Channeling my best Jeopardy host vibes in this title but really what exactly does a speech therapist do, or more specifically, this speech therapist.

Speech therapists in general wear many hats. Funny thing is often times ‘speech’ is not what the majority of the services consists, or at least not the focus.

For adult speech therapists like myself, you could almost substitute the label ‘speech therapist’ and go with ‘swallowing therapist’. If you want some background and possibly some 🫖, gooogle the term. But really, after a stroke, significant surgery, or neurological event, the speech therapist’s main job or only job for these patients is to assess their swallowing. Sometimes it also calls for speech, language, or cognitive communications (like someone’s organization, impulsivity, attention) to be looked at. The speech therapists goal is to help that person recover, survive, and thrive back from what has happened to them.

In the world of pediatrics, a speech therapist continues to wear many hats 🎩. A child can encounter a speech therapist from birth and through the duration of their schooling. Babies and toddlers’ biggest priorities are breathing, drinking, and eating. We as speech therapists help them coordinate and advance all 3 of these skills. As they grow, speech and language emerges. We often screen to check for typical speech and language development or if there are any red flags. Through toddlerhood and childhood, children will learn how to talk, listen, socially communicate and it may be the speech therapist’s role to help foster these skills. As children grow, other things may come up like stuttering, apraxia, and Autism that speech therapists can help treat.

Perhaps our biggest role is educator and consultant. We are with our clients, patients, kiddos, etc for one hour or so of their week typically. We make the biggest changes by educating those that are with them for the most part of their lives, wether that be a nurse, a caregiver, etc.

So if any of these services sound like something you (or someone you know) may need an assessment, consultation, or treatment for, give some info below ⬇️ and we’ll be right with you🏃🏽‍♀️!