In honor of National Speech-Language-Hearing Month in May, I wanted to share 10 facts you may not know related to speech pathology in the adult population:

1. We support working professionals, college students, and more to target successful “return to work” and “return to school” following an injury such as a concussion or TBI
2. We treat dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, as part of our scope of practice 
3. We work with clients who have communication difficulties on obtaining and utilizing AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) devices
4. We treat clients with neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s, Frontotemporal Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Multiple Sclerosis, and ALS
5. We provide caregiver/support person training and education 
6. We work with the military population (including veterans and active duty service members) such as those with co-occurring brain injury and post-traumatic stress 
7. We are trained to administer hearing screenings and we collaborate with audiologists for our clients who have hearing loss or auditory processing disorders
8. We treat voice disorders and there are speech therapists who have specialized training in working with professional singers or vocalists 
9. Cognitive rehab can be described as “a workout for the brain”
10. Other healthcare professionals we collaborate with include physical therapists, recreational therapists, vocational rehab counselors, case managers, occupational therapists, neurologists, and psychologists 

For more information on National Speech-Language-Hearing Month: https://www.asha.org/national-speech-language-hearing-month/