Adult speech and language

Accent modification is an elective service intended for those who want to change or modify their speech for their personal purposes. It is not designed to disconnect individuals from their community and identity.

ASU offers an accent modification course for students, faculty and staff in the fall and spring semesters. The 15-week course (SHS 461 Accent Modification) provides online lectures to learn about the sounds of English and a weekly Zoom session to practice your speech with live coaching and instruction. Each lab session is curated to your individual needs and goals. Community members may register for the course as a non-degree student. 
 

Aphasia is an acquired neurological disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate. It is the result of a stroke or other brain injury. Aphasia can impair the ability to understand or express spoken or written language.

What we offer

Diagnostic evaluation services and individual or group treatment options are available. These services are offered at our location in Coor Hall and online via telehealth. Skilled speech therapy services for aphasia aim to improve speaking and listening skills, teach communication strategies, and decrease the negative impact of this communication disorder.

Group treatment options

• Aphasia Communication Enhancement
  ACE is an adult communication program for individuals with chronic aphasia. Any adult with acquired language or cognitive difficulties may register. The program is based upon the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia in which the primary goal is to increase communication and connection to activities of daily living, such as talking to friends or participating in a hobby. Therapy focuses on opportunities and strategies for communication and uses thematic-based discussion on topics that are of interest to the participants. New clients may have a consultation and screening appointment prior to or during the first week of the program.
• ACE Book Club
  The Book Club is an ACE group that meets with a specialized focus on literacy. In this group, a novel or chapter book is selected at the beginning of the semester by the participants. Each week, the group members independently read a selected amount of text, then come together during meetings to discuss what they read. Clinicians facilitate the conversation with chapter summaries, questions and guided conversation.

Cognitive-communication disorder is a broad term for acquired neurological disorders that affect a person’s ability to attend to or remember information. It can also impact higher-level skills like problem-solving, reasoning, planning and more. Often cognitive-communication disorders are the result of a brain injury or other acquired neurogenic disorder. These disorders can impact an individual’s ability to perform nearly all day-to-day tasks.

What we offer
Individual and group treatment options are available at our Coor Hall location and via telehealth. Therapy groups are scheduled based on needs of patients and availability of services.
 

Gender affirmation services are for individuals seeking to change their voice and communication skills to be congruent with their gender identity and/or gender expression to improve quality of life. 

What we offer
We provide an assessment of vocal quality, pitch, resonance, intonation, articulation, vocal health and nonverbal communication skills. A treatment plan is created in collaboration with the client.
 

Speech-language pathology professors and graduate students work together to provide assessment and management of the speech, voice, breathing and swallowing challenges that can result from oral, head and neck cancer (OHNC) or its treatments. Speech therapy is customized to the unique needs of the individual. 

What we offer
Initial evaluations are conducted to determine the severity and characteristics of the person’s speech, voice, breathing, or swallowing complaints, as well as treatment candidacy. Then we will provide recommendations, such as frequency of therapy appointments (usually one session per week).

Additional support
Individuals with oral, head or neck cancer are encouraged to attend a local Support for People with Oral, Head, and Neck Cancer (SPOHNC) support group. This is a national organization with local chapters meeting in person and online. SPOHNC has additional information and resources available on the the SPOHNC website. Consider also checking out their National Survivor Volunteer Network. 

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder that affects the nervous system and the parts of the body controlled by the nerves. It can impact a person’s communication by reducing the volume of their voice and the quality of their speech. 

What we offer
Therapy is offered at our Coor Hall location and online via telehealth. We work with the Parkinson Voice Project to offer an effective therapy program that combines education, individual speech therapy and ongoing group therapy (SPEAK OUT!(R)).

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Disordered upper airway breathing may respond to respiratory retraining provided by an airway-specializing speech-language pathologist. Example disorders include inducible laryngeal obstruction (ILO) and habit cough. ILO is also known by a variety of other names such as paradoxical vocal fold movement (PVFM) and vocal cord dysfunction (VCD).

Patients with ILO often complain of difficulty breathing that is localized to the throat. They may make a noise when breathing (stridor) or feel like the airway is narrowed and closed off. Breathing difficulties often come on suddenly in response to triggers such as smells, stress, smoke, talking and laughing, or physical exertion. ILO can be misdiagnosed as asthma and other airway conditions. Additional symptoms may include coughing, throat clearing, throat discomfort, difficulty swallowing and hoarseness. This condition does not respond to traditional breathing treatments, such as inhalers.

Inducible laryngeal obstruction and habit cough respond favorably to respiratory retraining and other treatments provided by airway-specializing speech-language pathologists.

What we offer
We start with an initial evaluation. This determines the nature of the person’s breathing or cough complaints, treatment candidacy and recommendations such as frequency of therapy appointments. Typically therapy will be offered once per week.

Swallowing difficulty, medically known as dysphagia, can result from stroke, head injury, degenerative disease, or other neurological disease or trauma. This can cause changes in swallow anatomy and/or physiology anywhere between the mouth and the stomach, and make it difficult or impossible to eat or drink safely.

What we offer
We offer advanced evaluation services for dysphagia, including fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, or FEES. This procedure allows us to view the vocal cords and surrounding area during the act of swallowing to identify potential impairment. Dysphagia therapy is tailored specifically to each individual based on the results of the evaluation.

Voice therapy is customized to the unique needs of the individual. Some of these methods may include:

• Massage and other manual therapies to reduce vocal pain and discomfort.
• Vocal hygiene methods to promote vocal health and recovery.
• Vocal exercises to improve vocal quality, flexibility, strength and endurance.
• Voicing methods that support healthy talking and singing, while reducing vocal decline and fatigue.
• Respiratory retraining to support vocal strength and endurance.

We treat a variety of voice-related disorders such as muscle tension dysphonia, vocal fold nodules and polyps, vocal fold paralysis, vocal tremor, age-related voice changes, post-surgical voice changes, and more.

We start with an initial evaluation. This includes physical examination and assessment of vocal production, and may include vocal recordings or voice box imaging called videolaryngostroboscopy (commonly called “videostroboscopy”). The voice evaluation determines the nature of the person’s voice complaints, treatment candidacy and recommendations such as frequency of therapy appointments. Typically therapy will be offered once per week.

Note that voice therapy cannot begin until the patient has been evaluated by an otolaryngologist (ear-nose-throat physician).