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Speech Therapy Speech therapy is a health care profession that involves helping people with communication and swallowing disorders.
Speech therapy is a health care profession that involves helping people with communication and swallowing disorders. At North Adams Regional Hospital, we see children and adults with a variety of needs. Patients may be seen during the course of their hospitalization, if they are having difficulty speaking or swallowing after a stroke, after pneumonia or after any other neurological, respiratory, or digestive dysfunction. People in the general community may come to the hospital for outpatient services. These include evaluation of speech and language skills, evaluation of swallowing function, and treatment for communication or swallowing disorders. Children may come for services to improve speech and language development. Infants and toddlers may be seen for a developmental evaluation and parent education for stimulation of communication or feeding skills. Adults that have survived a stroke, or other serious illness, or who have suffered any sort of head and/or neck injury, may require therapy to regain their communication skills or solve problems related to chewing and swallowing.
A speech therapist is a skilled health care professional who enters the field with a master's or doctoral degree. A speech therapist must pass a national exam after completing college and two years of clinical training. Speech therapists study the anatomy, physiology and psychology of the human mind and body with a focus on education and the physics of sound. |
