Speech-Language Pathology at WCH

Wickenburg Community Hospital is home to an impressive team within the Rehabilitation Department. The team con­sists of three types of professional therapists to serve our community: physical, occupational and speech-language therapists. We would like to use this opportunity to describe the role and services available by our speech-language pa­thologist here at WCH.
The speech-language pathologist’s (SLP) primary role and re­sponsibility is the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of communication and swallowing disorders. Communication includes speech, language, cognitive, voice and social com­munication in clients of all ages from children to adults. Their goal is aimed at making communication and/or swallowing more effective for patients of all ages impacted by possible developmental disorders, neurological conditions, or brain injury. A speech-language pathologist provides evaluations, personalized therapy plans, counseling, and education for in­dividuals to achieve their fullest potential and improve their quality of life.

Some key duties and responsibilities of a speech-lan­guage pathologist are:

• Assessment and evaluation through standardized test, observations, interviews, and clinical observations to gather information about a patient’s speech, language, voice, fluency, communication and swallowing skills.
• Diagnosis based on assessment results. They interpret the collected information to provide a comprehensive understanding of the individual’s challenges and needs.
• Treatment planning is personalized to each patient’s needs and goals. These plans may include strategies to improve speech articulation, language, voice, stuttering, cognitive communication or swallow function.

What conditions do speech-language pathologists treat?

• Speech, articulation delays or phonological disorders in children and adults due to developmental or an incident.
• Cognitive-communication disorders such as impaired attention, thought organization, memory or other functions related to the ability to process information and initiate tasks.
• Language disorders, delays or neurological conditions that affect receptive and/or expressive language. This may be related to different origins such as developmental, stroke, dementia, and traumatic brain injury.
• Voice resonance, for characteristic such as: nasality, breathiness, cleft palate, or have diagnosis of Parkinson’s.
• Swallowing disorders, (dysphagia) which resulted from an illness, surgery, stroke or injury.

In summary, a person may benefit from consulting with a SLP for a wide array of reasons. They provide therapy to children with articulation errors of all types; develop their receptive and expressive language skills and the use of language to verbally communicate or communicate through the use of an AAC (Augmentative & Alternative Communication Device). To patients of all ages, the SLP can play a significant role in the screening, formal assessment, and rehabilitation of pa­tients. For example, those who may be a stroke survivor; ex­perienced a traumatic brain injury; concerned about memory loss; voice and swallow impairments due to Parkinson’s; or who present with dysphagia (swallowing) and/or communi­cation impairments from other origins.

If you or someone you know wou Id benefit from speech-language services, please call the WCH Rehabilitation Center at 928-684-5529.