What is Speech and Language Therapy? When I speak to friends who know very little about the profession they allude to stammering, lisps and working with children. My confession is that when I enrolled on my degree course this was also the view of Speech and Language Therapy that I held. I imagined myself working in a clinic doing sound therapy/ phonology work with a parent by my side, bribing a child with stickers and convincing them to place their tongue a little further back when saying their ‘s’. I then found myself drawn to working with adults with acquired speech and swallowing difficulties. As a student I worked with an adult therapist who would assess adults with swallowing difficulties and was amazed to see the difference her input made. We worked with a gentleman with Parkinson’s disease and her advice helped him enjoy eating and drinking again. She was able to recommend safe diet consistencies (ie foods that would not result in coughing and distress and put the patient at risk of choking/ developing a chest infection due to food ending up in the lungs), give advice about timing of meals in relation to medication, advise on suitable cutlery, reassure and support his wife,and overall make his mealtime experience what it should be- enjoyable.
We have since worked with many people with speech and swallowing difficulties caused by Parkinson’s and have developed good working relationships with specialist Parkinson’s nurses and neurologists.
We are trained to provide the evidence-based gold standard therapy: Lee Silverman voice therapy. Find out more here: http://www.lsvtglobal.com/patient-resources/what-is-lsvt-loud
It is rare to meet people who are aware of the field of adult Speech and Language Therapy unless they or a friend family have received therapy. If you or someone you know is suffering from difficulty with swallowing or communicating then contact Speakology on 0203 633 2499 and you may be surprised to find that there are solutions that can improve or resolve the issue.
