As part of a medical team, the SLP diagnoses and treats cognitive-communication and swallowing deficits after a stroke. The treatment program focuses on improving the skills that have been affected by the stroke, depending on what areas are affected.
To improve the patient's ability to understand or produce language, the SLP will work on specific drills and strategies, such as:
retraining word retrieval;
having the patient participate in group therapy sessions to practice conversational skills with other stroke survivors;
holding structured discussions, focusing on improving initiation of conversation, turn-taking, clarification of ideas, and repairing of conversational breakdowns;
role-playing common communication situations that take place in the community and at home, such as talking on the telephone or ordering a meal in a restaurant.
Later in the recovery process, the SLP may work with a vocational specialist to help transition the person back into work or school, if applicable. The SLP may also work with the employer and/or an educational specialist to implement the use of compensatory strategies—for example, modifying the patient's work/school environment to meet language and/or cognitive needs.
Individuals may also require speech-language pathology services to improve speech production if they have difficulty due to muscle weakness or deficits in motor programming. They may also be taught strategies to make speech more intelligible and to compensate for the muscle weakness. The SLP can also evaluate a person's ability to use augmentative or alternative communication (AAC) devices and techniques to supplement the individual's verbal communication.
The SLP can evaluate a person's swallowing function and make recommendations that involve positioning issues, feeding techniques, diet consistency changes, and education of the person with stroke, family members, or caregivers.
If cognitive skills are affected, some treatment strategies may include:
using a memory log to keep track of daily happenings to help with memory;
using an organizer to plan tasks;
increasing awareness of deficits in order to help self-monitoring in the hospital, home, and community.
How effective are treatments for a stroke?
ASHA has written a treatment efficacy summary for cognitive-communication disorders resulting from right hemisphere brain damage [PDF] that describes evidence about how well treatment works. This summary is useful not only to individuals with stroke and their caregivers, but also to insurance companies considering payment for much-needed services for stroke.
What other organizations have information about stroke?
This list is not exhaustive and inclusion does not imply endorsement of the organization or the content of the website by ASHA.
retraining word retrieval;
having the patient participate in group therapy sessions to practice conversational skills with other stroke survivors;
holding structured discussions, focusing on improving initiation of conversation, turn-taking, clarification of ideas, and repairing of conversational breakdowns;
role-playing common communication situations that take place in the community and at home, such as talking on the telephone or ordering a meal in a restaurant.
Later in the recovery process, the SLP may work with a vocational specialist to help transition the person back into work or school, if applicable. The SLP may also work with the employer and/or an educational specialist to implement the use of compensatory strategies—for example, modifying the patient's work/school environment to meet language and/or cognitive needs.
Individuals may also require speech-language pathology services to improve speech production if they have difficulty due to muscle weakness or deficits in motor programming. They may also be taught strategies to make speech more intelligible and to compensate for the muscle weakness. The SLP can also evaluate a person's ability to use augmentative or alternative communication (AAC) devices and techniques to supplement the individual's verbal communication.
The SLP can evaluate a person's swallowing function and make recommendations that involve positioning issues, feeding techniques, diet consistency changes, and education of the person with stroke, family members, or caregivers.
If cognitive skills are affected, some treatment strategies may include:
using a memory log to keep track of daily happenings to help with memory;
using an organizer to plan tasks;
increasing awareness of deficits in order to help self-monitoring in the hospital, home, and community.
How effective are treatments for a stroke?
ASHA has written a treatment efficacy summary for cognitive-communication disorders resulting from right hemisphere brain damage [PDF] that describes evidence about how well treatment works. This summary is useful not only to individuals with stroke and their caregivers, but also to insurance companies considering payment for much-needed services for stroke.
What other organizations have information about stroke?
This list is not exhaustive and inclusion does not imply endorsement of the organization or the content of the website by ASHA.
