When you hear “speech therapy,” what comes to mind? For many, it’s correcting speech sounds or helping someone pronounce words clearly. But the truth is, speech therapy is so much more than that. It can address challenges with language, communication, feeding, and even swallowing that impact both children and adults.
I am JP Alters. I’m the Director of Speech Therapy here at Rebound Physical Therapy, and today I want to talk about why the term “speech therapy” barely scratches the surface of what this field has to offer.
“Speech Therapy” Is a Misleading Term
Speech therapy, as a name, is very misleading. When most people think of speech therapy, they think of speech sounds and their production. And most of the time, when I’m working with adults, I’ll walk in and they’ll say, “I don’t have any trouble with my speech sounds.”
But the truth is, speech therapy can help with more than just speech development. We see and provide services for way more than just that. Your speech therapist is a speech-language pathologist. So not only can we help with speech, but we can help with all aspects of language as well.
What Speech-Language Pathologists Can Help With
A speech therapist can evaluate, treat, and provide home programming for a variety of speech and language disorders. Some examples of what we can help with include:
- Articulation challenges
- Receptive language (understanding others)
- Expressive language (communicating to others)
- Voice challenges
- Swallowing challenges
- Sensory feeding difficulties
A big one that we can help with is learning to use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. This might be for some of our patients that are nonverbal. We’re able to use technology, like an iPad-based system, to be able to communicate with pictures. This is simply using technology to empower your child or an adult to be able to communicate with others in their environment.
When Should You Seek a Speech Therapy Evaluation?
If you find your child is having difficulty understanding information, oral or written, or they’re having difficulty effectively communicating their ideas at a level similar to peers of the same age, you should seek an evaluation.
At Rebound, we desire to partner with you for the benefit of your child and your family. If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please reach out to us for a free speech screening. Give us a call at (785) 271-5533 to get started today.
