NOMTs (non-oral motor treatments) are the same as nonspeech oral motor exercises (NSOMEs), and a new term called oral placement treatment (OPT) is the same approach. These approaches include the SLP encouraging a patient to perform movements that do not produce a speech sound like blowing through a straw, blowing bubbles, smile-pucker, puffing cheeks out, […]
It is common for individuals with left hemisphere strokes to have aphasia, but they can also have a dual diagnosis of A-AOS and aphasia. VNeST has been shown to improve the generalization of lexical retrieval of untrained words across the hierarchy of language tasks. The VNeST protocol targets activation of semantic, lexical, and syntax between […]
After a stroke, people frequently have difficulties with swallowing, respiratory muscle weakness, impaired voluntary cough, decreased peak expiratory flow, reduced fitness abilities, and dysarthria. Inspiratory muscle training (MIT) is known to improve inspiratory muscle strength and endurance within eight weeks to achieve >90% expected maximal inspiratory pressure (MIP) for people with chronic stroke. Expiratory muscle […]
Repetitive thinking is defined by Watkins (2008) as “repetitive, prolonged, and recurrent thought about one’s self, one’s concerns, and one’s experiences.” This self-reflection can be active or passive thoughts about events, emotions, or experiences in the past, present, or potential future. Repetitive thinking can often have a focus on negative emotions. When people participate in […]
The study had 66 participants (37 men, 29 women), who considered themselves to have aphasia from a stroke (64 subjects) or an open head injury (2 subjects). All of the participants were at least 4 weeks out from their aphasia onset however most were 2 years post-onset. None of the participants had a cognitive impairment […]
Pulmonary complications are common following brain injury. This handout explains how reduced breath support can lead to speech deficits and provides evidenced-based exercises that can be completed to improve breath support for speech production.
Unfortunately, the evidence base for resolving dysarthria is lacking. Intervention continues to focus on compensatory strategies. This handout describes why dysarthria occurs as well as specific compensatory strategies to manage the motor speech impairment.
Dysarthria can make it difficult for others to understand a person’s speech. These specific strategies will help improve speech intelligibility for the person with dysarthria. This can be hung up on the wall to be an external memory aid to use these strategies.