There are may reasons why adults have difficulty with communication. Some problems start in childhood and others happen after an injury or illness, such as:
- Stroke (CVA)
- Dementia
- Head Injury
- Progressive Neurological Disorder, such as Motor Neurone Disease (MND), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s Disease (PD)
- Cancer: of the head/neck
Adults with communication difficulties may be impacted socially, emotionally and professionally.
Speech:
Changes to your speech may be the result of brain injury, medical event, such as cancer, surgery or a progressive neurological disorder. Speech may be:
- Slurred or mumbled sounding
- Too fast or slow
- Sound robotic or choppy
- Speech sounds may be jumbled up
- Limited speech, usually automatic speech, such as “Hello” or swear words
- No speech at all
Enhance Speech Pathology will work with you to improve how you say the sounds and put the sounds into words. You may need to teach your muscles how to make sounds again. We may use strategies to improve your volume and/or rate to improve clarity. We may work with your family/carers to develop two-way strategies to support your communication or even use technology, such as phones or iPads/Tablets to help you communicate your needs.
Language:
Language refers to our understanding and use of words and sentences to express ourselves and understand others.
Language difficulties may present as:
- Trouble finding the right word: the word may be “on the tip of your tongue”
- Saying the wrong word: it may sound or be related to the word you wanted to say
- Swapping the sounds in words, or saying made up words
- Having a hard time putting words in a sentence
- Understanding the words others are using
- Following conversations
- Having trouble understanding jokes
- Trouble reading forms, books, computer screens
- Spelling and putting words together in a sentence
There are many ways to work on your language. Enhance Speech Pathology will work with you and your family/carer to work toward your language gaols. This will include therapy sessions, home programs/activities, training of your communication partners and using technology to support your communication when appropriate.
Voice:
Voice problems may present as:
- Hoarse voice
- Breathy voice
- Unusually high or low pitch
- Difficulty with volume
- Periods of voice loss.
Voice problems can impact how you are able to communicate at home, work and when socialising with others.
If you are concerned about your voice, please discuss it with your GP who may suggest a referral to an Ear Nose and Throat Specialist (ENT). The ENT may have a look inside your throat to determine the reason for your voice changes. They may then recommend a block of voice therapy with a Speech Pathologist.