Role of speech-language therapist

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).