What is Speech Therapy?

Speech therapy is a profession that supports children and adults with problems communicating and swallowing. It is an allied health profession, and is often grouped with physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

Communication and swallowing difficulties can occur due to problems from birth, such as cerebral palsy or autism, or be the result of an accident or injury, such as a stroke or brain injury.

People with communication difficulties can be exclude from society, have trouble at school and find it hard to make relationships and find work.

Speech therapists are trained to assess, diagnose and treat people with communication and swallowing difficulties so that they succeed in their education, work and relationships and be and active member of their family.

Speech therapists have specialist knowledge in the areas of head and neck anatomy, linguistics, disability, hearing etc.

Speech therapy involves the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and support of people with communication and swallowing difficulties.

Phearom with Ling

Communication Difficulties

Communication difficulties are difficulties experienced by people in getting their message across to others.

They may have difficulties:

  • moving their mouth to produce speech sounds correctly
  • understanding what people say to them
  • putting the right words in the right order to make a clear sentence
  • understanding the social rules of communicating
  • hearing
  • reading and writing

Swallowing Difficulties

Swallowing difficulties are difficulties people can experience with eating and drinking. They may be born with physical difficulties that affect their ability to swallow, or they might have an accident that caused injury to their brain or body and affected their ability to eat and drink safely.

volunteer helping a patient with swallowing difficulty

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By donating today, you are taking action to help grow speech therapy in Cambodia and bring therapy to children in need and their families.