Speech Therapy for Motor Neuron Disease
For those diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease, one of the many health professionals they can expect to be referred to are Speech Pathologists. It may not seem like an obvious first choice, but the impact that Speech Therapy can have on people with Motor Neuron Disease should not be underestimated.
Let’s take a deeper look at what Motor Neuron Disease is and the impacts that it can have that call for evidence-based Speech Therapy.
What is Motor Neuron Disease?
Motor Neuron Disease is a name given to a group of diseases that impact the motor nerves, or motor neurons, that are important for our muscles to function. In people with MND, the motor neurons generate and die, resulting in increased muscle weakness over time. Ultimately, this process leads to paralysis. Steven Hawking, the famous scientist, is a well-known public figure who was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease.
MND is also sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS.
How Does Motor Neuron Disease Impact Speech and Communication?
As you can probably imagine, gradual muscle weakness can cause some problems with both verbal and non-verbal communication over time. It can even impact a person’s ability to swallow safely! It’s reported that up to 80% of people with Motor Neuron Disease (MND) have difficulties with their communication and up to 81% reported changes to their swallowing.
From a muscle weakness perspective, MND can cause weakness in the tongue, lips, vocal cords and chest. This can create a pattern of speech that is faint, slurred, or unclear. It can of course also impact the person’s ability to communicate non-verbally through gestures and facial expressions.
Depending on the individual, one of the first symptoms of Motor Neuron Disease that are noticed are changes in voice, speech, and swallowing. For other people with the disease, this can occur later in the disease or not at all.
Speech Therapy for Motor Neuron Disease
Accessing Speech Therapy for Motor Neuron Disease can be a great tool to support the quality of life of those living with the disease. As discussed, the disease impacts many areas of life including swallowing food and drink as well as communicating with others verbally and non-verbally.
Aside from the more obvious speech therapy goals of preserving swallow function and reducing the chance of aspiration, Speech Therapy for Motor Neuron Disease can also focus on equipping an individual with a suitable form of Augmentative and Alternative Communication device (AAC).
When incorporating AAC into Speech Therapy for Motor Neuron Disease, the Speech Pathologist will generally take an approach like this:
- Assess and review multiple methods of communication access (phone, email, social media)
- Ensure that a suitable AAC method is found without delay
- Collaborate with other allied health professionals like Occupation Therapists to integrate AAC with other assistive technology where required
- Ensure ongoing support and training as needed for AAC
- Monitor changes in communication ability over time and adjust accordingly
If you know someone who was recently diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease, and are based in Townsville, Mackay, or Brisbane, get in touch with the friendly team at SpeechEase Speech Therapy to learn more about the Speech Therapy options available.
We also have a helpful article on Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) that would be worth a read if this is a tool you’d be interested in incorporating to preserve independent communication.
*This information is general in nature.