Advanced Speech Therapy Capabilities

Specialized Treatments for Speech and Language Disorders

The multidisciplinary team at Broward Health includes experienced speech therapists who have seen and treated patients suffering from an array of disorders such as:

Dysphasia

Dysphagia is difficulty swallowing, and an estimated 10 million Americans suffer from this disorder. Two-thirds of oral and throat cancer survivors also have dysphagia. If untreated, dysphagia can have serious healthcare consequences, including malnutrition, weight loss, aspiration pneumonia and choking. However, with highly specialized and targeted therapeutic interventions, this does not have to be a permanent condition.

Aphasia/Cognitive Impairment

Aphasia is a neurological language disorder that primarily affects spoken language expression and comprehension, written expression and reading comprehension. Some patients may also experience short-term memory loss.

Expressive language impairments include difficulty finding words or forming sentences, speaking with effort, substituting sounds and making up words.

Receptive language impairments include difficulty understanding conversations, an inability to answer simple yes or no questions and a lack of awareness of speech errors.

Aphasia treatments vary based on symptoms but typically focus on specific compensation techniques or augmentative and alternative communication. We provide exercise programs and education for families and caregivers to help restore language at home.

Dysarthria

Dysarthria is a motor speech impairment identified by the speech mechanism's slow, weak and uncoordinated movements. Treatments include focusing on the affected phonemes, increasing breath support and possibly providing augmentative and alternative communication.