SLP Role in Acquired Brain Injury
A speech-language pathologist’s (SLP) role in seeing a patient following a brain injury can vary significantly depending on the needs of the patient. The SLP scope of practice includes speech, language, cognitive communication, voice, fluency, feeding/swallowing, social communication, and augmentative and alternative communication and depending on the injury, one or many of these areas may be addressed.
If your child has experienced a brain injury, they may have difficulties in the following areas:
Changes to how a person thinks or feels are common after a brain injury. A child may have difficulty attending to or remembering new information. They may become more or less emotional or may be more easily frustrated. Cognitive tasks may exhaust them and they may feel as though they are thinking more slowly. At times, it may be difficult for them to get started with a task, plan out steps, or make changes if plans need to shift. Additionally, they may struggle with problem solving and reasoning.
Language
Often, children who experience a brain injury have difficulties finding the words they want to say. They may use general filler words such as “thing” rather than specific vocabulary or may substitute words with related, but inaccurate words. They may also have trouble organizing their thoughts to effectively communicate wants and needs.
Speech
Difficulties with speaking clearly occur following a brain injury when there is damage to motor control portions of the brain. Speech can become slurred or imprecise and there may be changes to volume or rate of speech.
Social Communication
Changes to any of the above mentioned areas can make engaging with others more difficult. A child may have difficulty attending to and processing conversation. They may have trouble with perspective taking, making it difficult to relate to others and understand subtle changes to tone, facial expression, and body language. They may have trouble organizing their thoughts or responding quickly enough to maintain a conversation.
About the Author
Brynn Schor, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIS (founder of Peninsula Specialty Speech Therapy, based in Menlo Park, California) specializes in assessment and treatment of cognitive communication deficits and executive function coaching for pediatric patients in the Bay Area and across California. Consultations provided worldwide.
