Think speech therapists only work with children on their s’s and r’s? Think again.
Speech therapists ” formally known as speech-language pathologists “work to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, communication, cognitive-communication, voice, and swallowing disorders in children and adults “a scope of practice much broader than many people think.
Here, Michelle Brueckner, speech pathology coordinator at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, sets the record straight on some commonly held misconceptions:
1. Speech therapists help adults, too, not just children.
In fact, at St. Elizabeth, the majority of speech therapy patients are adults who need help with speech, language, memory, voice, or swallowing disorders.
While some speech therapists specialize in helping children with sounds and language development, many concentrate their expertise on a variety of communication disorder areas.
2. Some speech therapists help pre-term babies with feeding disorders.
Most people are surprised to hear that some speech therapists help newborns and babies with swallowing and feeding. At St. Elizabeth, speech therapists assist with feeding in the neonatal intensive care unit, Brueckner said.
“It’s not uncommon for pre-term babies to have undeveloped sucking and breathing skills, and they often have trouble coordinating the two,” she said. “That’s where our therapists who specialize in feeding disorders can help those newborns, with those pre-feeding or feeding readiness skills like rooting or sucking ” all the things they have to do before they’re willing or wanting to eat.”
3. Becoming a speech therapist requires a lot of schooling.
Speech therapists must receive a master’s degree in speech pathology, pass a board exam, and then complete a nine-month clinical fellowship year, Brueckner said. During the fellowship year, therapists are supervised and evaluated to make sure they’re meeting certain competencies in the areas in which they work. Those results then are submitted to the state licensure board and the governing board, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, for certification.
4. You need to do your homework when choosing a speech therapist.
Speech therapists are trained to work with both children and adults. However, some therapists might choose to narrow their focus by working with only children or adults. The settings in which speech therapists work can vary from a school to a hospital to an outpatient clinic or even a nursing home.
Find the right therapist for you
To find a speech therapist who would work best for your needs, ask two questions:
- What is the therapist’s specialty or area of focus?
- What populations does he or she serve most often?
Additionally, Brueckner said, especially if the therapist will be working with your child, make sure you and the therapist are on the same page in terms of behavior management.
But, “no matter if the patient is a child or an adult, the bottom line is that you need to have a good rapport with your therapist,” she said. “Otherwise you’re not going to buy into or trust what they’re having you do.”
