Speech therapy

What is speech and language therapy?

Speech and language therapy is a rehabilitative discipline that deals with the prevention, assessment and treatment of all conditions causing disorders of speech, voice, spoken and written language, as well as communication, swallowing and feeding difficulties in children, adolescents, adults and the elderly.

Speech and language therapy also helps to resolve difficulties related to learning at school in primary school children.

At the Metica clinic, the speech and language therapist can work alongside

the child neuropsychiatry team (neuropsychiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist) on the diagnosis, assessment and treatment of Specific Learning Disorders (SLD);
with the ENT specialist in the assessment and management of all conditions involving the voice, swallowing, hearing loss and speech;
with the osteopath for muscular imbalances in the orofacial region and the chest and shoulder muscles (atypical swallowing, dysphonia).

What conditions are speech and language therapy recommended for in childhood and/or adolescence?

Specific Language Disorders (SLD): receptive and/or expressive deficits in language development, affecting its articulatory, phonological, morphosyntactic and lexical components;
Language delay: late talkers (LT) aged 2–3 years;
Specific Learning Disorders (SLD): Dyslexia (difficulties with reading), Dysorthography and Dysgraphia (difficulties with writing from the second year of primary school onwards), Dyscalculia (difficulties with numbers and arithmetic from the third year of primary school onwards);
Language and learning disorders secondary to cognitive delay;
Dysfluency: disorders of verbal fluency (stammering);
Dysphonia: voice disorder;
Atypical swallowing: impairment of oral functions such as sucking, swallowing, chewing and breathing caused by an orofacial muscle imbalance;
Sensory hearing disorders (hearing loss and deafness);
Autism: difficulties with reciprocal social interaction, the ability to communicate ideas and feelings, and the capacity to form relationships with others;
Feeding difficulties linked to genetic conditions and/or sensory, muscular or skeletal abnormalities of the mouth (cleft lip and palate, Down’s syndrome, prematurity, ectodermal dysplasia).

What conditions are speech and language therapy recommended for in adulthood and/or later life?

Aphasia: a language disorder resulting from brain damage that impairs the ability to understand and/or produce language;
Dysarthria: speech difficulties caused by an inability to control the muscles involved in the production of speech sounds;
Dysphagia: difficulty swallowing;
Dysphonia: changes in the voice;
Motor disorders of the phono-articulatory system.
Abnormal swallowing in adults.

What happens during a speech and language therapy session?

During the first appointment, the speech and language therapist conducts a medical history review; in other words, all relevant information about the patient is gathered in order to define the specific impairment more precisely, with the aim of devising a treatment plan tailored to their individual needs.

The patient is also asked to undertake standardised tests, which help to identify the characteristics of the disorder.

Depending on the patient’s characteristics, the specific condition and their age, the speech and language therapist will structure and tailor each session with the aim of enhancing interpersonal and social communication, fostering intentionality and the desire to communicate, through the assessment and implementation of the most suitable form of expression (alphabetic, verbal, musical, symbolic and pictorial).

For example, during a speech and language therapy session for children, the therapist employs a series of actions, specially designed play-based activities, reading, onomatopoeic sounds and non-verbal communication to help the child develop positively and without frustration, building on the skills they already possess.

speech and language therapy appointment, including an assessment of communication skills
drawing up an intervention plan
rehabilitation treatment
regular contact with the school
ongoing monitoring of the intervention

as part of a joint project with a multi-disciplinary team.

How should I prepare for the appointment?

There are no specific preparation requirements.