Speech-language pathologists at SLI identify, assess, and provide intervention for individuals with a variety of disorders, including:
Articulation
- Sound substitutions, distortions or omissions; difficulty producing specific individual sound(s) correctly in words, sentences or conversation
- Difficulty with a pattern of sounds that occur in language
Fluency (Stuttering)
- Speech disorders in which the flow of speech is broken by repetitions, prolongations, or stoppages and may include unusual facial and body movements
- Rapid repetition of distorted speech sounds (cluttering)
Voice and Resonance
- Difficulties with vocal pitch (frequency), volume (intensity) and/or quality (tone)
- Hoarseness, harshness, breathiness, strained voice quality
- Voice Abuse/Misuse
- LOUD Crowd® support group, for individuals with Parkinson disease who have completed SPEAK OUT!®, a speech therapy program developed by Parkinson Voice Project.
Receptive and Expressive Language (Including Reading and Writing)
- Difficulty with comprehension of spoken language (listening) or written language (reading)
- Troubles communicating thoughts, feeling and experiences in both verbal (talking) and written (writing) form, across 5 parameters:
- Phonology (rules for speech sounds in a language)
- Semantics (meaning of words used in a language)
- Syntax (order of words in a language)
- Morphology (how words are formed in a language)
- Pragmatics (use of language in social interactions)
- Nonverbal aspects of language may include struggling with making or interpreting facial expressions, body language, tones of voice and situation use/rules of communication
Hearing
- Deficits in hearing as related to their impact with communication (aural habilitation/rehabilitation)
- Full audiological evaluations may be scheduled with our partner clinic, the Pennsylvania Ear Institute
Swallowing
- Impairments of the oral preparatory, oral, pharyngeal and/or esophageal phases of the swallow (dysphagia)
Communication
- Cognitive aspects of communication
- Conditions that affect:
- Attention
- Memory (short-term or working memory and long-term memory)
- Reasoning
- Problem Solving
- Orientation (person, place, time and situation)
- Insight/Judgment
- Executive Functioning (planning/sequencing, self-monitoring skills)
- Conditions that affect:
- Social aspects of communication
- Disorders affecting the ability to use and interpret language in social context
- Augmentative and alternative communication modalities
- The use of manual, augmentative and alternative communication techniques and/or assistive technology for temporary or permanent communication disorders impacting spoken and written modes (box)
SLI also provides evaluations and follow-up sessions to enhance presentation style and professional communication skills.
Communication Skills:
Topics such as interpersonal communication, presentation skills, writing abilities, personal/professional appearance, negotiations/assertiveness, problem solving and decision-making aids, and stress management