoire. Speech Therapists can also work alongside a lactation consultant with infants who have trouble breastfeeding.

Fluency Disorders (Stuttering)
Speech Therapists primarily encourage patients to feel more confident and positive about their communication skills, helping them to communicate without letting stuttering stop them from saying what they want to say.  Improving a patient's control of stuttering moments improving their confidence in their own way of speaking can greatly decrease the effect a stutter has on a patient's communication experiences.

Hearing Differences, Hard of Hearing, Deaf
Speech Therapists work alongside audiologists to ensure that patients with hearing loss have access to language in whatever ways they need (e.g. Aural rehabilitation, working on speech sounds).  Some Speech Therapists speak a signed language (such as ASL) and can provide communication therapy in signed language.  

Social Communication Differences (both developmental and acquired)
Speech Therapists help patients to identify appropriate and inappropriate social behaviors so patients can make informed decisions about their social interactions.  Neurodivergent affirming therapy involves supporting a patient's own way of communicating socially, as well as helping patients to decipher the social cues of others around them so they can remain safe and empowered in their community.

Speech Sound Disorders (both developmental and acquired)
Speech Therapists help patients to practice pronouncing sounds and sound combinations that are difficult for them. They may also suggest using simple strategies to improve others' understanding of the patient's speech.

Voice disorders
Speech Therapists work with patients to improve vocal hygiene and provide exercises and strategies for optimal vocal quality (i.e. Smooth, clear, easy to hear, appropriate breathing, etc.)