Blog: Celebrating National Speech Language Pathologist Month

Central Maryland Rehabilitation Services would like to recognize and thank their Speech Language Pathologists for their dedicated services to the community. May is Better Speech and Hearing Month-a time to raise public awareness about communication impairments and promote treatment that may improve a person’s quality of life who is suffering with difficulties speaking, understanding, or hearing. “Being a speech therapist is a rewarding job because it allows you to treat individuals through the whole spectrum of communication; developmental to rehabilitation,” says Suzanne McClure, a Speech-Language Pathologist and associate of Central Maryland Rehabilitation Services. Who can say Suzy sells seashells by the sunny seashore 10 times fast? Most people think of a speech therapist as the person who helped fix their “r” and “s” sounds in elementary school. For me it was my “W” and “R”’s. I can remember the days of having to repeat Red Wagon over and over. But speech-language pathologists’ scope of practice is much larger than that. Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) work with infants through adults and geriatrics. They can help with disorders or difficulties in the areas of swallowing, voice, stuttering, speech, language, memory, and cognition. These problems or deficits can be congenital meaning from birth or acquired later in life from an accident or traumatic event. Speech therapists can literally help save someone’s life! Think of an injury that results in you not be able to eat or communicate even your simplest needs such as call for help or say I love you. We often take for granted the ability to enjoy a cup of coffee but some individuals who have suffered a stroke or traumatic brain injury become weak and are at risk for aspirating food or liquids (i.e., food or liquid going into your airway) and getting pneumonia. Fortunately many people who cannot eat at all or have to make modifications to their diet texture can enjoy eating again after receiving therapy. Central Maryland Rehabilitation Services is certified to offer an FDA-backed, state of the art therapy for improving swallowing function through the use of VitalStim ®. Combining electrical stimulation and traditional therapy allows therapists to accelerate muscle strengthening and restore function. Another skill we don’t think about is our ability to communicate with family and friends. Sometimes even basic needs cannot be verbally produced after injury. How frustrating would it be if you could not walk on your own and couldn’t ask “Can you help me get to the bathroom?” Kevin Wagman experienced this first hand after suffering a major stroke. After more than a year of therapy, happily Kevin can talk, eat and walk with some assistance. “Speech therapy helped me be the person I was before. It helped me express my thoughts more, so people could understand what I was thinking. To express your thoughts makes you a whole person. I am grateful for the ability to express my thoughts more clearly!” As you enjoy your Memorial Day holiday catching up with friends and family and enjoying your delicious cook out be thankful for your ability to do so and remember the skills of Speech Language Pathologist who have enabled others to regain these activities we so often take for granted. Happy National Speech and hearing Month!