The following are common symptoms of what your speech might sound like and what we target through a comprehensive, 12 week program and workbook that will be provided: 

• Speech that is difficult to understand (e.g., slurred, mumbled) 

• Slowed rate of speech 

• Short rushes/bursts of speech 

• Soft sounding voice 

• Abnormal voice quality (e.g., hoarse, breathy, strained) 

• Monotone sounding voice 

Swallowing problems may be a result from a variety of neurological impairments including stroke, head and neck cancer, brain injury, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and ALS. Here are common symptoms: 

• Coughing during or right after meals 

• Food or liquid remaining in the mouth after meals 

• Poor lip closure 

• Frequent drooling 

• Complaints of food "sticking" 

• Complaints of pain when swallowing 

• Wet or 'gurgly' sounding voice during or after meals

• Difficulty coordinating breathing and swallowing 

• Recurrent pneumonia 

• Extra effort/time needed to chew 

• Changes in eating habits—specifically, avoidance of certain foods/drinks  

After a stroke or traumatic brain injury, a person may experience the following symptoms: 

• Slow or fast rate of speech 

• Substituting, distorting, or deleting speech sounds in words 

• Difficulty imitating sounds 

• Monopitch sounding speech 

• Difficulty with movement of the tongue, lips, or jaw 

• Short rushes of speech 

• Speaking in short phrases due to difficulty breathing 

• Reduced loudness 

• Abnormal voice quality (e.g. rough, breathy, strained, harsh, hoarse) 

We are proud to assist children with any of the following communication challenges and provide additional support with the use of AAC communication devices for functional communication: 

• Social (Pragmatic) language disorder 

• Receptive language disorder 

• Expressive language disorder 

• Developmental language disorder 

• Articulation disorders 

• Specific language impairment