How a Speech Pathologist Can Help with Life After a Brain Injury
Did you know that 1 in 45 Australian adults have an acquired brain injury (ABI) that restricts their participation in everyday life and involvement in activities that they love doing? An ABI can be caused by accidents, stroke, lack of oxygen to the brain and degenerative neurological conditions. Most people know that an ABI can affect a person’s ability to walk but their communication and swallowing can also be significantly impacted!
What Impacts Can an Acquired Brain Injury Have?
Those who have an ABI may be left with impairments that impact on their ability to:
- Comprehend information
- Comprehend what others say to them
- Follow instructions
- Use words to formulate grammatically correct sentences
- Engage in conversation with loved ones
- Read and write adequately
- Understand higher language skills such as figurative language and sequencing
- Understand and use effective social skills
- Use their voice effectively (that is, they may have a soft breathy voice when they used to have a loud and strong voice)
- Produce clear articulation
A person who has an ABI may have difficulty with only a few areas of communication, whereas others may be left with no effective form of communication to express their wants and needs at all. An ABI may also leave an individual with eating and drinking difficulties which can cause them to cough and choke when eating and drinking. This can lead to greater health concerns if not treated appropriately.
How Can Speech Pathology Help with Life After a Brain Injury?
It can feel as though your world has come crashing down after having a brain injury. This is where we, as Speech Pathologists, become involved! At SpeechEase, we work with all individuals who have had an ABI, meaning we see adults with communication and swallowing concerns (we aren’t just all about the children!) We help our adult clients by assessing their current skills, formulating goals in conjunction with them, implementing therapy, tracking progress and evaluating outcomes.
Every person is unique and individual, so what we do in therapy will be specific to the person’s needs, depending on what it is that they are having the most difficulty with and what they would like to achieve.
So, if you or someone you know has an acquired brain injury that is impacting on language, voice, speech or swallowing, do not hesitate to contact our friendly team on 1300 773 273 or via email at welcome@speechease.net.au.
P.S. We also offer FREE 15 minute phone consultations to discuss whether therapy is required and to figure out what the next step is.