Speech Therapy

Speech-Language Pathologists are licensed to treat a variety of disorders not only relating to speech-language but also in the areas of swallowing, voice, and cognition. Our Speech-Language Pathologists have received specialized training in innovative techniques to help adult patients, as well as limited pediatric patients, achieve their highest potential of function and independence.

Following a thorough evaluation, your Speech-Language Pathologist will develop an individualized treatment plan to meet your specific goals and improve the quality of your life.

At Saint Vincent Hospital, our speech-language pathology services include treatment and management in the following areas:

• Dysphagia: Difficulty swallowing, modified diets, return to oral intake after feeding tube, management of dry mouth
• Dysarthria: Slurred or misarticulated speech; impaired rate or prosody of speaking
• Apraxia: Impairment in the motor planning of speech
• Aphasia/Language: Difficulty understanding and/or producing spoken language; word finding difficulties; difficulty with reading or writing
• Cognition: Difficulty with attention, memory, reasoning, problem solving, processing, mental flexibility, and executive functioning
• Voice: hoarse/breathy/strained vocal quality, poor volume, pain when speaking, impaired pitch range; resulting from laryngeal disorders such as vocal nodules, polyps, or muscle tension dysphonia
• Laryngectomy: education and treatment pre- and post-surgery, including use of tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis (TEP), esophageal speech, and electrolarynx
• Head and Neck Cancer: treatment of associated speech/swallow disorders including preventative stretching/strengthening exercises, trismus, and fibrosis; additionally addresses cognitive impact of chemotherapy such as cognitive fatigue or cognitive impairment commonly known as “chemo brain”
• Alternative and Augmentative Communication: evaluation and training of non-verbal communication methods such as high-tech speech generating devices (SGDs) or low-tech methods such as picture boards
• Voice Banking: for patients with progressive communication disorders resulting in complete loss of speech (such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), the recording of speech and integration including alternative communication devices
• Percutaneous Gastronomy Tube (PEG): feeding tube weaning, concurrent comfort feeding, nutritional consultation registered dietician licensed in oncology

Advanced Techniques

Our speech-language pathologists are able to offer you standard treatments as well as more advanced techniques, such as:

• LSVT LOUD (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment): An intensive protocol designed to treat the voice and speech impairments in persons with Parkinson’s disease
• Manual Therapy: Hands-on therapy including circumlaryngeal massage
• Lingwaves: Use of specialized voice measurement program to obtain acoustic parameters of speech
• Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI): Device which measures tongue strength and endurance to provide biofeedback during therapy as well as objective measurement of improvement
• Modified Barium Swallow Study (MBS): Radiologic evaluation to assess oral an pharyngeal stages of swallowing and guide diet and strategy recommendations
• Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES): Evaluation of swallowing using a specialized endoscope inserted into the nasal cavity to assess the pharyngeal phase of swallowing without use of radiation or barium
• Head and Neck Lymphedema Manual Drainage: Therapeutic technique to reduce the swelling of lymph nodes which can occur with cancer treatment

Learn More

To learn more about speech-language pathology services offered at Saint Vincent Hospital or to schedule an appointment after obtaining an order from your doctor, please contact us as below. Please note speech-language pathology services are only currently available at our main location.