Is anyone a Speech Therapist or has any a recommendation?
Discussion
My Dad suffered a stroke a few months ago - a mild one luckily. He is doing really well but struggles with speech (the forming of words and talking in sentences rather than struggling for words). We aren't getting much help from the NHS due to Covid and really long referral times.
I think he would really benefit from a Zoom call or similar with someone who knows what they are doing but we are struggling to track anyone down. Hence this post.
If there is anyone out there then please feel free to either post or PM.
Thanks!
I think he would really benefit from a Zoom call or similar with someone who knows what they are doing but we are struggling to track anyone down. Hence this post.
If there is anyone out there then please feel free to either post or PM.
Thanks!
My wife is a Speech and Language Therapist and I mentioned this post to her. Her health board are doing video appointments to patients so it is a shame your Dad isn't receiving some sort of support this way.
She said she can't offer any specific advice as would need to do a proper language assessment to find out his specific areas of weakness and to target the therapy activities... but she does recommend an app if he is able to use an iPad? The app is by Tactus Therapy and is called Language Therapy 4 in 1 - it is quite expensive as £69.99 but it is the one they often loan out to patients inbetween 1:1 therapy sessions. Tactus Therapy also do an app called Apraxia Therapy £23.99 which is good.
Most people have Aphasia and/or Apraxia after a stroke. Aphasia is an impairment to their understanding , their speech (e.g word finding difficulties), their reading/writing skills, and their functional language skills. It can impact on just one or a few of these depending on severity.
Some people have Apraxia after a stroke - this is when they have motor-planning difficulties so they have problems coordinating and making the actual speech sounds. They know the word they want to say but can't get the sounds out. From what you say it sounds like your Dad has elements of this? But would need seen to formally diagnose this!
It can be incredibly frustrating and most people have a mixture of both aphasia and apraxia so need a variety of therapy approaches to help. Main advice would be to avoid putting any pressure on him to finish his sentence/get word out, instead encourage him to change the word or describe the word is he trying to say. If he can write/draw then make the most of this! Encourage use of key words only instead of full sentences. Use photos/pictures of key words that he consistently has trouble with - so he can use these instead of speech.
Chest Heart and Stroke in Scotland where we are provide 'communication support services' and visit people and work on their communication. The Stroke Association in England might offer something similar and have less of a waiting list? (Stroke.org.uk) Their website also has some good info on communication contacts/helpful info.
Finally - you could try some private therapy sessions? Might be worth it in the interim before NHS sessions start.
Hope your dad recovers fully soon.
She said she can't offer any specific advice as would need to do a proper language assessment to find out his specific areas of weakness and to target the therapy activities... but she does recommend an app if he is able to use an iPad? The app is by Tactus Therapy and is called Language Therapy 4 in 1 - it is quite expensive as £69.99 but it is the one they often loan out to patients inbetween 1:1 therapy sessions. Tactus Therapy also do an app called Apraxia Therapy £23.99 which is good.
Most people have Aphasia and/or Apraxia after a stroke. Aphasia is an impairment to their understanding , their speech (e.g word finding difficulties), their reading/writing skills, and their functional language skills. It can impact on just one or a few of these depending on severity.
Some people have Apraxia after a stroke - this is when they have motor-planning difficulties so they have problems coordinating and making the actual speech sounds. They know the word they want to say but can't get the sounds out. From what you say it sounds like your Dad has elements of this? But would need seen to formally diagnose this!
It can be incredibly frustrating and most people have a mixture of both aphasia and apraxia so need a variety of therapy approaches to help. Main advice would be to avoid putting any pressure on him to finish his sentence/get word out, instead encourage him to change the word or describe the word is he trying to say. If he can write/draw then make the most of this! Encourage use of key words only instead of full sentences. Use photos/pictures of key words that he consistently has trouble with - so he can use these instead of speech.
Chest Heart and Stroke in Scotland where we are provide 'communication support services' and visit people and work on their communication. The Stroke Association in England might offer something similar and have less of a waiting list? (Stroke.org.uk) Their website also has some good info on communication contacts/helpful info.
Finally - you could try some private therapy sessions? Might be worth it in the interim before NHS sessions start.
Hope your dad recovers fully soon.
gotomuzzi said:
My wife is a Speech and Language Therapist and I mentioned this post to her. Her health board are doing video appointments to patients so it is a shame your Dad isn't receiving some sort of support this way.
She said she can't offer any specific advice as would need to do a proper language assessment to find out his specific areas of weakness and to target the therapy activities... but she does recommend an app if he is able to use an iPad? The app is by Tactus Therapy and is called Language Therapy 4 in 1 - it is quite expensive as £69.99 but it is the one they often loan out to patients inbetween 1:1 therapy sessions. Tactus Therapy also do an app called Apraxia Therapy £23.99 which is good.
Most people have Aphasia and/or Apraxia after a stroke. Aphasia is an impairment to their understanding , their speech (e.g word finding difficulties), their reading/writing skills, and their functional language skills. It can impact on just one or a few of these depending on severity.
Some people have Apraxia after a stroke - this is when they have motor-planning difficulties so they have problems coordinating and making the actual speech sounds. They know the word they want to say but can't get the sounds out. From what you say it sounds like your Dad has elements of this? But would need seen to formally diagnose this!
It can be incredibly frustrating and most people have a mixture of both aphasia and apraxia so need a variety of therapy approaches to help. Main advice would be to avoid putting any pressure on him to finish his sentence/get word out, instead encourage him to change the word or describe the word is he trying to say. If he can write/draw then make the most of this! Encourage use of key words only instead of full sentences. Use photos/pictures of key words that he consistently has trouble with - so he can use these instead of speech.
Chest Heart and Stroke in Scotland where we are provide 'communication support services' and visit people and work on their communication. The Stroke Association in England might offer something similar and have less of a waiting list? (Stroke.org.uk) Their website also has some good info on communication contacts/helpful info.
Finally - you could try some private therapy sessions? Might be worth it in the interim before NHS sessions start.
Hope your dad recovers fully soon.
Thank you very very much! She said she can't offer any specific advice as would need to do a proper language assessment to find out his specific areas of weakness and to target the therapy activities... but she does recommend an app if he is able to use an iPad? The app is by Tactus Therapy and is called Language Therapy 4 in 1 - it is quite expensive as £69.99 but it is the one they often loan out to patients inbetween 1:1 therapy sessions. Tactus Therapy also do an app called Apraxia Therapy £23.99 which is good.
Most people have Aphasia and/or Apraxia after a stroke. Aphasia is an impairment to their understanding , their speech (e.g word finding difficulties), their reading/writing skills, and their functional language skills. It can impact on just one or a few of these depending on severity.
Some people have Apraxia after a stroke - this is when they have motor-planning difficulties so they have problems coordinating and making the actual speech sounds. They know the word they want to say but can't get the sounds out. From what you say it sounds like your Dad has elements of this? But would need seen to formally diagnose this!
It can be incredibly frustrating and most people have a mixture of both aphasia and apraxia so need a variety of therapy approaches to help. Main advice would be to avoid putting any pressure on him to finish his sentence/get word out, instead encourage him to change the word or describe the word is he trying to say. If he can write/draw then make the most of this! Encourage use of key words only instead of full sentences. Use photos/pictures of key words that he consistently has trouble with - so he can use these instead of speech.
Chest Heart and Stroke in Scotland where we are provide 'communication support services' and visit people and work on their communication. The Stroke Association in England might offer something similar and have less of a waiting list? (Stroke.org.uk) Their website also has some good info on communication contacts/helpful info.
Finally - you could try some private therapy sessions? Might be worth it in the interim before NHS sessions start.
Hope your dad recovers fully soon.
I think I've located a private therapist (after mailing maybe a dozen!). We will definitely have a look at the iPad app too.
Thanks again - this is the kind of response which makes this place great. I owe you a virtual pint!
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