How Speech Therapy Can Assist Stroke Victims

Stroke is a scary experience for the person who suffers it and those that care about him like their family and friends. Many times, the stroke will affect one side of your body or one part of your brain and makes it difficult for an individual to communicate effectively.  With no clear communication, other problem can arise. The good thing is that there are speech therapists that deal with stroke victims to help them be able to communicate again.

Trouble with Communication

While a stroke sufferers can seem to communicate quickly as he/she does not stammer, it will become a trouble over time as they will have problems requesting specific items, they will also have problems identifying their feelings and even have difficulty expressing themselves. A trained speech therapist Adelaide can evaluate the problem and determine the solution. If the speech therapist realises that the victim has a speech problem, then they can help the stroke victim regain the communication capabilities. Also, the therapist expert can coordinate with other medical doctors to offer additional testing and finally come up with a remedy.

Stress

When a person faces a fight scenario, chemicals are released into the blood, and this creates a heightened sense of awareness. Such a response allows a person to hyper-focus on what they need. For example, if a stroke sufferer with speech problem needs to use the restroom, but has difficulties getting there on their own, this causes them stress. They will then hyper-focus on what should be done to get them there and not pay attention to their caregiver’s feelings. They may be rude because they have difficulty forming longer words when stressed. Understanding the reasons behind their rudeness can help the caregivers to remain calm and not take such a situation personally.

You Can Help

Visiting a speech therapist Adelaide weekly is not going to do much to improve a person speech if they do not do the prescribed exercises at home. You can be of help by reminding the patient to do their activities as many time as possible, as the therapist recommends. Do not try to finish their sentences or words for them as they are talking. It can make the patient feel offended. Respecting the extra time needed to communicate effectively will give them the confidence to continue trying to speak.

With the support of family and the caregivers, a patient can advance quickly. One thing also you can do to help is to celebrate their accomplishments. It may not seem like much to pronounce certain sounds when a persona has been doing it for a long time, but anytime the patient improve, there should be a moment of celebration.