top of page

MCH Rehab Center
Speech Therapy

What is Speech Therapy?

Speech Therapy is so much more than just “talking.” Speech Therapy is an extensive field that can benefit all ages, from birth to adult. Speech Therapy addresses cognition (memory, orientation, sequencing, executive functioning, medication management), speech-language disorders (adult and children), voice disorders, and swallowing difficulties.

Swallowing

Often times when people have some type of swallowing difficulty they think they just have to "deal with it," which is not the case at all. Some people are more affected than others, and some have circumstances that can affect their swallowing, such as a stroke, illness/ disease, surgery, oral/laryngeal cancer, etc.

​

Common symptoms of swallowing problems are (including, but not limited to): coughing, clearing throat after bites or drinks, feeling as if food gets "stuck," recurring pneumonia, and a change in one's voice after swallowing. Speech therapists can be helpful in identifying what muscles may be affected and work with the patient on exercises and strategies to address the weakness/problem.

Cognition

Speech therapists can address many cognitive deficits that may be associated with post-surgery confusion, dementia, and an overall decrease in cognition with illness or age. Speech therapy can help improve orientation, medication management, finance management, sequencing, short-term memory, and safety awareness.

Language Disorders

Language disorders can be either receptive or expressive... Receptive disorders refer to difficulties in understanding or processing language. Expressive disorders include difficulty putting words together, limited vocabulary, or inability to use language in a socially appropriate way.

Speech disorders include the following problems, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association:
Articulation Disorders

Include difficulties producing sounds in syllables or saying words incorrectly to the point that other people can't understand what's being said.

Fluency Disorders

Include problems such as stuttering, the condition in which the flow of speech is interrupted by abnormal stoppages, repetitions (st-st-stuttering), or prolonging sounds and syllables (ssssstuttering)

Resonance & Voice Disorders

Include problems with pitch, volume, or quality of the voice that distracts listeners from what's being said. Changes in voice can be attributed to paralyzed vocal folds, oral/laryngeal cancer, Parkinson's disease, or increased muscle tension in laryngeal musculature. Voice therapy can also be beneficial with pediatric patients in cases of vocal abuse. For example, a child who may have a hoarse voice due to increased yelling (during play, sports, cheering, etc.)

Specialty speech treatments offered at MCH Rehab Center:

LSVT Loud

LSVT Loud is a treatment for patients with Parkinson's disease and other neurological conditions to improve vocal loudness. The treatment has been shown to improve respiratory, laryngeal, and articulatory function, as well as maximize a patient's speech intelligibility.

Vital Stim Therapy

Vital stim therapy is a safe and effective treatment for patients suffering from difficulty swallowing. It is a non-invasive, external electrical stimulation therapy cleared to market by the Food and Drug Administration in 2002 for the treatment of swallowing disorders with application on the anterior neck. It has been shown to accelerate recovery time, as well as help patients achieve sustained improvement and long-term results with improvements to swallow function.

Myofascial Release

Myofascial release addresses the specific patient populations of head/neck cancer, treatment of fibrosis, dysphagia, various dysphonias, and trismus/TMJ disorders.

What we treat at MCH Rehab Center:

Adults

  • Swallowing difficulties

  • Stroke rehabilitation

  • Traumatic brain injury 

  • Voice disorders

  • Altered mental status post surgery

  • Overall cognitive decline

Children
Therapy should begin as soon as possible. Children enrolled in therapy early in their development, younger than 3 years old, tend to have better outcomes than those who begin therapy later. This does not mean that older kids can't make progress in therapy; they may progress at a slower rate because they often have learned patterns that need to be changed.

  • Cleft lip palate

  • Language delays

  • Speech sound/articulation delays

  • Stuttering/fluency disorders

  • Developmental delays

  • Motor planning issues (apraxia of speech)

  • Voice disorders (ex: vocal abuse)

The goal of the Morris County Hospital Rehab Center is to provide quality care with an emphasis on individual, personalized service. Rest assured, our highly trained staff is constantly learning, applying, and practicing the most modern and successful methods in the physical, occupational, and speech therapy fields.
 

Your return to good health is our common goal.

MCH Rehab Center

Phone: 620.767.6811

Address: 600 North Washington Street, Council Grove, KS 66846

bottom of page