Short-Term Therapy May Improve the Speech After a Stroke

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One of the scariest and most frustrating aspects of life after a stroke is the diminished ability to communicate.  Fortunately, with the help of speech therapy, countless stroke survivors who suffer speech and language problems are able to recover some or all of their lost communication skills. 

Speech-language pathologists, also called speech therapists, employ a variety of methods to help stroke survivors restore their ability to communicate. The exact strategies used depend on the specific skills lost or diminished, but practice and repetition are key components to any stroke rehabilitation program for communication recovery. Repetition helps the brain construct new neural pathways to compensate for the damage and revive speaking skills. 

Stroke rehabilitation should begin as early as possible following a stroke, but studies have shown that intensive speech therapy can greatly improve language and communication skills even months after a stroke. Intensive speech therapy involves working one-on-one with a speech language pathologist for 10 or more hours per week for three weeks. The resulting communication improvements can have a significant impact on the stroke survivor’s quality of life. 

How Stroke Affects Speech

When a stroke damages the language center of the brain, it can cause a range of speech and communication problems. The specific language problems depend on where in the brain the stroke happened and how much damage it caused.  There are three main conditions that involve impaired communication after a stroke: 

  • Aphasia is the most common language disorder caused by stroke. It can affect a person’s reading and writing skills, their ability to understand what’s being communicated, or their ability to speak. 

  • Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder, meaning it’s the result of weakened muscles, specifically those used to speak. These include muscles in the tongue, lips, or mouth as well as the soft palate, vocal folds in the voice box, and the respiratory muscles. Unlike aphasia, where the person experiences difficulty finding the right words or understanding what’s been said, dysarthria results in difficulties with clear and fluid speech due to muscle weakness. 

  • Dyspraxia is also a motor speech disorder, but it involves the impairment of programming and sequencing rather than muscle strength. A person with dyspraxia has the strength to move the muscles required for speech but lacks the muscle coordination needed to speak words and sentences correctly.  

Speech therapy following a stroke can help to rewire the brain and recover language and communication skills. 

Benefits of Speech Therapy Following a Stroke

Speech therapy for stroke rehabilitation begins with an assessment of the individual’s communication strengths and deficits. The speech therapist establishes the priorities and goals for communication and designs a customized treatment plan to address the needs of the individual. Depending on the patient’s goals, recovering speech and language skills may involve any combination of exercises designed to improve:

  • Clarity of speech

  • Word recall

  • Ability to follow directions

  • Understanding of spoken or written communications

  • Memory and cognition

  • Muscle strength

  • Ability to participate in conversations

While the most obvious benefit of speech therapy after a stroke is the improvement of the ability to produce and understand language, a speech therapist also:

  • Provides strategies to reduce frustration

  • Helps develop strategies to compensate for speech disabilities

  • Encourages alternative methods of communication

  • Teaches family members to simplify, ask yes/no questions, and otherwise tailor their communication to the needs of the stroke survivor

  • Addresses swallowing disorders

As experts in communication, speech language pathologists are equipped to help patients attain the highest level of language and communication function. 

Speech therapy and stroke rehabilitation in San Diego

At Bella Vista Health Center, our stroke rehabilitation programs in San Diego are designed to help stroke survivors relearn lost skills. Through a goal-oriented treatment plan that involves physical, occupational, and speech therapies, our cross-functional team of providers helps patients regain lost abilities, restore independence, and maximize their quality of life. For more information on our programs and services, please give us a call at 619-644-1000 or come see us in Lemon Grove today for a tour of our 5 star facility.