Speech therapy is a professional rehabilitation service for people with communication and/or swallowing disorders. Speech therapists will provide professional assessment services, individualised treatment plans and appropriate advice, so as to improve their communication and swallowing capabilities and improve their quality of life.
Services
Dysphagia
Patients may develop swallowing difficulties and feeding problems due to strokes, brain tumors, encephalitis, degenerative diseases (e.g. Parkinsonism, Dementia), muscular dystrophy, Myasthenia Gravis or cerebral palsy. Specific treatment is tailored for such patients to reduce the risks of aspiration pneumonia, dehydration, malnutrition and suffocation.
Neurological communication disorder
For patients who suffer from brain-related diseases or injuries, such as Aphasia, Apraxia of Speech, Dysarthria and Cognitive Communication Disorders, therapists will conduct a comprehensive assessment and then apply different training strategies to improve patients’ communication skills and enable them to learn new skills.
Voice disorder
Patients with voice disorders may show hoarseness, dysphonia, pitch break, sore throat, improper pitch control and improper loudness control. Causes of Voice disorders include vocal abuse, vocal cord trauma, psychogenic factors, ineffective phonation methods, neurological diseases…etc. These may lead to vocal nodules, vocal cord edema, vocal cord polyps, vocal cord palsy and other voice problems. Speech therapists will teach patients different methods to phonate to treat voice disorders.
Social and Communication Dysfunction
A kind of social executive function disorder, individuals with such dysfunction are incapable of effectively receiving information from social context; unable to consider the position, thoughts and feelings of the communicating parties; and hence cannot make appropriate response. And consequently, making it difficult for them to establish relationships with others. Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a common group among these individuals.
Head and Neck Cancers
Post-treatment complications of head and neck cancers (e.g. oral, nasopharyngeal, laryngeal, thyroid cancer) includes varying degrees of problems in articulation, voice and swallowing. Therapeutic invention includes oral muscle, vocalizing, and swallowing trainings as well as voice rehabilitation.
Intervention
Manual swallowing therapy
The Beckman oral motor protocol and fascia relaxation technique are used to remediate difficulties in oral motor skills for people with oral muscle disorders. Such intervention serves to increase the range of movement in lips, cheeks, jaw and tongue.
Neuro-Muscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) with visual feedback
Its principle is to combine low-intensity current stimulation with effortful swallowing using visual electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback on oropharyngeal function to improve strength and coordination of swallowing muscles.
Diet texture adjustment
Make recommendations on safe eating patterns, food texture, liquid consistency, eating posture, and feeding techniques.
Prescription and training of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices
AAC tools such as picture cards, communication books, and electronic devices helps individuals with severe verbral communication problems to develop non-verbal means of communication and expand their communication capacity. Training on the use of AAC improves patients’ social interactions and sense of self-worth.
Social communication skill training
Designed to meet the daily communication needs of patients, aiming at improving social communication skills and following appropriate social rules.
Seminars and Workshops
Community seminars will be organised to raise public awareness of speech therapy.
