Speech Therapy

The Speech Therapy Department at Palmdale Regional Medical Center  can help improve quality of life through evaluation, treatment and management of patients who have disorders of speech, voice, language, cognition, memory or swallowing.

The speech therapy staff interacts with many medical professionals of many disciplines, including neurosciences, otolaryngology, radiology, gerontology, oncology and general medicine. Speech Therapy services are provided to outpatients and hospitalized patients. Through their clinical expertise and core values of compassion and respect, staff members of the Speech Therapy Department continually demonstrate their firm commitment to providing high quality care for patients.

Patients Served

People with acquired difficulty in speech, language, memory, cognition and swallowing secondary to:

• Stroke (CVA)
• Brain tumor
• Neurological/post-neurological condition
• Neuromuscular disease
• Head and neck surgery

Specific disorders treated include:

• Aphasia
• Apraxia
• Dysarthria
• Dysphagia
• Voice disorders
• Laryngectomy
• Glossectomy

Services

The Speech Therapy Department provides comprehensive evaluative, preventative and rehabilitative services to patients who have communicative, cognitive and swallowing disorders. Staff members create and implement an individualized treatment plan for each patient that focuses on re-establishing functional and reliable communication. Treatment goals may also address specific communicative-cognitive deficits through a variety of facilitatory and compensatory treatment techniques. Patients with swallowing disorders are seen for a comprehensive evaluation, which may include a videofluorographic swallowing study to achieve safe swallowing, followed by swallowing treatment and diet modification, as needed.

Staff

The licensed professional staff of the Rehabilitation and Orthopedic Institute at PRMC includes:

• Clinical manager
• Speech and language therapist
• Physical and occupational therapist
• Occupational therapy assistant

The clinical staff in the Speech Therapy Department at Palmdale Regional Medical Center includes speech-language pathologists who are certified by the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. Graduate students majoring in speech-language pathology may also provide clinical services under direct supervision from clinical staff.