SLPs: Who We Are
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are healthcare professionals focusing on communication and feeding/swallowing. You know SLPs work with children who cannot say certain sounds, but we can do so much more.
Articulation: SLPs can help with speech and motor control problems relating to targeted sounds (sometimes called a speech sound disorder or phonological disorder).
Fluency: SLPs can address dysfluent speech or effortful/halting speech and the secondary behaviors that may co-occur.
Voice and Resonance: Voice therapy involves your voice's pitch, loudness, and quality. It includes gender-affirming voice training.
Resonance is related to vocal tract use, such as nasalized speech due to cleft palate.
Language: Language therapy addresses how a person understands what is said to them (for example, following directions) and how a person expresses themselves. This includes appropriate use and understanding of grammatical and other rules.
Hearing: SLPs support individuals who are hard of hearing and deaf by guiding their communication methods, either sign language, oral language, or both.
Swallowing/Feeding: Feeding therapy helps you if you are a picky eater or if certain textures are challenging.
Swallowing therapy addresses any problem sending food/drink intake to the digestive way properly.
Cognitive Communication: Our communication is supported by the understanding and expression of thoughts. It involves memory, attention, and other cognitive functions. SLPs help you with the strategies to connect your mind and language.
Social Communication: Social communication therapy helps with the use of language in a socially appropriate manner.
Communication Modalities: SLPs work with you to use assistive technology or alternative and augmentative communication tools when needed. This includes the use of picture communication and talk devices.
Around the "Big Nine," there are also certain niches where SLPs may specialize by receiving additional intensive training. An example of an area of expertise or a "niche" in our field is orofacial myology or myofunctional therapy. Orofacial myology is the study and treatment of facial structures relating to dentition (teeth), feeding/swallowing, speech, and overall health. The focus is on maximizing the function of the oral structures so that the muscles can work together more efficiently.
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