What does a Speech Therapist do?
As a speech therapist, I am often asked about my job. It is not a very common occupation in Singapore and many people are unaware of what we do. So in this post, I’d like to give an insight as to what we do as speech therapists.
Speech therapists, otherwise known as speech and language pathologists, conduct assessments, make diagnoses and provide therapy. Contrary to its name, the field of speech therapy does not just include speech. The field of speech therapy covers not only speech but also language, fluency, voice and swallowing issues in both children and adults.
To provide a holistic treatment plan for their clients, speech therapists often work together with other healthcare professionals. These include the likes of doctors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dieticians and nurses.
Conducts Assessments
Speech therapists conduct assessments to find out if any delays or disorders in speech and language are present in their clients. The assessments help to pin-point the areas where support is needed, as well as their severity.
The assessments also help us to rule out other potential issues like hearing problems. These information is then used to help us come up with effective treatment plans.
The assessment results also tell the speech therapist if the issues are part of a larger syndrome. This may include autism, global developmental delay et cetera. The information allows speech therapists to anticipate other potential needs that may also need to be addressed.
For example, in children with global developmental delays, signing may not always be such a good option. This is because their fine motor skills may not be advanced enough to perform some of the signs. As such, a picture exchange system or other AACs may be recommended instead.
The speech therapist also needs to explain the assessment findings to the caregivers, and to help them to understand the specific needs of the client.
If treatment in other disciplines are required, the speech therapist also helps to refer the client on to other professionals.
Comes Up With Treatment Plans for Speech Therapy
After the client’s needs have been identified, the speech therapist will then work on creating a treatment plan for speech therapy. During this process, the speech therapists consults the parents (if the client is a child) and other professionals. This is necessary to come up with a individualised treatment plan tailored to the needs of the client.
The treatment plan will address long term goals, which are then broken down into smaller short term goals. These goals are prioritised based on needs, and have to be appropriate for a client’s developmental level.
During treatment, several goals may be addressed at the same time. However, If the client’s needs are more severe, the therapy will need to be more focused to improve his/her success rate.
The treatment plan will not only cover what the speech therapist does in clinic, but also the kind of training that parents may require to carry out the treatment at home.
It will also provide recommendation on the type of support that needs to be put in place at school or at the work place to support the client.
Provides Speech Therapy
When working with children, it is important to make speech therapy sessions fun. Therapy is usually designed around the client’s interests to make it engaging. The speech therapist may design games, activities and think of motivators to target the various short term goals.
Since having speech therapy once or twice a week is not enough, the caregivers will need to practice these targets at home. The speech therapist will thus need to explain why a certain goal is important for a child. This is important in help caregivers come onboard in speech therapy. The speech therapist will then need to demonstrate to show caregivers how to carry out the treatment at home.
During therapy, speech therapists also employ different techniques like auditory, visual and physical cues to work on various goals. The speech therapist will then impart it to the care givers by introducing the various techniques, demonstrating and then getting them to try it. At the end of the session, the speech therapist will conduct a review and troubleshoot.
Consultation with teachers and workplace may also be conducted so that support can be put in place at these facilities.
Troubleshoots When Things Go Wrong
The child’s progress is constantly monitored during treatment. If the child is not making progress for an extended period of time, it is time to troubleshoot. The speech therapist will need to find out the reason why things are not working and to come up with back up plans.
This may include being even more specific with targets. Or breaking the short term goals into even smaller steps. If these still do not work, it might be necessary to go back and review more foundational skills. External reasons that may have impeded the child’s progress will also need to be investigated. Further troubleshooting may also be needed as therapy goes along.
Conclusion
I hope this gives you a better idea about what speech therapists do. If you’d like more information about speech therapists, please check out SALTS, the association for speech and language therapists in Singapore.
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