Speech-language pathology

Speech-language pathology is a wide-ranging field of clinical study that focuses specifically on the processes of human communication, or more specifically on the diagnosis and treatment of physical or mental disorders that may prevent a person from either speaking clearly and effectively or listening to others with competency and clarity.

Most often associated with developmental speaking in children and adolescents, speech-language pathology is also an element of rehabilitation treatments after severe medical disorders, traumatic accidents, dementia, early-onset Alzheimer’s, seizures of the central nervous system, or other any medical event that impacts the ability to speak or to recall basic elements of speech patterns. Speech-language pathology figures into a person’s mastering a second language and, in the process, their attempts to minimize or even eliminate lingering accents.

Society demands communication—whether in the home, in the classroom, or on the job, people are expected to understand how to manipulate sounds to create words. Speech is itself a complex process that involves the cooperation of three different sections of the brain and the rest of the central nervous system, as well as the lips, teeth, tongue, and throat. Thus problems with communication can come from a wide range of difficulties that might involve, for instance, a person’s ability to recognize words (and to understand how words with similar sounds can have widely differing meanings), to pronounce words correctly and cleanly, and to construct sentences that are clear and correct. Communication problems can stem from physical stressors, including stuttering, dental issues, brain disorders, hearing loss, strokes, tongue control problems, palate imperfections, jaw muscle declension, throat illnesses, or even problems with monitoring swallowing.

Background

Although speech-language pathology as a profession dates to the 1920s and the rise then of revolutionary communication theory in connection with infant development, efforts to address and correct speech patterns are hardly new. Indeed, perhaps the most familiar speech-language pathology experiment was conducted by Demosthenes (384–322 BCE), a much revered orator in ancient Athens who as a young man was determined to correct his own stutter and his tendency to soften the "r" sound into a "w" by reciting aloud with rounded pebbles in his mouth. In more recent fiction, George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalionand the Broadway musical My Fair Lady based on it, are themselves a kind of speech-language pathology lab. These shows immortalized the valiant attempt by a college phonetics professor to rid a Cockney flower girl of her heavy street accent by having her practice endlessly nonsensical couplets until she removed any traces of her accent. The 2010 Oscar-winning biopic The King’s Speech recounted the determined efforts of Britain’s King George VI just before World War II to control a debilitating speech impediment to fulfill his duties as king in social situations, to be able to deliver speeches, and to handle critical radio broadcasts.

Each case helps define the concept behind speech-language pathology: diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation. Unfortunately, many public school systems lack the qualified pathologists on staff to spot problems early on. Unless diagnosed and treated early, these children teased or bullied by their peers and can grow up feeling isolated and deficient. Sometimes, they can be shunted off into less challenging curricula because teachers believe speech impediments and communication struggles are an indication of some mental disability. But unlike mental health impairments, speech impediments can be controlled, even overcome by dint of dedicated effort, patient practice, and directed study under the care of a trained speech-language pathologist.

The first generation of speech-language pathologists just after World War II worked to codify the variety of speech impediments and communication dysfunctions. Indeed, much of the important initial research came from government grants that commissioned studies into how battle trauma (particularly shell shock, now known as post-traumatic stress disorder) had impacted speech patterns in returning soldiers as well as studies on the impact of head wounds and of hearing loss from prolonged exposure to gunnery noise. Speech-language pathology became an integral element of these soldiers’ rehabilitation programs. In addition, this generation of speech-language pathologists contributed groundbreaking theories regarding the relationship between psychological disorders and communication skills; how traumatic childhood events, for instance, could increase the chances of a child stuttering or abandoning speech altogether.

By the mid-1970s, speech-language pathologists had successfully determined that communication disorders were not related to linguistic competencies and that those who struggled with communication disorders largely understood the concept of words and could recognize words. Using those words, pronouncing those words, and placing those words with a coherent context that could share ideas and information efficiently were found to be the core problems.

Topic Today

Speech-language pathology is today one of the most respected fields in developmental rehabilitation. Universities and technical schools provide a variety of programs and certifications in the field. The information age and the rise of mass media, social media, and global communication networks has only increased the need for mastery of basic speech patterns. Today, speech-language pathologists work with physical skills and pronunciation patterns as well as with the psychological and emotional issues that can arise from having speech difficulties.

Speech-language pathologists encourage the patient’s dedication to the regimen of practice drills and the tedium of returning each day to basic speech units and language drills as a way to gradually build confidence and competency. Technology has given the speech-language pathologists unprecedented support systems that are interactive and can be designed to target the specific needs of individual patients as a way to help build self-esteem.

Speech therapists can only function as part of much wider group of professionals who help address communication issues, such as dentists, teachers, psychologists or counselors. Often, speech-language pathology is an element of broader healthcare; speech-language pathologists are on the staff of hospitals, clinics that treat drug and alcohol abuse, physical rehabilitation centers, and hospices and assist struggle with communication performance and the anxiety that goes with it.

Bibliography

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"Helping Your Child’s Speech." NHS Choices. Gov.uk, 2015. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.

Lubinski, Rosemary. "Speech Therapy or Speech-Language Pathology." International Encyclopedia of Rehabilitation. Center for Intl. Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange, 2010. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.

"The Role of the Speech-Language Pathologist." DyslexiaHelp. Regents of the University of Michigan, 2016. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.

"Speech and Language Developmental Milestones." National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. NIDCD, 30 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.

"What Is Voice? What Is Speech? What Is Language?" National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. NIDCD, 15 Apr. 2016. Web. 23 Sept. 2016.