What Techniques Are Used In Speech Therapy?

There are many instances when children can hit a road bump in their development, particularly in the area of speech and language. Fortunately, there are a lot of methods that both professionals and parents can do to assist their children in meeting their linguistic milestones.

For instance, you can use picture scenes in speech therapy to help a child gain confidence in communication through observing and describing interesting images. Let’s talk about speech therapy and some of the most popular techniques used in speech therapy.

Speech-Language Therapy

There is more to speech-language therapy than these exercises, though. It is a form of intervention that involves numerous science and research-based techniques performed by licensed professionals to achieve the best results possible.

Who Can Provide Speech-Language Therapy?

Licenses and certifications vary across the world. According to Kid’s Health, in the U.S., speech-language pathologists should at least have a master’s degree, state certification, and certificate of clinical competency from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (or ASHA). The applicant must first complete an ASHA-accredited clinical fellowship and pass a national exam to get certified by ASHA.

Aside from certified speech-language pathologists, there are also speech assistants who provide similar services. These professionals have completed either an associate or bachelor’s degree in a related field. They can only perform therapy sessions under the supervision of a speech-language pathologist, though.

Finally, teachers, parents, and other loved ones can also facilitate various speech and language exercises, especially under professional advice. Don’t expect them to be as effective, though. After all, it took years of learning and experience before speech-language pathologists have mastered their techniques.

The Most Popular Speech Therapy Techniques

There is a wide range of speech therapy approaches that speech-language pathologists provide. Their strategy will be highly based upon their patient’s age and case. The following are the most popular techniques, though:

Language Intervention

Language intervention is probably one of the most commonly practiced techniques in speech therapy. It is a non-formal approach that focuses on helping patients pronounce words better. It is usually employed for children experiencing speech delays and adults who need to achieve more confidence in speaking.

Articulation Therapy

Another common method is articulation therapy. It is similar to language intervention. The main difference, though, is instead of focusing on the actual conversations, articulation therapy focuses on refining the articulation of sound units. This approach is usually applied to children experiencing speech delays and adults suffering from issues caused by illness or injury.

Oral-Motor Therapy

There are times when the speech issues lie in poor mouth and facial muscle control and strength. If that’s the case, the speech-language pathologist may choose to apply oral-motor therapy. It is a technique that focuses on exercising the muscles involved in speech, particularly those in and around the mouth.

While it can also help children with speech issues, they are more commonly applied to adults suffering speech issues caused by a recent illness or injury that keeps them from speaking properly.

This type of approach is also sometimes referred to as feeding and swallowing therapy. That’s because the various muscles being strengthened in this technique are also the same ones we use for eating, drinking, and swallowing.

It is also why speech-language pathologists may employ food and drink with varying textures and temperatures. This will help increase the patient’s oral awareness, after all.

Sensory Feedback

Finally, there’s also sensory feedback. It is an approach that focuses on making the patient more aware of the sounds surrounding them and those they're producing themselves. For instance, one method involves recording the patient’s vocalizations and playing them back to them.

The speech-pathologist will then play the same sound (as it was intended to be produced) so that the patient can distinguish the difference. Some exercises may involve using cameras and mirrors so that the patient can watch themself vocalizing and compare it with how it’s supposed to look.

Some speech-language pathologists also use speech placement tools. These devices can be placed inside the mouth to aid the tongue in performing the movement required to produce a certain sound.

The Techniques Used in Speech Therapy

Different circumstances may lead to speech issues. In fact, in an interview by NPR, it was pointed out that simply speaking less, such as due to the quarantine restrictions of the current pandemic, can already cause notable changes to one’s voice.

Fortunately, there are a lot of speech therapy techniques that can be employed for various speech issues. We have only featured four, but there are certainly other techniques that speech-language pathologists employ.

These techniques are not limited to kids. They may also benefit adults, particularly those who are just recovering from a recent injury or illness. Just consult a licensed professional for more information, along with the exercises that you and your child can do at home.