Speech therapist

Speech therapy is a science that is at the intersection of medicine, pedagogy and psychology, and studies various speech defects, their causes, mechanisms and ways to eliminate or prevent. The special relevance of the work of a speech therapist lies in the fact that, although speech disorders are not a deadly disease for a person, they can still greatly complicate his life, interfering with normal communication with others. This is especially true for children: firstly, most speech defects appear precisely in childhood, when they can be most successfully cured; secondly, if adults are usually more tactful and understanding with interlocutors who have problems with pronunciation, children, alas, are distinguished by a certain cruelty towards their peers with any characteristics. This state of affairs can cause psychological trauma and complexes, which will become an obstacle to normal communication with others in childhood and adulthood. A timely appeal to a speech therapist will help to avoid such problems in life.

Who is a speech therapist: a teacher or a doctor

There are different points of view on whether a speech therapist is a psychologist, physician or teacher. The thing is that speech therapists accept patients not only in medical institutions. Today, in most kindergartens, schools and correctional educational institutions, the state provides for the position of a speech therapist. These specialists work with children directly at the place of their education. Such speech therapists are teachers – they have a higher speech therapy or defectology education, and in their work they are guided by medical data obtained from the patient’s record. The work of this teacher is closely related to the medical activities of a pediatric neurologist, otolaryngologist, psychologist, since the causes of speech defects are often due to the presence of any health disorders.

Specialists working in medical institutions have a higher medical education, as well as education in the field of defectology or speech therapy, and additional courses of psychotherapy. Unlike educators, they can prescribe medication in the treatment regimen, as well as apply psychotherapeutic techniques to help the patient cope with speech disorders.

What does a speech pathologist do?

A common misconception is that a speech therapist only helps to “set” the correct pronunciation of specific sounds in the right way, since this is only part of the work of a speech therapist. The doctor diagnoses disorders, examines the history of his patient, if necessary, prescribes various examinations – in this way he manages to establish the cause of speech defects. After the diagnosis is made, the speech therapist decides on the appointment of specific therapeutic regimens to eliminate speech activity disorders.

For this specialist, the skills of a psychologist and psychotherapist are required, since working with speech defects is often directly related to psychological trauma and complexes, fear or other severe, stressful conditions.

The main tasks of the doctor-speech therapist are:

• setting the correct pronunciation of sounds;
• vocabulary expansion;
• improving speech literacy;
• improving the clarity of pronunciation;
• correction of speech errors and inaccuracies;
• rehabilitation measures for patients who have acquired speech defects due to past illnesses, for example, after a stroke;
• study of the mechanisms and causes of the appearance of speech defects, development of methods for their correction;
• determination of organic lesions of the organs of the speech apparatus.

What organs and mental phenomena does a speech therapist treat?

The competence of the doctor includes the entire system of organs of the speech apparatus:

• oral cavity (jaws, teeth, gums, hard and soft palate);
• vocal cords;
• language.

In addition, speech therapists are engaged in the study and treatment of such a phenomenon as logoneurosis. This term refers to stuttering of various origins.

Diseases and disorders related to the competence of a speech therapist

A speech pathologist works with various types of speech disorders, both oral and written.

Its task is to eliminate:

• dysphonia and aphonia (impaired sonority of speech or its absence);
• dyslalia (problems with the pronunciation of specific sounds or combinations of sounds);
• bradilalia or takhilalia (slow or accelerated pronunciation of sounds);
• dyslexia and legasthenia (reading disorders);
• speech defects and rhinophony of the voice associated with hearing loss, as well as with the surgical intervention;
• Battarism, Hottentotism (absolute indistinctness of speech);
• rhinolalia (speech problems that arise due to the peculiarities of the formation of the upper lip and palate);
• dysgraphia and agraphia (writing disorders).

The doctor deals with the treatment of some of these pathologies together with surgeons, dentists, neurologists, otolaryngologists.

A separate field of activity of a speech therapist is speech disorders associated with organic damage to the speech centers of the brain. Such defects are usually quite difficult to correct. This is done by a speech pathologist.

The main causes of speech defects

Determining the nature, etiology of the appearance of certain disorders in the functioning of the speech apparatus is the first step towards overcoming them. Theoretical knowledge in this matter allows us to take certain preventive measures in order to prevent the appearance of a problem in those people who are at risk. Of course, each case is individual, and, for the convenience of speech therapists, the most basic and most common factors that provoke the appearance of defects in speech activity were combined into a generalized classification. Distinguish:

• congenital features of the development of the speech apparatus: intrauterine pathologies of fetal development, genetic mutations, hereditary predisposition, acute or chronic fetal hypoxia, birth trauma;
• organic disorders in the cerebral cortex obtained during life: acute infectious diseases affecting the membranes of the brain, craniocerebral injuries, diseases affecting the cerebral cortex (for example, circulatory disorders);
• psychological problems – these include pedagogical neglect, the absence of people around, an unfavorable situation in the family, psychological trauma, for example, fear or the consequences of violence.

Reasons to see a speech pathologist

Many people believe that a speech therapist, whether a doctor or a teacher, works only with children, and it makes no sense for an adult with speech defects to visit him. This point of view is not true. Of course, adult age is a factor that complicates work with problems of speech activity. Many defects can no longer be eliminated completely, but it is quite possible to achieve a certain improvement.

It is necessary to contact a speech therapist in such cases:

• after surgery to remove the larynx or vocal cords: in such cases, the doctor helps the patient learn how to use the glottis to extract certain sounds;
• in the order of rehabilitation after a stroke: if the brain damage affects the centers responsible for speech, paresis or paralysis of the muscles of the larynx and facial muscles may occur. In this case, the doctor offers a special set of exercises that help to achieve improvement;
• if speech disorders appeared after suffering mental disorders: the work can be carried out in conjunction with a psychiatrist or psychotherapist.

In addition, people who want to improve their oratory skills and improve their diction also come to a speech therapist. They work with a speech pathologist.

When to Take Your Child to a Speech Pathologist

Due to the fact that in children the process of development of speech centers has not yet been completed, and reading, diction, and pronunciation skills are actively developing, working on speech problems with a child will have more significant results than in the case of adults.

Parents should not make excessive demands on their child. This is especially true when the baby begins to speak. For example, by a year and a half, a baby should pronounce at least a few words, and, starting from the moment of birth, make single sounds. As for clear and coherent speech with absolutely correct pronunciation, it is difficult to say exactly when exactly it should appear in a child.

Among the objective reasons for visiting a speech therapist by a child under one year old is the lack of pronunciation of sounds by an infant. Usually the baby reacts to words, touches, toys with elementary cooing, babble, smile. If this does not happen, you should not postpone the visit to the doctor.

In the period from one to three years, parents need to bring the baby to a speech therapist if he is diagnosed with cerebral palsy, if there is a hereditary factor (late speech development in one of the parents), also if the child is diagnosed with hearing and vision problems , or a shortened frenulum of the tongue.

From three to five years, parents monitor the appearance of such signs of speech development disorders:

• incorrect pronunciation of words or individual sounds;
• violation of the speed of pronunciation and swallowing of sounds;
• the child confuses prepositions, conjunctions, cases, and does not respond to corrections;
• the inability to clearly and consistently describe the picture, make sentences.

Rehabilitation after operations involving the speech apparatus also falls within the competence of a speech therapist, and can be relevant at any age.

Parents need to clearly understand all the consequences of the situation when a child’s speech problems take their course:

• in children with defects in speech activity, educational material is usually absorbed worse, which is why school performance fluctuates between low and average;
• speech hearing impairment interferes with the study of foreign languages;
• violation of the coherence of speech makes it difficult to study oral subjects: biology, literature, history, and others;
• speech defects are the cause of problems with communication, the appearance of an inferiority complex, psychological discomfort.

What diagnostic and treatment methods does a speech therapist use in his work?

Speech problems are diagnosed primarily by hearing. The doctor, carrying out consultation and reception, first interrogates the patient, and already by the sounds of his speech, by its coherence, he can draw preliminary conclusions about the defects in speech activity. In addition, the doctor conducts specific testing, if necessary, appoints consultations with related specialists: an otolaryngologist, a neurologist, a neuropathologist, a psychiatrist.

After diagnosing and establishing the problem, the speech therapist determines whether it is within his competence, or whether it is necessary to refer the patient to another specialist.

The whole system of treatment by a speech therapist for children and adults is different in the sense that in the first case it will have a playful form. The doctor applies complex methods of influencing both the defect itself and the cause of its appearance (if possible). The effectiveness of treatment directly depends on the passion and perseverance of the patient, since only repeated training and repetitions give noticeable results. Classes are held according to the scheme of complication, and, basically, are sets of exercises. In some cases, the doctor prescribes medication.

A speech therapist is a specialist thanks to whom people with speech problems get a chance for full communication with the outside world. This question is relevant for both children and adults. Speech defects can become a serious obstacle to a normal life, study, work, building relationships.

Depending on the education received by a speech therapist, he can be engaged in pedagogical work, or carry out medical activities on the basis of clinics, hospitals, specialized correctional centers.