Speech & Language Therapy for all adults
Our Services
My Speech - Adults will see any adult, in the community, who is experiencing any level of difficulty or frustration with their communication or swallowing.
Difficulties may have occurred through a specific brain injury e.g. stroke, head injury or may be progressive such as with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Dementia. Voice difficulties may be occurring or long term stammering.
At times cause may be unknown - in these instances Speech Therapy can be beneficial in assisting diagnosis, providing rehab and recommendations.
There is close working with other professionals involved in the person's care. This may even be alongside the local NHS Speech & Language Therapist, with whom there is a very good working relationship. We often provide a service while a person is on the waiting list for NHS, or once discharged from NHS, or as additional therapy while being seen by the NHS.
Assessment
Once a referral is made to the service - this may be through email or phonecall - an appointment is made to discuss needs and to carry out a full assessment.
Assessment will be carried out wherever is most convenient and comfortable for the person.
Assessment will be through a number of means:
- Talking to the person and if agreed by them, their family or carers, discussing what their needs are and what they would like to achieve from therapy;
- Informal & formal assessment tasks which will be tailored to the person's situation and may look at: talking, word finding, understanding, reading, writing, swallowing, voice, use of other means of communication e.g. gesture, communication aids, communication books.
Therapy
Following assessment and the agreement of aims therapy sessions will then be arranged – frequency and length again agreed between therapist and client. A typical therapy session will, on average, be 60 minutes.
Therapy will be carried out at the person's home or wherever is most convenient for them e.g. day centre, residential or nursing home or via teletherapy.
The Speech and Language Therapist will liaise, where required, with the wider multidisciplinary team e.g. GP, Consultant, Physiotherapist. This is in order to ensure holistic care and continuity of care. Case conferences and team meetings can be attended.
Working in harmony
My Speech-Adults provides independent Speech & Language Therapy in line with the Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists (RCSLT) guidelines: Working with colleagues in multiprovider contexts: Guidelines for Speech & Language Therapists (previously 'Working in harmony') 2013.
Links to other useful organisations:
Dementia uk: http://www.ageuk.org.uk/
Different Strokes: http://www.differentstrokes.co.uk/
Stroke Association: http://www.stroke.org.uk/
Aphasia Now: http://www.aphasianow.org/
Apraxia of Speech: http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/
Parkinson's Society: http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/
MND Association: http://www.mndassociation.org/
Multiple Sclerosis Society: http://www.mssociety.org.uk/
Multiple Systems Atrophy: http://www.msatrust.org.uk/
HCPC: http://www.hcpc-uk.org
RCSLT: http://www.rcslt.org/
ASLTIP: http://www.helpwithtalking.com/
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