MAY is Speech and Hearing Month
Speak well. Hear well. Live well.
Many of us take our speech, hearing and swallowing for granted. We often do not think about it until something happens to our own health, or that of a loved one.
Have you worked with a Speech-Language Pathologist or Audiologist before? We have a wealth of knowledge and experience, and can help you understand the challenges you may be facing with your communication, hearing or swallowing. We can help find a solution that works for your life, and gets you back involved in the things you love to do.
Think about some times you use communication, hearing or swallowing:
- Eating Christmas dinner
- Chatting to a friend in a noisy restaurant
- Reading and making a family recipe
- Calling your mom on the phone
- Drinking your morning coffee
- Texting your friends
- Listening to music
- Reading stories with your grandchildren
- Listening to the birds
Now imagine…
- What if you couldn’t swallow without coughing and choking?
- What if you couldn’t hear your friends?
- What if you could never think of the right w… w… w… oh, I give up.
- What if your speech was slurred?
How would that impact the things you love to do, and your connections with the people around you?
Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP)
SLPs are regulated health professionals who have a master’s degree in speech-language pathology. They provide individualized care to meet the needs of people with communication and swallowing difficulties. They focus on prevention, evaluation and management of communication and swallowing disorders across the lifespan. Services may address a range of concerns including difficulties with speech sound production, voice, resonance, fluency, language comprehension and expression, literacy, cognitive-communication, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and feeding and swallowing.
Audiologists
Audiologists are regulated health professionals who have a master’s or doctorate degree in audiology. They provide individualized care to meet the needs of people across the lifespan with hearing and balance issues. They focus on the prevention, assessment, diagnosis and management of hearing and balance disorders. Services may address a range of concerns including hearing loss, central auditory processing, tinnitus, sound tolerance disorders and balance (vestibular) issues. Audiologists also provide guidance on hearing loss prevention.
If you know an Audiologist or Speech-Language Pathologist, please take the time to thank them for the good work they do. If you feel you may require their services, please discuss the possibility of a referral with your family physician.
