COMMUNICATION PATHOLOGY By Sheila Lynn Senkubuge BCommunication Pathology

COMMUNICATION PATHOLOGY By: Sheila Lynn Senkubuge (BCommunication Pathology) (Pret)

CONTENTS OF THE COURSE • Speech Language Therapy and Audiology • 3 rd yr. choose a path • Either: 1. Speech Language therapy 2. Audiology 3. Speech Language therapy and audiology • 4 yr Honours course

VARIOUS CAREER PATHS • Community service for a year in a Public Health Facility • Junior speech therapist (2 yrs) – Special Needs School • Voice Trainer and business language trainer (Image Consulting Company) • Senior speech therapist (4 yrs +) • Chief Speech therapist (10 yrs. experience) – 2 yrs

VARIOUS CAREER PATHS CONTINUED • Private Practice • Columnist for The Expatriate Magazine • Publishing Executive for The Expatriate Magazine • Completing Masters Degree in Public health

AREAS THAT CONCERN SLT’S & A • Any deviation from normal communication methods • Be it expressive or receptive • Hearing difficulties • Language difficulties • Voice disorders • Feeding difficulties

SPECIFIC CONDITIONS (and how they’re managed)… • AUDIOLOGY: • Screening and diagnostic • Speech therapist (screening): Basic otoscopic examination; tympanometry; hearing test (air and bone conduction) • Audiology: works closely with ENT’s, determines whether hearing aids are needed or not, fits hearing aids, syringes impacted wax

SPECIFIC CONDITIONS CONTD… AND THE PATIENTS DR’s CAN REFER • General hearing loss (assessing and treating hearing loss), impaction of ear canal (cerumen and ear canal management), new born hearing screening, hearing rehabilitation, otitis media (middle ear infections) • Refer; Any patient complaining of a hearing loss, they then test the patients to find the cause of the hearing loss and decide on treatment e. g. fit a hearing aid or refer back to the Dr/ENT for further management

SPEECH THERAPY • Work closely with paediatricians • Psychiatrist, Occupational therapist, Psychologist • Paeds to Adulthood • Premature babies (train the mothers for KMC, work closely with nutritionists and dieticians and physios regarding feeding, hearing screening, language stimulation training for the mom and family

CONTD… • Children born with any disability that affects communication and language development: • Autism; Down syndrome; Aspergers; Cerebral Palsy; craniofacial anomalies • Some children have normal developmental milestones, but when it comes to developing communication and language skills, they are delayed (developmental language delay)

CONTD… OTHER CONDITIONS: Stuttering, voice disorders NEURO: Patients with Traumatic brain injury Patients with CVA/stroke Usually the above patients present with feeding and swallowing difficulties • Expressive/receptive Aphasia (word finding difficulties etc. ) • • •

CONTD… • • • Specific conditions: Ataxia, apraxia Geriatrics Alzheimer's; Parkinson's; Regarding Communication Pathology: Speech is merely one of the tools we use to communicate. Effective communication to deliver as message includes tone of voice, facial expression, body language and if any of

THANK YOU “ Words are of course the most powerful drug used by mankind” – Rudyard Kipling