About Speech and Language Therapy

Speech and language therapists support children and adults who have difficulties with communication or with eating and drinking.

This includes:

Spending time talking to families and carers to find out the specific communication needs of their family member and the impact of the communication difficulty on everyday life
Assessing the individual’s communication ability. This assessment may occur in a variety of settings, for example, at home, clinic or school
Deciding if therapy/support is appropriate at this time and discussing these decisions with the individual and his/her family
Where therapy/support is appropriate, working jointly with the individual and where appropriate, family and carers to devise agreed goals and discussing who is best to deliver this support
Working with other professionals and members of the multidisciplinary team involved in an individual’s care.
Introducing other modes of communication, for example, the use of objects, pictures and signing, communication aids, if appropriate
Providing family and carers with the skills they need to support the family member’s communication.
Evaluating the outcome of the intervention programme to determine if speech and language therapy has made a difference and if further therapy is required

Types of support available

Speech and language therapy support may include:

Our Speech and Language Therapy team supports children and adults who have difficulties with eating, drinking or swallowing (Dysphagia).

They can help by:

Carrying out a detailed assessment of how someone eats, drinks and swallows at home, and in other places if needed, such as school or a care setting
Giving advice and practical tips to help make eating and drinking safer, and to make sure the person gets enough nutrition
Working closely with other healthcare professionals involved in the person’s care