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What Is Speech-Language Pathology?
A speech-language pathologist (SLP) offers support and care to people who have trouble communicating or difficulty eating, drinking, and swallowing. An SLP is a medical professional who evaluates and treats communication and swallowing disorders. They are sometimes called a speech therapist.
What Conditions do Speech-Language Pathologists Treat?
Speech-language pathologists treat individuals of all ages who have a wide variety of disabilities, complex conditions, developmental concerns, genetic and neurological disorders, and serious injuries that cause problems with communication and swallowing, especially in the following areas:
Problems in this area affect how a person says sounds and how well they can be understood by others when talking. These are sometimes called articulation disorders, phonological disorders, apraxia of speech, or motor speech disorders like dysarthria.
Problems in this area affect how well a person understands what they hear or read (ie, receptive language) and how well a person uses words, signs, and/or pictures to communicate (expressive language).
Problems in this area affect how well a person follows unspoken social rules of communication like turn-taking, eye contact, personal space when talking with others, etc.
Problems in this area affect how a person's voice sounds. Sometimes individuals can have problems with their voice that make them sound too loud or too soft, breathy, hoarse, or harsh. Sometimes people have problems with too much or too little air getting into their nose during speech. This can make them sound nasal.
Problems in this area are commonly called stuttering. Fluency refers to how smooth speech is or how well it flows. People that have fluency disorders may repeat one part of a word (e.g., t-t-t-t-able), the whole word (e.g., today, today, today I want candy), or they might use a lot of pauses like “um” or “uh”, and their face or body might get tense when they get stuck on a word. Many young children go through a normal period of stuttering that they typically outgrow, but therapy is helpful if stuttering occurs for longer than 6 months.
Problems in this area affect how well a person's mind works. This can mean issues with short and long-term memory, attention, and executive functioning skills that include solving problems, organizing thoughts, and other thinking skills.
Problems in this area affect how well a person's mouth and throat work when chewing and swallowing different foods and liquids. Babies may have problems with drinking from a breast, a bottle or a cup. Sometimes people have trouble moving their tongue or lips or may cough or choke when they eat or drink certain foods and liquids.
AAC is using alternative ways to communicate other than spoken words. This can include lower tech options like pictures and switches to higher tech speech generating devices.
Whether you have no known medical diagnosis, a lifelong condition, a speech-language pathologist can help you feel more comfortable communicating and navigating their world.
What Can I expect from speech therapy care and treatment?
Supported by the latest equipment and techniques, there are many options for outpatient and inpatient therapy at Gillette Children’s. We have a diverse team of specialists that work closely together to help individuals achieve their best. In addition to facilitating speech therapy activities, we help you coordinate care with other specialists. With the help from our speech therapists, we can work on:
- Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)
- Cognitive therapy for concussions and traumatic brain injury as well as speech and language services after a brain injury
- Nutrition and feeding services
- Specialty care for cleft lip and palate, velopharyngeal dysfunction, and other craniofacial conditions
- Increasing ability to be clear including speech sound development
- Swallowing studies (videofluoroscopy and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing) for feeding disorders (dysphagia)
- Improving ability to be understood using LSVT Loud
- Respiratory Muscle Training for speech intelligibility and swallowing
- VitalStim or neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) therapy for the treatment of swallowing disorders
Speech and Language Therapy Services at Gillette Children's
Many people who have complex conditions and disabilities benefit from speech and language therapy. Gillette supports patients and caregivers to navigate their everyday world with confidence. Within our inpatient and outpatient programs, individuals will experience:
- A highly collaborative approach with other specialists within the community. This collaboration ensures that you will get the best possible care.
- Speech therapy collaborates on the following teams: aerodigestive clinic, craniofacial clinic, feeding clinic, and AAC clinic.
- One of the nation’s top providers of pediatric inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation therapies. Gillette offers the Twin Cities’ only pediatric comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation program certified by the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). Gillette is one of eight U.S. pediatric inpatient rehabilitation facilities to have CARF accreditation for both its pediatric specialty and pediatric brain injury programs.
- The latest technology, tests, and techniques.
- Access to services at multiple locations and virtual care options.
As part of their treatment at Gillette, your child might receive care from providers across our many specialties, including:
