Children with cerebral palsy often face communication issues in expressing their own and understanding the verbal and non-verbal messages from others. A speech therapist, also known as a speech and language therapist, works with the population assessing their needs and devising the plan for the speech and language therapy.
Speech Therapy Plans
Speech and language therapy plans will focus on the following areas of communication: Learning to speak and to speak as clearly as they possibly can; understanding language in the spoken and written word; learning sign language and using sign language to communicate with or without spoken word; problems with controlling the muscles in the mouth and the throat that affect drinking, feeding and swallowing.
Most children with cerebral palsy have a multi-disciplinary team that includes doctors, physical therapists, occupational therapists, support workers, teachers, social workers and other team members as deemed appropriate. These team members focus on all areas of the child's life to bring the highest level of independence the child can achieve. As the team meets to discuss the progress or in some cases the lack of progress, the child is able to meet the speech therapist to decide if the child is in need of assistive devices in order to enhance their communication skills. These assistive devices may replace speech if the disability is too great.
Assistive Devices
The assistive devices that are often used by the speech therapists include sign language, speech techniques that utilize symbol speech, shorthand typing programs, communication boards, and computer-assisted speech devices. This does not mean that the work on the verbal communication ceases; in fact, it means that the individual with cerebral palsy will have a manner in which to communicate while developing the verbal skills.
Early Intervention
A child with cerebral palsy may not be able to physically explore his surroundings, and, because of this lack of exploration, the child may not have experienced as much of his world as a non-disabled child would have been able to do. The exploration aids in stimulating the mind of the child, which has shown that the more stimulation the child receives, the more communication skills he is able to build on his own. Speech therapy can incorporate that theory into the practical experiences of communication and stimulation in the lives of these children. The key for success comes down to the earlier the intervention, the greater opportunity for success.
Tags: with cerebral, palsy, cerebral palsy, sign language,