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Speech + Language
About
Common Neurogenic Speech Disorders
Dysarthria
Dysarthria means difficulty speaking because the muscles you use for speech are weak or cranial nerves in charge of speech movements are impaired. Your speech may sound slurred or mumbled.
Apraxia of speech
Apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder. When you have apraxia of speech, you often know the word(s) you want to say, but somewhere along the lines, the message of how to say it gets “jumbled up” in the brain. This results in saying a non-word or saying a different word than you intended. For example, your brain thinks “map” but you accidentally say “yap.”
Neurogenic Stuttering
This is stuttering that happens after a brain injury like a stroke .
What are signs of speech difficulty?
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Your speech sounds more slurred than it used to.
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People have difficulty understanding your speech.
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It's difficult to say more than a few words because you run out of air.
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Family or friends may say your speech sounds mumbled.
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People have difficulty understanding your speech in places with background noise.
We often provide speech therapy to the following populations:
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Stroke
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Brain injury
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Parkinson's
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Huntington's
How speech therapy can help?
At Sagebrush, our speech treatment aims to improve speech clarity, accuracy, and fluency. This is achieved through speech clarity strategies, improved breath support, and use of communication supports.
Did you know?
Both of our speech therapists, Shannon and Allison, are certified in the speech and voice program, SPEAK OUT!. This program is considered to be a gold standard in speech and voice treatment for people with PD. SPEAK OUT! has been shown to help people maintain normal speech and voice abilities for 15+ years.
Language
Aphasia
Aphasia is a language disorder caused by a neurological change such as stroke or brain injury.
What are symptoms of aphasia?
Difficulty with​
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Word-finding
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Following directions
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Understanding what people are saying in conversation
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Reading words
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Reading comprehension
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Writing letters
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Spelling words
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Math and number related activities
We often proved Aphasia therapy to the following populations:
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Stroke
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Brain injury
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Parkinson's
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Huntington's
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Mild cognitive impairment
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Dementia
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MS
What does aphasia therapy entail?
1. Researched based therapy that has been shown to improve language skills. Think of this like physical therapy for the language parts of your brain.
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2. Training and application of strategies to reduce language difficulty with communication partners.
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3. Care partner training to reduce communication breakdowns.
How can Sagebrush help?
Sagebrush Speech Therapy specializes in aphasia therapy and currently uses the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA).
This approach aims at increasing one's participation in life. This is done as a team that includes the family, person with aphasia, and SLP.
First, areas for increased participation are identified. These goals are targeted by the team with the ultimate goal of increased and more effective participation. In therapy, language and communication activities are targeted to assist the person with aphasia in participating in their identified areas of life. For example, a patient may want to be able to independently communicate their wants and engage in small talk at the nail salon. This situation would be problem-solved and rehearsed in treatment sessions to meet this goal. Barriers to participation are also identified and addressed as a team.
Not only has this approach been shown to improve language skills, but it has also been shown to improve independence and satisfaction with life.​
