Getting a diagnosis of Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ALS, or any other disease that is considered “neurodegenerative” is scary. And unfortunately, with the category name of “neurodegenerative,” people can get sucked into the spiral of thinking there’s nothing anyone can do to help.

But that’s not entirely true.

Speech-language pathologists are trained to not only rehabilitate strength and skills in speech, swallowing, and cognition. We are also trained to help you and your loved ones compensate and adapt to maintain the ability to share meals and communicate with one another.

To maintain connection with your community. To retain your best quality of life as long as possible.

But wait — what’s the difference between rehabilitation and compensation/adaptation?

Rehabilitation: focusing on rebuilding the strength and function of a muscle group or skill set.

Compensation/Adaptation: focusing on strategies in order to make certain tasks easier to complete, or training family/caregivers how to respond in certain situations to help a person maintain as much independence and participation in a task as possible.

For example:

- A person with Parkinson’s disease can work on strengthening exercises for speech/voice and swallowing, as well as be trained in compensatory strategies to improve their speech clarity in a noisier environment.

- A person with ALS can train to use a computerized communication device that can help them speak, or even speak for them, as their speech declines with their disease progression. A speech therapist will also guide the person as their swallow muscles weaken to choose safer, easier to manage food textures, as well as train him or her in strategies to reduce discomfort and manage fatigue while eating.

- A person with dementia who is losing their ability to communicate and exhibiting more difficult outbursts as a result may benefit from a speech therapist training his or her caregivers in communication strategies to improve the person’s ability to get his or her point across and needs met.

These examples are by no means exhaustive, and treatment plans are customized based on each individual’s personal needs and goals. By seeing a home-based speech therapist, these goals can be even more customized to fit within your home environment and family’s needs!

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disease, remember that speech therapy is a tool that is available to you, right within your home!

Call Brittany today for a complimentary consult to see if speech therapy can help you manage the things that matter:

Connection with loved ones and quality of life.