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Speech language pathology services are medically necessary to treat speech language, swallowing, and cognitive communication disorders. Working closely with other medical professionals will allow us to help solidify the continuity of care needed for the best possible outcomes and the highest quality of life for the client and family.

 

Speech-language pathologists (SLP’s) work with people of all ages to identify and treat those who have difficulty speaking, listening, reading, writing, cognitive processing, and swallowing.

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SLP’s Can


  • Evaluate speech, language, swallowing, and cognitive-communication disorders

  • Collaborate with other health care professionals like physicians and audiologists

  • Provide services to improve communication and swallowing

  • Counsel clients and their families about evaluation results and treatment options and provide education and support resources

  • Assist in developing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods when appropriate. These range from simple hand gestures to high-tech electronic devices that produce speech.

 


What are some of the causes of speech, language, or swallowing problems?


There are many different causes for these problems, some of these include

  • Stroke

  • Head Injury

  • Diseases That Affect the Brain, Such As Alzheimer’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s Disease, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease)

  • Breathing Problems Requiring Tracheotomy and/or Ventilatory

  • Head and Neck Cancer

  • Abuse, Misuse, Paralysis, and Disease of The Vocal Cords

  • Severe or Long-Term Illness

  • Some Causes are Not Known


What types of disorders are treated by SLP’s in health care?

  • Aphasia: Problems Speaking, Understanding, Reading, Writing, Telling Time, and/or Using Numbers Due to Strokes, Tumors, or Brain Injury

  • Cognitive-Communication Disorders: Problems With Memory, Reasoning, Problem-Solving, Attention, and Awareness of Surroundings

  • Dysarthria: (Weakness of The Speech Muscles) and Apraxia (Difficulty Planning Muscle Movements) Due to Brain and Damage That Makes Speech Difficult to Understand

  • Swallowing Problems: (Dysphagia) That Can Lead To:

  • Dehydration

  • Malnutrition

  • Pneumonia As a Result of Food or Liquid Going Into the Airway (Aspiration)

  • Less Pleasure in Eating

  • Embarrassment or Isolation at Mealtime

  • The Need for Tube Feeding or Other Alternatives for Nutrition

  • Voice Disorders: That Cause Changes in Pitch, Loudness, and Vocal Quality

Guidelines on When to Refer for Speech-Language Pathology Services


  A child may benefit from speech-language pathology services if he cannot communicate as well as other children at the same age, or if he has difficulty with feeding or swallowing. Speech-language pathology services should be considered if a child demonstrates any of the following symptoms:


Language Disorder

A child with a language disorder may have difficulty understanding language, following directions, or choosing appropriate words and combining them correctly in sentences. Language disorders can affect a child’s ability to interact with others and to learn. Some characteristics of a language disorder at different ages include:

  • 4 months: Poor eye contact; inattentive to the speech of others

  • 6-8 months: Lack of gestures

  • 12 months: Difficulty understanding speech or following simple directions

  • 16-18 months: No words, or a limited vocabulary

  • 24-26 months: Lack of ability to combine words for short sentences

  • 3 years: Echoes in words or phrases or many errors in sentences

  • 3-4 years: Lack of ability to retell stories or talk about past events

  • 6 years: Trouble with attention, memorization of facts, learning or reading

Articulation Disorder

A child with an articulation (speech sound) disorder may have difficulty producing individual sounds. As a result, the child may substitute an easy sound for a harder one (e.g., “tun” for sun), omit sounds (e.g., “ool” for school) or distort sounds (e.g., “shlun” for sun). In some cases (e.g., apraxia of speech), the child may have difficulty combining the movements of speech sounds in sequences, as required for words and sentences. Articulation errors often make speech very hard to understand. Some characteristics of an articulation disorder at different ages include:

  • 8-9 months: No babbling in a repetitive manner

  • 18 months: Use of vowels primarily or only a few consonants

  • 3 years: Leaving out consonants or unclear speech

  • 4 years: Distorted speech that is often hard to understand

  • 6 years: No production of some speech sounds

Fluency Disorder

A child with a fluency disorder (stuttering) has frequent abnormal disruptions in the flow of speech. Characteristics of a fluency disorder include:

  • Involuntary repetitions, hesitations, prolongations, blocks or disruptions during speech

  • Tension during speech or abnormal movements such as jerking or forceful eye blinking

  • Refusal to talk to strangers due to a fear of stuttering

  • Embarrassment during speaking

Voice Disorder

A child with a voice disorder has either abnormal vocal cord structure or abnormal function. Characteristics of a voice disorder include:

  • A chronically hoarse, harsh, breathy or raspy voice quality

  • An inappropriate vocal pitch for the child’s age or sex

  • Frequent pitch breaks

  • A voice that is consistently too soft

Resonance Disorder

A child with a resonance disorder will have either velopharyngeal dysfunction (a problem with the valve that closes off the nose from the mouth during speech) or blockage in the nose, throat or back of the mouth. Types of resonance disorders include:

  • Hypernasality due to too much sound in the nasal cavity during speech

  • Hyponasality due to a blockage in the nasal cavity

  • Cul-de-sac resonance due to blockage in one or more areas of the vocal tract

Dysphagia

A child with a feeding or swallowing disorder may have one or more of the following signs or symptoms:

  • Difficulty swallowing liquids or solids

  • Difficulty sucking or drinking from a cup

  • Difficulty taking foods from a spoon or chewing foods

  • Avoidance of certain types of foods or certain food textures

  • Gagging, choking or coughing during feeding

Our Assurances

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Insured

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Licensed

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Locally Owned

 


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Summit Speech Therapy Inc

415 S Medical Drive #D101,
Bountiful UT 84010


Layton Location

1410 Hill Field Road,
Suite #3, Layton UT 84041

Murray Location

975 E. Woodoak lane (5400 S) suite #220
Murray UT 84117


Phone: External link opens in new tab or window(385) 275-0492

Email: info@summitslp.com

Fax: (385) 275-6764

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