Speech Therapy for Trach Patients

[katekath]

Just wondering. Did any of you with a trach undergo speech therapy? Is it really necessary?

 

[joelc]

No, with a cuffless tube there is no need. I am not sure about a cuffed tube when you have to use a valve.

 

[katekath]

Thanks, Joel.

My mum has a cuffless trach, but has difficulty producing sounds sometimes. I figured it could be due to her secretions and impatience (she sometimes forgot to swallow her saliva before trying to talk), but just want to confirm.

 

[RevRoyKibodeaux]

Hi,
My daughter is a year old and does speech therapy, she too has oral motor problems, her therapist works on both even though it only seems like one.

 

[Carolan]

I think that speech therapy can be useful for several reasons. First, a speech therapist can teach exercises that will make "mouthing" words and swallowing (for those who can enjoy "pleasure feedings") more effective. The second reason is to assess and train for alternative communication devices, such as a computer that responds to eye movements. The third (and, in the longterm, perhaps most important reason) is to work with family caregivers so that communication will be efficient and effective. Speech therapists who are familiar with ALS can help with means of communication other than traditional "speech." Vocalization is only one means of communicating. The anthropologist/philosopher Claude Levi-Strauss argued that if a society collectively agreed upon it, scent could actually be used as a way of communicating, rather than articulated words.