Speech Language Pathology Services in South Portland, ME
Our speech-language pathologists at Scarborough NeuroDevelopment Center are pleased to offer services to both adults and children in the Portland, Falmouth and Scarborough, Maine areas. Our speech pathology professionals have trained in some of the top hospitals and universities in the country and are equipped to work with individuals across the lifespan with varying degrees of severity. Our main services include vitalism speech therapy, pediatric & adult speech therapy, voice disorders, and transgender voice therapy. Our team of premier speech pathologists makes sure you get the proper speech-language pathology treatment.
Speech Sound Disorders
Speech sound disorders encompass any difficulty with perception, motor production, or phonological representation of speech sounds and segments. Functional speech sound disorders include articulation disorders (error in the motor production of speech sounds) and phonological disorders (error in the linguistic rules of English speech sounds).
Functional speech disorders have no known cause. They include articulation disorders (errors in the motor production of speech sounds) and phonological disorders (difficulty with the linguistic rules for representation and combination of English sounds).
Organic speech disorders can be either developmental or acquired, resulting from motor/neurological, structural, or sensory/perceptual etiologies. Motor speech disorders include childhood apraxia of speech and dysarthria. Structural abnormalities include cleft lip/palate or deficits due to trauma. Sensory/perceptual disorders encompass speech sound disorders due to hearing impairment.
Speech sound disorders are significant due to the impact on an individual’s intelligibility (the ability to be understood in any given context with all communication partners). The most updated research in speech intelligibility indicates that 85% of 3-year-olds are 80% intelligible (McLeod & Crowe, 2018). By age 5, children should be 100% intelligible to unfamiliar listeners in any given context.
Language Disorders
Language disorders represent impairment in the comprehension and production of spoken and written communication. A language disorder may occur in the presence of other conditions including developmental disability, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, hearing loss, or acquired brain injuries. When a language disorder occurs in the absence of other conditions, it is referred to as a specific language impairment.
Language disorders include difficulty with any combination of the five language domains including: phonology (system of speech sounds), morphology (units of language/parts of speech), syntax (word order/grammar), semantics (word meaning/lexicon), and pragmatics (social language use), along with metalinguistic and metacognitive skills (awareness of language, thinking, and behaviors).
Pragmatic Language Disorders
Often referred to as social communication disorders, pragmatic language disorders refer to difficulty with the use of language in social contexts, including the ability to vary speech style, take others’ perspective, and use non-verbal communication. We offer a Social Skills Group for children who experience difficulty in social communication (https://trainyourbrain.me/social-skills/).
Literacy Disorders
Individuals who experience difficulty with spoken communication (speaking and listening) often demonstrate subsequent difficulty with written communication (reading and writing). Components of reading that may be impacted by a literacy disorder include decoding, word recognition, reading fluency, and reading comprehension. Writing deficits that can occur due to a literacy disorder include the writing process, written product, writing conventions, and communication functions.
Central Auditory Processing Disorder
When an individual presents with difficulty processing language in the absence of hearing loss, a central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) may be suspected. CAPD refers to deficits in the neural processing of auditory information in the auditory nervous system not due to higher-order language or cognition, as demonstrated by poor performance in one or more of the skills listed above (ASHA, 2005).
Cognitive-Communication Disorder
Cognitive-Communication Disorders refer to those that, “…encompass difficulty with any aspect of communication that is affected by the disruption of cognition. Communication may be verbal or nonverbal and includes listening, speaking, gesturing, reading, and writing in all domains of language (phonologic, morphologic, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic). Cognition includes cognitive processes and systems (e.g., attention, perception, memory, organization, executive function). Areas of function affected by cognitive impairments include behavioral self-regulation, social interaction, activities of daily living, learning and academic performance, and vocational performance. Cognitive-communication disorders may be congenital or acquired. Congenital etiologies include but are not limited to genetic disorders and pre-, peri-, and postnatal neurologic injuries and diseases. Acquired etiologies include but are not limited to stroke, brain tumor, traumatic brain injury, anoxic or toxic encephalopathy, and non-degenerative and degenerative neurologic diseases (including the dementias).” (ASHA 2005).
Voice Disorders
Voice disorders occur in the presence of abnormal pitch, loudness, or vocal quality. Etiologies of voice disorders may be structural (due to physical changes in the vocal mechanism), neurogenic (due to impairment of nervous system), or functional (due to improper/inefficient use of vocal mechanism). Speech-language pathologists provide evaluation and treatment of voice disorders including vocal fold nodules and polyps, vocal tremor, vocal fold paralysis, presbylaryngis (aging larynx), and muscle tension dysphonia. Consultation with an otolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat specialist) is recommended prior to beginning a voice therapy treatment plan.
Fluency Disorders
Fluency refers to the smoothness, rate, and effort of speech production. Stuttering is the most common fluency disorder, and it may be developmental or acquired. It occurs due to a disruption of speaking characterized by sound repetitions, prolongations, blocks, interjections, and revisions. Cluttering is another fluency disorder that occurs when an individual’s speech rate is rapid and/or irregular.
Swallowing Disorders
Swallowing disorders, also known as dysphagia, encompass problems in the oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal phases of swallowing. Etiologies of dysphagia include stroke, traumatic brain injury, dementia, Parkinson disease, ALS, muscular dystrophy, developmental disabilities, head/neck cancer, and chemoradiation, and additional head/neck trauma. Common signs of dysphagia include pain while swallowing, coughing or gurgly voice after eating/drinking, food/liquid remaining in the mouth after swallowing, and weight loss.
VitalStim Therapy may be used to assist with muscle strengthening in dysphagia treatment.
Speech Pathology Services in Scarborough, Falmouth & Portland, ME
If you are interested in scheduling an appointment with our team of specialists, reach out to us today. With an office in South Portland, ME, we proudly serve the Portland, Falmouth and Southern Maine areas with premier speech language pathology. Schedule your appointment today!
