Medical help must be taken for speech disorders

Dr Phaneedhar Reddy S, Consultant Speech Language Pathologist, Feeding and Swallowing Specialist at KIMS talks about speaking and swalloing disorders which affect the quality of life and also isolate the person from the society. These disorders can be recitified by medical intervention and the life of the person is better.

Speaking & Swallowing are the learned abilities with the  help of innate capacity of brain to acquire it, store it in the certain areas of brain and execute it with the help of Orofacial structures.

Any Neurological, head and neck structural abnormalities, Mislearning/ Misusing  can effect the ability to learn these skills in childhood or effect these abilities in adults. These are called Speaking & Swallowing disorders, Speech language Communications disorders, Feeding swallowing disorders (Dysphagia). Majority of this conditions cannot be improved with medications or surgery rather our Specialised intervention improves the ability to Speak, Communicate and Swallowing.

 What Are Speaking And Swallowing Disorders

Speaking Disorders (Speech, Language And Communication Disorders)

Speaking disorders is a condition where ability to Speak and communicate with the society is compromised. In other words it can be explained as  Difficulty in pronouncing the sounds clearly, interrupted flow of pronouncing the words and sentences, abnormal voice, using  inappropriate words and grammatical structures while speaking, difficulty in understanding and speaking a language.

​Swallowing Disorders

It is a condition where ability to chew and swallowing the food are affected. It means difficulty in chewing in absence of any dental problems & preparing the food ready to swallow, food remains in the mouth after swallowing, frequent chokes or choughs or comes out from the nose while swallowing the food or water.

Ability to Speak is very important to interact & communicate with the world. In the same way ability to Chew & Swallow food is also very crucial for human survival, which we take it for granted. But several medical conditions can affect these abilities, leading to compromised quality of life & significant disability. These conditions are seen across the ages.

 Types Of Speaking And Swallowing Disorders

Stammering

Mis-Pronunciation Of Sounds

Nasal Speech (Cleft Lip Palate)

Voice Problems

Breathy/Hoarse voice

 Vocal misuse & inappropriate pitch

 Inadequate Loudness

Slurred Speech (Dysarthria) / Loss Of Language (Aphasia)/cognitive Deficits/ Swallowing Difficulties Due To

Brain Stroke (Paralysis)             

Traumatic brain injury

Dementia

Parkinson’s disease

Motor neuron diseases & other neurological diseases

Developmental Language Delays (Late Talkers​)​

Cerebral Palsy

Autism/ADD/ADHD

Mental retardation/Cognitive deficits

Hearing loss

Learning disability

Speech & Swallowing Difficulty In Post Radiation/ Surgery Of Head & Neck Cancers Or Lesions

Glossectomy/ mandibulectomy/ Maxillectomy

 Laryngectomy, Thyroidectomy

 Chewing, feeding & swallowing difficulties

 Choking, coughing when swallowing.

 Drooling, Recurrent pneumonia

Dehydration, malnutrition and weight loss

Prolonged Tube feeding

Q. Who are the people eligible for this ?

 Persons who are not able to speak clearly and/or fluently like others.

Persons who are not able to project their voice (or) Speaks in abnormal loudness (or) pitch or voice sound like opposite gender.

Professional voice users like singers, teacher, acters etc. who feel  their voice is limiting them to use their voice professionally.

 Persons who stammer while speaking.

  Person who are not able to pronounce the sounds and words clearly or Produce other sounds for the desired sounds.

  Children who are not speaking any word at the age  of 1- 1.5 years.

Children with known diagnosis of global developmental delay or any neurological conditions like intellectual deficits, cerebral palsy etc are at high risk to not to develop language normally or on their owns.

 Children who are not speaking clearly or stammering by the age of 2-3 years or more.

Person with neurological condition like stroke, head injury, Motor Neuro  disorders are at high risk to have speaking and swallowing disorders.

Person with head & Neck cancer and has underwent treatment such as surgery or radiation, Chemotherapy are expected to have speaking and swallowing difficulties.

Persons with Swallowing and feeding difficulties.

 Management of Speech, language, communication & Swallowing disorders including:

Voice disorders

It can be defined as a problem involving abnormal pitch, loudness or quality of the sound (voice) produced by the sound box (larynx).

Our services will improve overall quality of voice by correcting the physiology of laryngeal system. Voice disorders can be alone managed by voice Intervention or combination with medical or/and surgical management.

We deal with various voice disorders like Vocal nodules, polyp, paralysis, Puberphonia, etc.

Managing voice problems in professional voice users (Singers, actors, etc).

Pre surgical counseling and post surgical Voice rehabilitation in patients who have undergone various types of Phonosurgery & surgery for head and neck cancers (Laryngectomy).

Assessment and monitoring prognosis of voice disorders by using acoustic, aerodynamic measurements & video-endoscopy, stroboscopy procedures.

Fluency disorders (Stuttering / Stammering)

The flow of speech is disrupted by involuntary repetitions and prolongations of sounds, syllables, words or phrases as well as involuntary silent pauses or blocks in which the person who stutters is unable to produce sounds.

Only speech therapy can help in improving fluency of speech along with reducing the psycho-social aspect associated with stuttering. We also support the patients to excel in the professional career.

We deal with children as young as 2-4 year with stammering and also with adults who Stammers since childhood or acquired.

Our services will also benefit to persons with other fluency disorders like Cluttering(Fast rate of speech, dysfluencies & linguistic deficits), Neurogenic Stuttering(stuttering resultant because of brain lesion) .

Developmental speech and language disorders:

Communication disorders associated with intellectual deficits, Cerebral palsy, Autism spectrum disorders, Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADD, Hearing impairment, Learning disability, multiple disability, epilepsy, various Syndromes etc.

Neurogenic communication and cognitive disorders:

Acquired speech, language & cognitive disorders in children and adults associated with Traumatic Brain Injury, Stroke, Aphasia, Dementia, Dysarthria and Apraxia.

 Swallowing & feeding disorders:

Swallowing disorders associated with various neurological disorders like stroke, Traumatic brain injury, Dementia, Parkinson disease, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Multiple sclerosis, Myasthenia gravis etc.

Swallowing disorders associated with various Structural abnormalities like Cleft-Lip and Palate, other oro-maxillofacial abnormalities & Head, Neck Cancer etc.

Swallowing & Feeding disorders associated with Neuro developmental disorders like Intellectual deficits, Cerebral palsy, Autism spectrum disorders, multiple disability, epilepsy & various Syndromes.

Swallowing management in persons with Tracheotomy.

As a member of multidisciplinary team to take decision on non-oral feeding options.

Assessment and monitoring prognosis of swallowing disorders by using Fiberoptic Endoscopy Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES).

Articulation disorders (Difficulty saying particular sounds)

Articulatory & Oro-nasal resonance errors in individuals with Cleft lip and palate and other Oro-maxillofacial abnormalities.

Speech Difficulties after the comprehensive medical/ surgical management in persons with Head, Neck and Throat Cancers.

Selecting and execution of an appropriate alternative augmentative communication (AAC) modality according to the severity of the problems to enhance the communication.

For Appointments :  Dr Phaneedhar Reddy S, Consultant Speech Language Pathologist, Feeding and Swallowing Specialist at KIMS