Arbor Health and Life Publications

Communication and swallowing both play important roles in our daily activities and quality of life. Speech, voice, language, thinking and swallowing all require the brain and the body to communicate messages to each other. If you experience an event that affects these systems, different disorders or impairments may occur. This can influence your ability to express yourself, understand and process information, remember, solve problems, and eat safely.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) work to prevent, assess, diagnose and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive communication and swallowing disorders in children and adults.

What issues can exist?

• Speech disorders. This means a person has a hard time speaking correctly or fluently or has problems with their voice or resonance.
• Language disorders. This is when a person has trouble understanding others (receptive language) or sharing thoughts, ideas and feelings (expressive language). Language disorders may affect spoken or written speech. They may involve the form, content and/or use of language in functional and socially appropriate ways.
• Social communication disorders. This is when a person has trouble with spoken or nonverbal language in social situations. This can often be seen in people with autism or with conditions such as traumatic brain injury.
• Cognitive communication disorders. These include problems organizing thoughts, paying attention, remembering, planning and problem-solving. They usually occur as a result of a stroke, traumatic brain injury or dementia, although they can be something a person has had since birth.
• Swallowing disorders (dysphagia). This means a person has difficulty eating and swallowing, which may follow an illness, surgery, stroke or injury.

How can SLPs help?

People who can benefit from SLP include those who have experienced:

• Neurological disorders (such as traumatic brain injury, stroke or Parkinson's disease).
• Swallowing disorders (dysphagia).
• Developmental delays (such as in speech sounds, use of language or cognition).
• Voice disorders.
• Other medical events that have resulted in a change to communication or swallowing.

The SLP Department at Arbor Health provides comprehensive evaluation, treatment, training and education for people with speech-language disorders. Our goals include teaching new skills; restoring prior skills to the fullest ability; and supporting independence with communication, thinking and swallowing abilities.

This approach focuses on each patient's individual goals as well as training for the patient's family and caregivers. It helps everyone to better understand and carry over skills and to support the patient's recovery.

Categories: Speech-language pathology