Speech therapy is an approach used to treat children and adults who have problems with language, speech, or swallowing. It is most effective when started early and practised consistently.
The first step is getting an assessment by a qualified speech pathologist. This article will explain the different types of assessments and how they are conducted. For professional occupational therapy Adelaide for sensory processing disorder services, check this out.
Language Assessment
Speech and Language assessments offer a comprehensive look at an individual’s communication skills compared to age-matched peers. They include measures of articulation and phonology (how we produce sounds), receptive and expressive language, grammatical structure and understanding, stuttering assessment, and voice quality.
Speech pathologists conduct a comprehensive case history, including relevant medical, family and personal information, to build a picture of your child’s communication skills and the factors that may impact them. Assessments are often undertaken with other professionals involved in your child’s development, such as Occupational Therapists, Psychologists and Doctors.
Our clinicians use a combination of formal testing using ANZ standardised CELF tests and clinical observations. They will also consider the results of other assessment tools, such as otolith recordings. Generally, a language assessment takes 2 hours and includes 1 hour of data analysis/interpretation. Parents are welcome to stay in the room throughout. You will receive an assessment report at the end of your appointment. For professional occupational therapy Adelaide for sensory processing disorder services, check this out.
Speech Assessment
Parents often choose to see a speech pathologist when they notice their child is not speaking or developing in line with their peers. Children should be saying their first words by their first birthday, ten words by 18 months and 50 words by two years (including two-word combinations).
If your child has not reached these milestones, you are concerned about stuttering, or your child cannot produce sounds correctly, a speech pathologist can help. They may suggest using specialised equipment such as a probe microphone, which allows the therapist to see the inner workings of your child’s speech production and understand how sounds are produced in different environments.
Specialised speech and language assessments diagnose communication disorders, such as articulation and phonological disorders. The results of the assessment are recorded in an official report. This confidential document belongs to the client, who can choose to share it with others.
Swallowing Assessment
If you have trouble swallowing food or liquid, it may affect your quality of life. Swallowing problems are often called dysphagia and may lead to aspiration pneumonia and even death.
Dysphagia screening can include video fluoroscopy to look at how you swallow. The speech pathologist can then show you how to improve your swallowing technique and thicken your liquids to prevent aspiration.
During the assessment, your speech pathologist watches you eat different foods and drink water, juice, pu, or pudding. They look at how you chew, how quickly or slowly you eat, the size of your bites and whether you cough or choke when eating. They will also code and record each swallowing and non-swallowing event. This will enable future, long-term, continuous dysphagia screening. Often, this is done in conjunction with a medical doctor. This will ensure that the dysphagia is not due to another condition. For professional occupational therapy Adelaide for sensory processing disorder services, check this out.
Voice Assessment
Speech pathologists are trained to assess voice disorders and utilise specific techniques to diagnose the cause of the problem. Voice assessments include patient-based, auditory-perceptual, acoustic, and aerodynamic measures to determine the quality of the voice.
Depending on the outcome of your assessment, we suggest that you attend a short maintenance session to monitor your progress and solve any problems that arise. In these sessions, we will guide you through exercises to practice at home.
Children with language and communication difficulties require the help of a skilled speech pathologist. Our child speech pathologists have extensive experience assessing and treating children with various language, speech sound and swallowing disorders.
A full assessment of a child’s APD usually requires a combination of formal tests and less structured activities such as books, play and observation. Dual-qualified speech pathologists and audiologists offer APD assessments that incorporate a holistic approach, so your child’s ability is viewed as a whole, not just their hearing or speech.