Role of
speech-language therapist
(In Pakistan less awareness is found
in public about speech therapist’s role)
By Iram
Sharif
Speech and
language therapist is a professional person who deals with speech-language,
socio-cognitive, communicative, eating/drinking or swallowing issues.
They work
to improve respiration (fluency disorders; stuttering, cluttering etc.)
phonation (voice issues), resonance (Nasality issues) and articulation (articulation errors; substitution,
omission, distortion & addition issues) areas.
They work in hospital settings to deal with
neurological conditions (Aphasia, Dysphagia, Dysarthria, dementia, strokes,
paralysis, etc.) by working on patients’ live survival, managing their oral and
pharyngeal phases, advise and refer for surgical procedures in cases of clefts
(lips & palates), paralysis and cancers etc. They advise for augmentative
and prosthetic devices, work on communication and counseling services, and
advice for food management for patients with swallowing issues. They can
administer many types of exercises, maneuvers, compensatory mechanisms and
postural techniques to enhance the normal swallowing in patients of paralysis,
strokes, dementia and many others. Exercises
and compensatory mechanisms are also used to strengthen the muscles. They
assess and manage areas of speech and language disorders as a result of any
anatomical loss.
They work with normal population/general education
setting to identify their hidden/unidentified disabilities or problems which
may manifest in the form of any speech and language problem and results in
students ‘educational failures or drop outs from normal educational settings
and can refer them to their respective professional. They
identify any voice, pitch, rate, tone, volume issues. Identify and refer to
audiologists for appropriate fitting of amplifications to the students with
slight or mild hearing losses and also work with students for bridging their
gaps in speech and language concepts.
They can
work in special education settings to work with the following disorders
(articulation, hearing impairments, intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy,
speech and language delays/disorders and more).