Speech Therapy Lessons For Adults

Should You Work With A Speech

Adult Speech and Language Therapy- Vocal Function Exercises

If you struggle with speech and cognitive skills, then youshould consider working with a speech-language pathologist .

An SLP is trained to help you recover speech afterneurological injury, and they work with all areas of speech recovery that welisted earlier.

Most people work with an SLP for as long as insurance will cover, and then move onto speech apps when insurance cuts them off.

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What Is The Goal For Adult Speech Therapy

Speech therapy can be beneficial for adults who have difficulty communicating.

These challenges may start in childhood, such as stuttering, or may be acquired later in life, for example after a stroke or brain injury. Speech therapy can help address a wide variety of concerns related to communication.

The human brain is amazing at adapting and figuring out new things, and that ability never disappears – its never too late to learn strategies to support stronger communication skills. Speech therapy can help!

Speech therapy can provide support in the following areas:

Stroke

Professional Communication Training Can Help You:

Speak and write influentially
Eliminate your fear of public speaking
Modify the pitch of your voice or improve intonation
Add intonation and expression to your verbal communication
Enhance your professional interviewing skills
Increase awareness and modify non-verbal communication skills
Develop active listening and interpretive reading skills

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Why Are Executive Functioning Skills Important

Executive functioning skills allow individuals to prioritize tasks and correctly sequence needed behaviors to complete them efficiently. Skills like planning and organizing are crucial to success at work, school, and in daily life. At every stage of development, these skills are necessary to manage our home and thrive in our careers.

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We did the prep work so you can do the critical thinking for what will best serve your client. Access hundreds of evidence-inspired treatments, strategies, education handouts, and real-life activities, with everything you need to use and customize in therapy. The Activity Studio is flexible use it right off your device, or print, or email. Its a Studio feel free to create and improvise with customizable picture and text options.

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Functional Speech Therapy Activities For Adults

Programs for speech therapy specifically designed for seniors, like the ones at Mattoon Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, are created to benefit each individual resident. Mattoon Rehabilitation will perform an assessment of each person to understand which activities and exercises will be most beneficial. No matter what program a speech therapist suggests, there is always additional work that can be done individually. Here are some suggestions for functional speech therapy activities for adults:

Tongue exercises.

Move your tongue around as much as possible in and out, side to side and up and down. Hold each position for two seconds, then repeat. Training your tongue to move easily in coordinated patterns can help to improve speech.

Smile and blow kisses.

Stand in front of the mirror, then smile and relax your face as many times as you can. Change it up by making kissy faces, then relaxing. In addition to strengthening muscles, doing these exercises in front of the mirror provides feedback, which stimulates your brain, making this an excellent cognitive-communication therapy activity.

Play word games.

Computer games, like alchemy or solitaire, are great for improving your brains language processing skills. While you arent actually talking, work is still being accomplished with cognitive-linguistic therapy activities like this!

Count the syllables.

Addressing problem areas.

Speech therapy apps.

Doing The Best Speech Therapy Exercises

Overall, the best speech therapy exercises are the ones youpractice repetitively and consistently. Thats how the brain recovers.

However, because many different skills go into speech, itsimportant to cover all your bases by working with an SLP or using speechtherapy apps.

And if you have trouble getting started because you canttalk at all, then singing therapy is a great option to look into.

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Common Speech And Language Conditions For Adults

There are many speech and language disorders that can be treated with speech therapy.

: This is a motor speech disorder that makes it difficult or impossible to control the muscles used to form words. This can happen even if the person has the desire to speak and the muscles are physically able to form words. Apraxia can happen in adults as the result of head injury, dementia, or stroke. This type of apraxia in adults is referred to as acquired apraxia of speech.

Dysarthria: When the muscles used for speech are weak, this can cause slurred, quiet, or slow speech that may be difficult for others to understand. Dysarthria can happen in adults as the result of head injury, muscular dystrophy, or a stroke.

Aphasia: Resulting from a brain injury or stroke affecting the language areas of the brain, aphasia hinders a persons ability to use or understand words. It affects their ability to retrieve certain words and can affect their ability to speak, read, or write. It is estimated that 2 million adults in the U.S. have aphasia and that nearly 180,000 Americans acquire it every year.Lisps: The most common form of a lisp occurs when someone makes a th sound when trying to say an /s/ or /z/ sound. Lisps are caused by the incorrect placement of a persons tongue inside their mouth during speech. Many adults have lisps that weren’t properly treated in their younger years. It’s never too late to receive speech therapy to improve a lisp.

The Best Speech Therapy Exercises To Get Your Voice Back

Adult Speech and Language Therapy – Volume and Projection

Written by the editorial team at Flint Rehab

Speech therapy exercises can help you improve your abilityto communicate and produce language. They can be especially helpful after aneurological injury like stroke.

Youre about to discover some great speech therapy exercisesthat you can try at home. Then, well share some tips to help you get startedeven if you cant talk at all.

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Speech Therapy Activities For Adults

Speech therapy is a rapidly growing program in the United States, benefiting people of all ages. One reason for the growth in this area is the growth of the US population of people over the age of 65. Currently, the US has a larger number of individuals over 65 than at any other period in history, and that number is only expected to keep growing. As people live longer, there is greater risk for medical conditions that impact speech, such as brain injuries, dementia or a stroke.

Speech therapy is an integral part of rehabilitation for a variety of conditions associated with aging, and many rehabilitation facilities and skilled nursing communities, such as Mattoon Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Mattoon, Ill., have invested in on-site speech therapy resources.

If you or a loved one is considering speech therapy as a support program, there are some important points to consider. It is best to understand what the program offers, what functional speech therapy activities for adults you can do on your own to support your goals and speech therapy problem solving activities for adults.

I Went To The Store And Bought

Heres a great way to get your pediatric clients talking and expanding upon their descriptive word vocabulary. It also requires them to pay attention, which is always a plus! Start the game by saying, I went to the store and bought milk. The child then continues the grocery list by adding the item you said, along with a new item. For example, they may then say, I went to the store and bought milk and fruit snacks. See how many items you and the child can remember on the list! This is also a great game to play when working with multiple children in a school-based setting. Have them sit in a circle and play the game by moving around the circle and asking each child to add to the list.

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Benefits Of Speech Therapy Exercises

Speech therapy exercises are great for improving languagedisorders like aphasia.These disorders occur when the language center of the brain becomes damagedafter injury like stroke.

The language center resides in the left hemisphere of thebrain. Therefore, aphasia often occurs after a left hemisphere stroke or braininjury.

Speech therapy exercises help improve language skills bysparking neuroplasticity:the brains ability to rewire itself. Through neuroplasticity, healthy areas ofthe brain can take over the function of language.

Speech therapy exercises encourage new areas of the brain to take on the function of speech and communication.

Neuroplasticity is activated with repetitive stimulation, soconsistent speech therapy is required for the best results.

Online Speech Therapy For Adults

Online speech therapy is a convenient and effective intervention model that can help improve adults communication skills. At Great Speech, our certified speech therapists are trained to help you or your loved overcome speech and language obstacles and gain confidence. Our innovative online model of intervention provides a proven alternative to traditional speech & language therapy for adults.

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What Does The Term Executive Function Mean

Executive function disorder is an umbrella term for a cluster of behavioral symptoms characterized by difficulties in self-regulation, planning, shifting focus, or managing time appropriately.

Executive function can help us plan, organize, make decisions, dynamically move between situations or thoughts, control our emotions and impulsivity, and learn from our past mistakes.

Executive function skills play a role in learning, work habits, and managing day-to-day activities. Conversely, individuals with weak executive functioning skills may have difficulty following directions, controlling emotions, or juggling multiple tasks.

Executive functioning develops shortly after birth. Development of skills continues during youth and adolescence. A window of drastic growth of executive functioning skills occurs between the ages of 3-5 years old, and improvement of skills generally continues through adulthood. As we age, a decline in executive function skills occurs.

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An Example Of Executive Function Skills In A Preschool

The child must use executive function skills to complete the seemingly simple task of building a block tower. First, the child must take out the blocks that they would like to use. Then they might sort through the blocks to find the best ones to use as a base. Next, they must continue to find empty spots to place new blocks, and they even may need to negotiate and collaborate with their peers for space or to use the blocks they need. To complete the tower, they must have a plan and execute it from start to finish.

Adult Speech Therapy Forimproving Your Professional Communication

Speech Therapy Techniques: Naming Action Words Expressive Language Lesson

In addition to the reasons mentioned earlier on, plenty of adults choose to see a speech language pathologist to generally refine their communication skills. You dont need a diagnosis or a doctors note to try out speech therapyif its helpful for you, then youre in the right place.

Some therapists specialize in working with bilingual adults who are interested in modifying their accents. Speech therapy can be a useful tool if you wish to refine your pronunciation.

Others choose speech therapy to increase their comfort and confidence. If speaking in public or gathering verbal information causes stress, a therapist for adults can work with you to build strategies that make life a little easier. Similarly, speech therapy can aid adults for whom intonation and expression dont come naturally.

WHY US

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When Should I See My Healthcare Provider

If you have a medical condition thats resulted in a speech disorder, your healthcare provider will let you know when its time to see a speech-language pathologist. If you suspect your child has difficulties with language or comprehension, call your healthcare provider to schedule an appointment. Common warning signs include infrequent talking, trouble using language socially and difficulty understanding simple sentences.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Overcoming a speech disorder can take time, effort and practice. But patience and understanding go a long way. If you or your child has difficulty communicating, ask your healthcare provider about scheduling a screening with a speech-language pathologist. Speech therapy is a wonderful resource that can give you or your child more independence, confidence and a better quality of life.

Starting Speech Therapy As An Adult

If you are an adult and you find yourself being help back by speech or language difficulties, we want to help you! Adult speech therapy is an incredible way to get the help and coaching you need to overcome your speech challenges. Getting started with speech therapy can be intimidating, but we will help guide you through every step and cheer you on throughout your whole success journey.

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Which Problem Areas Do You Need Covered

Here are some of the functions that go into speech that yourSLP will assess:

Problem-solving

The speech therapy exercises in this article mostly focus onyour speaking ability.

With oral motor skills being only a small part of youroverall speech, it helps to work with a professional and use speech therapyapps.

Your SLP will assess your problem areas and design a rehabprogram to meet your needs. The CTSpeech App also assesses your problem areas and caters a program unique toyou.

How Can We Help

Speech Therapy Articulation Worksheets Distance Learning

Clinical studies and scientifically-proven techniques go a long way, but if you dont understand the specific needs of the client, it becomes more difficult to treat them. Many factors including genetics, personality, and family environment play a significant role in language and communication development. At the Speech Therapy Centres of a Canada we provide a holistic approach to speech therapy where we examine and attempt to understand all contributing factors in order to provide the best possible speech therapy assessments and speech therapy programs for our clients.

How Do I Follow Each Lesson

For each item within a given lesson:

Follow the instructions about whether to use the Speech Buddies Tool for that item. As your student progresses through the lessons and gets more accurate in his productions, the Speech Buddies Tool can be used less and less, but this is reflected in how the lessons are structured.

Have your student repeat the sound or word after you.

Once your student has attempted to say the sound, simply record whether that item was, in your judgment, correct or incorrect.

Continue through each lesson until all 40 items have been completed, using the extra space at the bottom of the lesson page for notes.

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Ways To Make Speech Therapy Homework Work For You

6 min read

There are many benefits of doing speech therapy exercises at home. More practice usually means faster improvement1, and therapy with software2 at home or with a volunteer3 has been shown to be effective.

But do you or a loved one find yourself going home from the speech therapists office with the best of intentions only to lose enthusiasm after a day or two? Dont get discouraged! This may be the first time youve had to do homework in years and you may need to establish good homework habits to set yourself up for success. Here are some tips to help you get started:

Why Is Speech Therapy So Important

Adult Speech and Language Therapy – Warm Up Exercises

If not addressed in a timely manner, struggles with communication can have a lifelong effect. As children get older and have a communication difficulty, it can be more difficult for them to make friends or be successful in school. If the problems persist into adulthood there can be many after effects socially, academically and professionally. Adults with communication issues may find themselves struggling in their work and personal lives. Early intervention with speech therapy is key to success at any age. Speech Therapy Toronto

Why Adults May Need Speech Therapy

You have trouble thinking of or pronouncing certain words
You stutter or want to talk more smoothly
Youre recovering from a stroke or other traumatic brain injury
You want to improve the tone, volume, pitch, or quality of your voice
You want to neutralize a regional or non-native accent
You want to speak more confidently, clearly, and succinctly

These are just a few communication challenges that our licensed speech therapists can help you with.

Each of our team members is a speech specialist with an advanced degree and an average of 15 years of experience. Well make sure youre matched with the right therapist for your needs and goals.

Cognitive Speech Therapy Goals For Adults

The ability to communicate is treasured at all ages. Babies begin to babble and use physical cues to demonstrate their needs. As people grow, there are changes and new opportunities for communication. In your golden years, communication becomes a vital tool in remaining healthy and safe.

The overall goal of speech therapy for older adults is to increase cognitive skills, teach safe swallowing and improve functional communication, all as a means to providing the patient with the best quality of life possible. The actual, specific cognitive speech therapy goals for adults will vary between individuals and depend largely on what the root cause is of the persons need for therapy. Here are some common causes of a need for speech therapy rehabilitation and what the goals may include:

Dysphagia

The lack of ability to swallow defines this condition and can occur for a variety of reasons. Older adults cannot afford to lose nutrition due to an inability to swallow, so this is a serious concern. To help combat this condition, speech therapists may set goals such as improving eating positions, using modified utensils and avoiding certain foods.

Aphasia

After a loved one has a stroke, there are many concerns. Aphasia is a communication disorder where patients have difficulty finding the right word or may use altered or halting speech. In this case, the goal of speech therapy is to achieve maximum possible functioning.

Dementia

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