Speech Therapy Can Help With That

Knowing if you need speech therapy as an adult is almost as confusing as understanding why you owe in taxes! The good news is that we are here to help you navigate how and when speech therapy can help, specifically those lesser-known reasons that you may want to consider reaching out to a trained speech therapist.

Impaired perception of vocal loudness (vocal disorder)

With certain medical conditions, people find it difficult to determine how loudly they are speaking. This is called a vocal disorder and it affects many of our clients, particularly those with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) or Parkinson’s disease (PD), including Parkinsonism.

In these cases where vocal loudness is perceptually affected, awareness of vocal loudness is oftentimes severely diminished. Ordering a meal in a busy restaurant and communicating with others can be frustrating for both the speaker and the listener.

Karen Ross, the Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP) at Trio Rehab, reports that her clients with MS or PD often explain, “Gosh, I thought my voice was fine.” All while their caregiver sits beside them wanting to pull out their own hair due to frustration.

At Trio, Karen supports those with decreased perception of their vocal quality by first providing them with visual feedback using a decibel reader. Karen encourages 85 dB using the reader and particular exercises are utilized while her client maintains this reading. Initially, the exercises are performed 3-4 times a week in the office as well as home to support positive changes in the brain and improve confidence with speaking and being understood!

Hoarseness after singing (vocal fatigue)

I am going to pick on my mom here, so I hope she doesn’t read this blog post! My mom often complains about having to quit singing due to extreme hoarseness. Sadly, like most singers and those who rely on their voices to do their job or engage in a hobby, my mom was unaware that speech therapy can help repair voice quality, allowing her to sing again.  However, you know how hard it is for parents, especially moms, to take instructions from their kids…well our family is no different.

In addition to supporting clients with traditional speech therapy exercises, SLPs are expert in teaching others about good vocal hygiene to keep vocal cords healthy. Vocal hygiene includes staying well hydrated, avoiding excessive throat clearing, assuring allergies or GERD is under control, and maintaining a comfortable volume when singing. Also, it is important to remember that if you have not sung regularly in a while; say 5, 10, or 20 years then you will need to ease back into that Soprano voice!

Outside of vocal hygiene, speech therapy can help guide you through a rehabilitation process that includes respiration exercises, improved patterns of vocal use, and strengthening of the muscles of the throat. With this support, we can all be some singing machines.

Psychogenic disorders affecting speech, swallowing, and stuttering

Did you know that chronic stress, anxiety, depression, and/or conversion disorders can lead to difficulty with speech, swallowing, and stuttering? Speech therapy can help treat these conditions with those who have a psychological compounding factor, as well as those who do not. The difference in treatment lies in the education.  Teaching those who have a psychological comorbidity about how their comorbidity affects speech and swallowing is key. This often improves acceptance of the psychological component and reduces fear.

Stuttering manifestations take a bit more finesse and require the speech therapists to use strategies to shape how a person expresses their self. One way speech therapy can help is by decreasing tension, which is a major factor in stuttering called rate control. Rate control supports an overall slowing of the rate of speech output.

In all cases, whether it be a psychogenic speech, swallowing, or stuttering problem, a speech therapist can tailor treatment plans using evidence-based strategies to improve overall speech confidence!

Alcoholism

Alcohol-related brain damage describes an array of neuropsychiatric disorders. One such disorder and a form of dementia is called Wernicke–Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS). This syndrome decreases the executive functioning of an alcoholic including planning, problem solving, and adapting/inhibiting behavior.
After an alcoholic has quit drinking for a short period, the need for a speech therapist may become evident as cognitive impairment can disrupt attention and treatment engagement for alcoholism. Once recovery is well underway or complete, speech therapy can help assess and treat other components commonly found with alcoholics, including deficits with memory, mood, and word-finding. These areas can be treated using a variety of evidence-based interventions, a written log, and through repetitive therapy practices.

Post pneumonia or Covid-19 pneumonia

Respiratory diseases can affect vocal quality and swallowing ability. When a lengthy respiratory illness has occurred, breathing to speak may become difficult affecting overall vocal quality. In addition, swallowing can become disconcerting as the ability to productively cough is limited. These are both examples of limited respiratory muscle strength. Speech therapy can help with both!  Treatment interventions include education, improved vocal hygiene, and a format of exercises that improves the use of breath with voice-producing tasks.

Post- radiation stiffness (lack of oral motor and vocal quality)

Beating cancer is a feat in itself! However, there can be side effects of radiation including decreased oral motor mobility and decreased vocal quality. This can be due to cancers found and treated in the nasal cavity, sinus cavity, oral cavity, throat, or salivary glands.

Some clients will need exercises to target jaw opening in order to produce speech. Others may need tongue strengthen to allow the tongue to push food to the back of the mouth. While others may need training on how to create speech using a sound source such as the machine you press against your neck to create vibratory speech, which is known as an electrolarynx. No matter the exact treatment, speech therapists will tailor therapy to the root cause and unique client needs.

Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a fatal genetic disorder that causes the progressive breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. It deteriorates a person’s physical and mental abilities usually during their prime working years and has no cure.

Even with such a terrible disorder, speech therapy can help when supporting someone with HD while supporting their vocal quality and independence communication for as long as possible.

A speech therapist will support breath control and intelligibility by teaching the person with HD the particular muscles needed around the mouth to keep strong and which need to remain mildly relaxed. In addition, the Speech therapist can provide Communication Partner Training (CPT). CPT is an evidence-based intervention that teaches communication partners such as a spouse how to best support conversation and interaction for the client with HD. This can help to reduce social isolation and improve quality of life.

So many people think that Speech-Language Pathologists, or Speech Therapists (the names are interchangeable) only work with children who have a hard time saying a particular letter. The intention of this blog was to let the public know the not so common reasons a speech therapist can help you in your rehabilitative journey!

We can help!

Our team of speech therapists can help with additional at-home speech therapy exercises, education, symptom assessment and help you explore in-depth treatment plans. Call Trio Rehab for more information!

Karen Ross, SLP
Trio Rehabilitation & Wellness Solutions
Boerne, Texas