St. Lukes Elks Rehab Blog » Speech-Language Pathology

AAC Camp: Advancing Adventures in Communicating!

St. Luke's-Elks Rehab — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:07:41 +0000

On June 21^st, 24 campers and 24 counselors will come together on the NNU campus to socialize, tell jokes, play games and produce works of art. For some of these campers it will be the 1^st time they have ever experienced camp. For some it will be the 1^st time they have seen another child who talks like they do. For these children, communicating has always been a struggle. Their “voice: has not always been heard”. They rely on technology to communicate their wants and needs. They use “talkers” as their “voice” to express themselves. The technical term for “talkers” is speech generating device or voice output communication aids (VOCAS). These children are often the only one in their school to have such a device. For some they are the only one in their town. Their parents have often fought long and hard to get such a device for their child. Because they are incredibly expensive and insurance is often used to help pay for them. So it is even more important that the child learn to us it, his/her family learn to support it and the educational staff facilitate its use.

AAC camp integrates these areas of need and emphasizes use and learning while also having fun! With a 1:1 ratio between campers and counselors, campers will be able to maximize opportunities to communicate using their talkers. AAC camp is where the pace slows down and people both understand and want to learn more about speech generating devices and the people who use them.

This is our first year on the NNU campus and we have a lot of exciting things planned! Our theme this year is “Science!” Campers and counselors will be “experimenting” all week, culminating with a science fair on Friday. Swimming and rock climbing compliments of Nampa Rec Center, along with arts and crafts and games will make AAC camp a fun-filled week of activities.

Campers need to own a speech generating device and have a need to use it. Counselors must come with energy and enthusiasm to learn more about augmentative communication. If you are interested in finding out more, go to our website: www. Aaccampidaho.org or contact Anne Kuhlmeier at akuhlmeier@elksrehab.org.

Anne Kuhlemeier, MA, CCC-SLP, ATP

Signs & Symptoms of Swallowing Problems

St. Luke's-Elks Rehab — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:41:56 +0000

If you observe any of the following, a swallowing evaluation by a
speech-language pathologist may be necessary:

• Coughing or choking periods during or after eating or drinking

• Difficulty chewing and/or swallowing certain food textures
(e.g., hard, chewy or doughy foods)

• Foods or medication sticking in the throat

• Wet/gurgling vocal quality during or after eating or drinking

• Drooling

• Pocketing food inside cheeks

• Reflux after meals

• Excessive amount of time to eat a meal

• Recent unexplained weight loss

For more information, Call:
Nampa North Site ~ 1709 Caldwell Blvd., Nampa, ID 83651. Phone: (208) 489-4480
Talus Site ~ 3875 W. Overland Rd., Meridian, ID 83642. Phone: (208) 489-5060

Living with Multiple Sclerosis: What Speech Therapy Can do for You!

St. Luke's-Elks Rehab — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:24:23 +0000

There is a common misconception that a speech-language pathologist only treats speech production and articulation. However, when working with individuals with a neurological diagnosis, we target so much more.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) affects approximately 1 in 700 people or about 400,000 Americans with over 1,500 Idahoans diagnosed. Many people go without treatment or help because they don’t know or understand what can be done to help them on a personalized basis.

Speech-language pathology or speech therapy is designed to target a number of parameters that affect those persons with MS in all stages of the disease.

Speech:

-Articulation/precision

-Exercises to strengthen and stretch facial muscles

-Breath support/breath grouping

-Compensatory devices or use of alternative communication methods if appropriate.

Swallowing:

-VitalStim® (electrical stimulation to swallow muscles)

-Swallow strategies or use of modified utensils, posture, body positioning, etc

-Diet Modifications

-Exercise program to increase lip, tongue and throat muscles

-Voice Therapy

-Increase loudness

-Increase vocal stamina

-Quality of Voice

-Lee Silverman Voice Treatment® (a treatment developed for people with Parkinson disease which has also been noted to improve voice quality in people with MS)

-Cognitive Therapy

-Memory

-Word finding

-Occupational skills

-Problem Solving

-Sequencing

-Processing skills, “clarity of thought”

Speech therapy is very individualized and treatment plans are established according to each person’s symptoms, goals and everyday needs. Some therapy treatments require certification in those areas. It is important to speak with your physician or neurologist to determine what treatments may be appropriate for you. There may be hope and help waiting for you in a speech therapist near by.

Allison Berglund, MS, CCC-SLP

Talus Clinic, Meridian

489-5060

Find Your Voice: Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT®)

St. Luke's-Elks Rehab — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:41:40 +0000

Nearly every person (89%) with Parkinson disease will have problems with speech that start early in the disease process and progressively diminish quality of life:

· Soft Voice

· Mumbled speech

· Monotone speech

· Hoarse voice

· Decreased vocal stamina

Medicine and surgery may dramatically improve the other symptoms of Parkinson disease, but they don’t help speech disorders. The only way to improve speech is by speech therapy.

The LSVT ® is an intense 1 hour a session, 4 times per week, 4 week course of therapy that teaches people with Parkinson disease to develop the strength required to speak at a normal vocal loudness. (may be modified to fit your schedule)

LSVT® teaches self-empowerment by improving the ability to communicate and thereby enhancing quality of life.

The strong theoretical and clinical research base behind LSVT® has demonstrated substantive results:

o Improved vocal loudness

o Improved intelligibility

o More facial expression

o Improved ability to swallow

o Better neural functioning (PET)

For more information, visist: www.lsvt.org and to schedule an appointment, call 208.489.5060

Allison Berglund, MS, CCC-SLP

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month

St. Luke's-Elks Rehab — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:02:46 +0000

Anything that impairs your ability to communicate limits your life. Yet 14 million Americans have a speech or language problem, and many do not know that they can be helped.

If you stutter, have problems pronouncing certain sounds, or don’t always understand what people say to you, you could have a speech or language problem.

People of all ages have these problems. With proper treatment you can eliminate or minimize their impact. If you need to know more about speech and language problems, call a speech-language pathologist this May, Better Hearing and Speech Month.

SLIERS has many speech-lanuage patholgists. For pediatrics call 489-5700 or 489-5880 and for adults call 489-5060.