Advantages of Speech Therapy at Home

Speech therapy is an intervention service that focuses on improving a person’s speech and ability to understand and express language, including nonverbal communication.

Speech Therapy effectively treats a wide range of communication and speech problems in children and adults. Some of these may arise as a result of the following factors:

nerve injuries to the brain
muscular paralysis
structural abnormalities
developmental disabilities

Adults may require speech therapy following an illness or accident. Dementia, brain injuries, and oral cancer may necessitate the services of a speech therapist.

Speech therapists usually work with children who have developmental delays or hearing loss. Speech therapy is also available for children with autism, feeding and swallowing deficits, as well as articulation issues.

Who needs speech therapy at home?

Home speech therapy involves speech therapists providing treatment at your home without you having to go anywhere. Speech therapy at home can be provided for the following conditions:

Aphasia: is most commonly caused by a stroke or a brain injury.
Dysarthria: is a condition caused by nervous system disorders, such as a stroke, that results in facial paralysis or weakness in the tongue or throat muscles.
Receptive disorders: caused by autism or hearing loss
Resonance disorders: is caused when there is excessive or insufficient amount of nasal or oral sound energy in the speech signal.

What does a speech therapist do?

Speech therapists, also known as speech and language therapists, are professionals who evaluate, diagnose, and treat speech as well as communication disorders. They work with children with developmental delays and adults with speech impairments due to injury or illness.

Before beginning treatment, therapists follow a process that includes the following steps:

Assessment:

An SLT will begin by assessing the patient. The doctor will examine all areas of speech and language development to determine where the patient is having difficulty. They decide based on the patient’s performance in comparison to developmental norms.

Choosing Goals:

Choosing a reasonable number of goals to address at the start of therapy is critical. Patients with speech and language difficulties frequently struggle in multiple areas. The SLT will therefore select a few problem areas to work on at a time. They will typically select these based on which issues are affecting communication the most. For example, if a child can only say a few words but struggles with the “s” sound, the speech therapist may choose to teach them more words before addressing specific sounds.

Providing Therapy

Each patient is unique and will react differently to different therapy methods. The SLT selects the appropriate therapy technique for each patient and adjusts therapy as needed depending on the patient’s response to certain techniques.

What are the Speech Therapy Techniques used by SLPs?

Speech Therapy Techniques for Children

A child may receive speech therapy in a classroom setting as part of a small group or one-on-one. This is determined by the type of speech disorder they are experiencing.

To assist them in overcoming their specific issues, the SLT will use therapeutic exercises and activities.

These are some examples:

Language activities: These include playing and conversing with the child while using pictures, books, and objects to stimulate language development. To help the child’s language skills, the SLP may also demonstrate correct pronunciation and use repetition exercises.
Articulation activities: In these activities, the SLT will work together with the child to improve their pronunciation. During play activities, the SLT will demonstrate how to make specific sounds.
Feeding and swallowing therapy: Speech therapists can help children with difficulty chewing or swallowing. The child is taught oral exercises that strengthen the muscles in the mouth or is introduced to different food textures to improve the child’s oral awareness.
Exercises: The SLP may use a variety of tongue, jaw, and lip exercises to help strengthen the muscles around the mouth, which can aid in future speech and communication.

An SLP will also provide homework to the child. The exercises enable them to practice specific activities with a parent or caregiver and continue practicing after the session.

Speech therapy for adults

Adult speech therapy can be delivered by an SLT using a variety of techniques, which include:

Social communication: To improve social communication, the SLT may use problem-solving, memory activities, and conversation exercises.
Breathing exercises: The SLP may use breathing exercises to help with resonance issues.
Mouth exercises: These mouth exercises are an excellent way to strengthen the oral muscles, which can help the patient communicate better.
Swallowing exercises: Medical conditions such as Parkinson’s, stroke, or oral cancer can all cause swallowing problems. An SLT can assist a person experiencing these problems by making them do swallowing exercises.

Why is home speech therapy beneficial?

Individualized treatment plans are provided in the privacy of your own home.
Home is where a child feels safe and spends most of their time. A trusted environment can boost a child’s confidence, improving their ability to participate in therapy successfully.
When working with a child in their own home, a therapist can use the child’s toys or everyday objects during a therapy session. This allows both the parents and the child to practice the newly acquired skills regularly.
You no longer have to cancel appointments or change your busy schedule for the sessions. Speech therapy at home results in fewer postponements, allowing for consistency and, thus, successful therapy.
You can begin the session immediately once the therapist arrives at your home. There’s no need to wait for your turn in the lobby.
In familiar surroundings and familiar routines, the therapist can show the patient how to incorporate these techniques into daily activities.
Comprehensive speech and language assessments are provided through direct and virtual consultations, which can help you save time and stress by avoiding the need to travel to the therapist.

Apollo Homecare:

If you’re wondering how to get your speech therapy without having to go out? Apollo HomeCare is the ideal solution. Our team of specialists can help your family members with a variety of communication and speech problems in the comfort of your own home. With our online video consultations, you can access therapy in the comfort of your home and at your convenience.