Farewell #SpeechPathology Week, dance-on life & work of valuing #communication. Our wonderful @mariamrosa13 spells out the most surprising spinoff of a speech pathologists skills - swallowing! It may surprise some people to learn that Speech Pathologists are involved in the assessment & treatment of SWALLOWING disorders. Swallowing??? Whats that got to do with communication?? Well, in some ways, not a lot. However, we use many of the same muscles for both speaking & eating - chewing, licking, sucking, swallowing - so very often the structural or functional problem that impacts one area, also impacts the other. In babies who experience difficulties learning to breast feed, we may later see problems develop in articulation. People who have suffered a stroke or a neurological disease may experience problems with both speech & swallowing. Plus, communication is essentially a function of socialising - being with & connecting with other people. How often do our social gatherings involve eating & drinking?! The social impact of problems with swallowing can be enormous - from problems with maternal bonding to being unable to partake of the rituals of mealtimes with friends and family. Swallowing is a seemingly simple little function that we do hundreds of times a day, mostly without even realising we are doing it. But, Ill tell you now, it is such a basic function of daily life, youd miss it if you couldnt do it!! Mariam :-)
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 07:20:30 +0000
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