Ignoring minor discomforts is easy when they’re not interfering with your day-to-day living. If you are still on the early stages of your inarticulation and swallowing issues, and other minor defects involving your vocal cords, muscles, and other structures in the throat, waiting it out seems like a good idea.
It is only when these issues turn for the worse or manifest obvious symptoms that a holistic intervention such as occupational therapy can’t address that specialized treatments are considered.
As providers of speech therapy services, we at Outcomes Therapy OPS, say the earliest interventions are still the best interventions since knowing who are at the highest risk and who can best benefit from speech therapy can reduce the chances of permanent disability.
So, should you get a consultation? If you suffer from any of the following or if you think your symptoms are like any of the ones below, then yes, enlisting your provider of speech therapy services is a wise idea.
- Articulation disorders such as saying ‘thith’ instead of ‘this’
- Fluency disorders such as stuttering and cluttering
- Resonance disorders such as swollen tonsils and cleft palate
- Receptive and/or language disorders such as difficulty with understanding and processing what others say
- Expressive disorders associated with developmental impairments such as Down syndrome and specific medical conditions
- Cognitive-communication disorders or difficulty in communicating caused by developmental problems and neurological conditions
- Aphasia, a condition characterized by difficulty in speaking, understanding others, reading, and writing. This is usually acquired after a stroke
- Dysarthria, a condition characterized by slow and slurred speech caused by facial paralysis, multiple sclerosis (MS), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), among other neurological issues