Dysarthria is the medical term for slurred speech. Speech Therapy Treatment for Dyarthria depends on the cause of the Dysarthria. If Dysarthria is caused by a stroke or head injury, it can improve with Speech Therapy. If it caused by a neurological disorder, that worsens over time (a progressive disorder), such as Motor Neurone Disease, it is likely to get worse. However, in these circumstances, Speech Therapy can also support you with strategies and assistive devices.
For Dysarthria due to Parkinson’s disease, there are recommended intensive treatments called Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT LOUD) or Speak out! We have trained and certified clinicians that can provide both treatments.
What Assessments do you use in Dysarthria?
We typically start treatment with a standardised assessment for Dysarthria. These assessments look at different aspects of your speech such as your breath support for speech, volume, intonation, voice and how clear your speech is to a listener. It is important to complete an assessment to identify the areas that are impacting on your speech so that we can focus on improving these specific impairments.
What is Goal setting in Dysarthria?
We discuss with you how your Dysarthria is impacting on your day-to-day life and set personal meaningful goals to improve your speech. Goal setting is proven to improve motivation for therapy and mood. These goals will be realistic, achievable and will be reviewed after a short block of therapy.
Dysarthria Therapy may include
- Working with you and your loved ones to make communication easier
- Exercises focusing on improving the clarity of your speech
- Alternative ways of communication to support your speech
- Biofeedback of recordings to raise your awareness of your speech
Our Speech and Language Therapists are Clinical Specialists in Dysarthria & Voice treatments. Arrange a free 15 minute consultation or email thespeechnetwork@hotmail.com