Speech
Therapy
Speech-language therapy
Speech Therapy Services for Children and Adults
Knoxville Hospital & Clinics provides patients with a skilled speech-language therapist who provides evaluation and therapy services for individuals across the lifespan, ranging from infants to geriatrics.
Speech therapy services are provided through 21st Century Rehab.
To schedule an appointment or for more information, please call 641-842-1464.
Children's Therapy
What are the common communication problems children experience?
Speech production: Pronouncing all sounds in words.
Language: Understanding language, building vocabulary, following directions or expressing them.
Stuttering: Maintaining fluent speech
Why is speech/language therapy recommended for children?
Primary care providers recommend pediatric speech/language therapy for difficulties learning speech and/or language that do not develop by themselves. A primary care provider may also refer a child with feeding difficulties. Speech/Language therapy provides benefits for many problems including:
- Correctly produce speech sounds, so the child is easily understood.
- Building understanding of language, so the child is able to follow directions easily.
- Teaching language expression, so the child can speak in sentences.
- Building vocabulary, so the child uses a wide variety of words.
- Train the use of fluent speech when a child stutters.
- Help a child learn to eat a variety of foods and liquids.
- Decrease coughing and gagging when eating.
Adult Therapy
What are the common communication problems adults experience?
- Aphasia: Reduced ability to understand or to express ideas.
- Dysarthria: Muscle weakness which impairs the ability to speak clearly.
- Apraxia: Impairment in sequencing of muscle movement for speech.
- Memory: Difficulty recalling recent events.
- Swallow Disorders: Include managing food orally or difficulty in swallowing. A swallowing disorder may cause coughing, choking, drooling, pocketing, or pneumonia.
- Voice: Controlling voice quality.
Why is speech/language therapy recommended for adults?
Primary care providers recommend speech/language therapy for adults following a stroke, brain injury or surgery affecting the brain or vocal cords. Speech/Language therapy provides benefits for many problems including:
- Coughing or choking when swallowing.
- Training ways to swallow foods and liquids to keep from getting repeated bouts of pneumonia.
- Improving clarity of speech production.
- Providing ideas to improve memory.
- Improve word retrieval.
