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Speech Therapy is the health area that is responsible for the prevention, assessment, intervention and scientific study of human communication disorders (verbal and non-verbal), as well as changes related to orofacial motricity and swallowing.
The Speech Therapist is the professional who assesses and intervenes in individuals of all age groups (from newborns to the elderly), with the general and primary objective of optimizing the communication and/or swallowing skills of the individual, thus contributing to the improving your quality of life.
The speech therapist’s field of action is very broad and diverse.
In newborns, and particularly in neonatal units, the speech therapist provides care in feeding and swallowing the newborn.
In childhood, it focuses on promoting language, communicative (verbal and non-verbal), vocal, fluency (stuttering) skills, as well as on targeted and personalized intervention for associated disorders. In children and young people of school age, the role of the speech therapist is to intervene in terms of reading and writing difficulties, promoting and ensuring the child’s academic success.
In adulthood, this professional’s intervention focus is on acquired language disorders (aphasias, TBI’s), vocal pathologies (nodules, vocal cord paralysis, etc.) as well as swallowing changes (dysphagia). In addition, it has a decisive role in promoting communication and/or voice skills in various groups of professionals who use their voice professionally (teachers, actors, singers, call center employees, etc…).
The speech therapist is responsible for:
Promote the prevention of communication/language disorders and their screening towards early detection;
Evaluate all functions and skills of the user/client in order to assertively diagnose the changes that are preventing the correct development of their abilities;
Plan the therapeutic intervention of each client individually and based on the strengths of each, as well as the expectations of each family, with a view to overcoming difficulties;
Intervene and prioritize multidisciplinary teamwork, in order to promote an adequate and holistic development of each client;
Plan and promote awareness/training actions, guiding families and/or educational agents involved in the rehabilitation program in order to enhance the success of the therapeutic intervention.
Thus, the Speech Therapist assumes an extremely important role at any stage or age of life, being (along with other professionals) essential for the creation and maintenance of people’s quality of life. It is, therefore, recommended that whenever difficulties arise in any of the areas mentioned above, the support of a professional specialized in Speech Therapy is sought so that support can be started as soon as possible, avoiding major losses.