Speech Therapist: Diagnosis, Treatment & Choice of Doctor

Speech and the ability to communicate represent essential characteristics of human beings. All the more difficult have those who suffer from disorders of their speech and voice. These people are not only threatened in their professional and social existence, but are likewise exposed to the risk of being ostracized by their social environment. These risks can often only be counteracted by a visit to a speech therapist, who attempts to improve the communication skills of his patients through targeted treatments.

What is a speech therapist?

A speech therapist treats people who suffer from speech, language, swallowing or voice disorders. His or her job is to improve these people’s ability to communicate. A speech therapist treats people who suffer from speech, language, swallowing or voice disorders. His task is to improve the ability of these people to communicate and to help them integrate into their social environment. In order to work as a speech therapist, one usually has to complete a 3-year training program at vocational schools for speech therapy. Here, the prospective speech therapist learns about the numerous sub-fields of speech therapy, which include phonetics and linguistics. Prerequisites for the profession of speech therapist are a suitable voice, good hearing, musical talent and empathy. A speech therapist can find employment opportunities in speech therapy practices, but also in various other institutions such as hospitals or institutions for early intervention. In addition, there are further education and training opportunities for speech therapists within the framework of a degree in speech therapy.

Treatments

A speech therapist treats a wide range of clinical pictures in his work. First, swallowing disorders, which affect the processes of food intake and transmission and often have their causes in neurological diseases, represent a large treatment area of the speech therapist. The speech therapist also frequently treats Parkinson’s patients who have a less mobile speech apparatus due to their disease, which can lead to monotonous and unclear articulation. Stroke patients who can no longer speak at all or who suffer from a disturbed flow of speech are also treated by the speech therapist. In childhood patients, the speech therapist often deals with speech disorders such as so-called late speech, which affects children who have mastered fewer than 50 words by 24 months of age. In order to counteract a possible speech development disorder, early diagnosis is particularly important here. Lisping or stuttering, in which planned words and sentences cannot be uttered at all or only haltingly, also belong to the treatment field of a speech therapist. Likewise, a speech therapist treats hearing disorders, which can often have an impact on speech development.

Diagnostic and examination methods

During a therapy session, the speech therapist first tests the patient’s articulation, grammar, vocabulary, and writing and reading skills. Through further examination of the respiratory, vocal and swallowing functions, a suitable treatment method is now selected, taking into account a doctor’s findings. Thus, depending on the clinical picture, very different therapeutic measures are carried out by the speech therapist. In addition to performing breathing and relaxation exercises, the speech therapist supports stroke patients, for example, in regaining motor skills and speech memory. Stuttering patients are taught techniques to liquefy the disturbed speech process and to reduce the disturbing mechanisms. In children, on the other hand, speech can be trained by means of visual material. In addition, the speech therapist often makes use of various equipment during the sessions, such as musical instruments or sound boxes to promote auditory perception. Materials such as straws or pustemills are also used to promote oral motor skills. To improve fine motor skills, crayons and finger paints are used as sound-supporting movements, while plasticine or sand can be used to promote tactile-kinesthetic perception. Likewise, a speech therapist often works with songs, rhymes or stories with child patients in order to test the child’s level of linguistic development through playful communication offers and to promote it accordingly.

What should the patient pay attention to?

When choosing a speech therapist, there are several important points to consider.First of all, the patient should first find out from a doctor whether logopedic treatment is really necessary. If this is the case, the patient will be issued a prescription by the doctor. The costs for these medically prescribed treatments are covered by the health insurance. It is also important that the selected speech therapist is specialized in the particular disease to be treated. In addition, the treatments are usually only successful if the selected speech therapist tailors the improvement of speech skills to the everyday life of the respective patient. The inclusion of caregivers in the treatment should also be asked about, because they can offer the patient assistance in everyday life by learning therapy methods.