Speech & Language Disorder Treatment in Fairfax, VA, and Chantilly, VA

Speech and language disorders can affect anyone, from young children to adults, impacting their ability to communicate effectively.

Virginian Rehabilitation & Wellness in Chantilly and Fairfax offers specialized treatment programs to address a wide range of speech and language issues, helping individuals improve their communication skills and enhancing their quality of life.

Symptoms of Speech & Language Disorders

Individuals with speech and language disorders may experience:

• Delayed speech development in children or difficulty forming words.

• Stuttering or other speech fluency issues.

• Difficulty understanding language and following conversations.

• Voice disorders, such as hoarseness or loss of voice.

Speech & Language Disorder Treatment Options in Northern Virginia

Speech and language disorders can occur following a brain injury (including strokes, concussions, TBI).  Expressive & receptive language difficulties may include aphasia, apraxia, and dysarthria.

Let’s examine the disorder and our speech therapy process:

Aphasia 

Aphasia is defined as a loss of language function due to an injury to the brain in the area associated with comprehension and production of language.

Most often, aphasia is the result of a stroke or cerebral vascular accident. Although, other causes can include an accident, tumor, infection, or toxicity levels rising. Presentation of symptoms can vary greatly depending on the site of the injury, severity of the injury, and characteristics of the person.   

Common characteristics that appear with aphasia include: 

• Impaired auditory comprehension  

• Impaired verbal expression 

• Presence of paraphasias 

• Perseveration 

• Grammatical errors 

• Non-fluent speech with impaired prosody (rate) 

• Difficulty repeating words, phrases, sentences 

• Problems with naming and word finding skills 

• Difficulty with reading and writing abilities.  

Aphasia Treatment Process:

Treatment for aphasia will vary greatly depending on symptoms. Speech pathologists will assess the areas of language function and executive processing. The patient will be asked to name specific environmental objects/items within the household along with the function of the items.

Yes/no simple and complex questions will be asked along with having the patient follow 1-2 step verbal commands. The patient will be asked to repeat single words and phrases and then responses to logical questions.

Sequencing skills to be assessed along with number recognition. Reading and writing skills can also be addressed as potentially another form of communication.  An individualized treatment plan will be created for each patient to improve their overall quality of life.

Apraxia 

Apraxia is a motor disorder resulting from neurological damage. It is characterized by an inability to execute volitional, or purposeful, movements despite having normal muscle tone and strength.

It is understood best as “faulty programming” from the brain – the lips, tongue, jaw and facial musculature is capable of normal functioning yet has difficulty  completing the precise movements required for speech.   

Common characteristics that present with verbal apraxia include: 

• The number of mis-articulations increases as the complexity of speech tasks increase. 

• Consonant and vowel productions are affected; however, errors in consonant productions are more common.   

• Sounds in the initial position are affected more than sounds in the medial or final positions. 

• Sound substitutions, omissions, distortions, and additions are commonly observed.   

• Struggling behaviors, such as groping, are observed in many patients. 

• Severity varies from one to another; however, it is common to see apraxia of speech in combination with other communication disorders, such as dysarthria, delayed speech and language skills, aphasia and hearing loss.  

Apraxia Treatment Process:

Formalized assessment to assess cranial nerve function and how this affects oral motor function and phonological productions of speech. A speech pathologist will have the patient complete oral motor movements, such as sticking out his/her tongue, lick the lips, and clear their throat.

Then, single syllable to multi-syllabic words will be imitated and read aloud independently. The assessment will progress towards longer length of utterances, such as paragraph level reading, turn taking conversation and picture discrimination to all the professionals to assess consonant –vowel productions in a variety of situations.

An individualized treatment plan will be completed to assist with effective communication in a variety of settings to meet the patient’s overall goals.   

Dysarthria 

This motor speech disorder results from muscular impairment. Weakness, slowness, or incoordination can affect all the basic processes of speech including: respiration, phonation, resonance, articulation, and prosody.

Articulation errors are the most common feature of dysarthria, followed by impairments of voice and fluency.  There are six types of dysarthria characterized by their causes and speech behaviors.   

Types of dysarthria, include:  

• Flaccid – resulting in hypernasality, breathiness, monopitch, and nasal emission of sounds. 

• Spastic – imprecise consonant productions, reduced stress in voicing, harsh voice quality, low pitch, and a slow rate 

• Mixed (flaccid and spastic) – imprecise consonants, hypernasality, harsh voice, slow rate, monotone, excess and equal stress and prolonged intervals of speech. 

• Ataxic – irregular articulatory breakdowns, loudness control problems, variable nasality

• Hypokinetic – monopitch, monoloudness, inappropriate silences, short rushes of speech. 

Dysarthria Treatment Process:

Speech pathologists will assess the patient’s speech productions and create an individualized treatment program to address the patient’s deficits. This will include a complete oral facial exam and speech same at structured levels and continuous speech.

After identifying the area of impairment, the therapist will create a treatment plan to address lingual and labial function for improved musculature control. Repetition and rehearsal of sounds will improve carryover from imitation of speech productions to spontaneous productions. 

Why Choose Us for Speech & Language Disorder Treatment?

Our expert speech therapists in Fairfax and Chantilly VA utilize the latest research and techniques in speech pathology to provide effective, personalized care for patients of all ages.

Our compassionate speech therapy programs in Northern Virginia work closely with you and your goals to improve overall quality of life.

Frequently Asked Questions About Speech & Language Disorders

Schedule Your Speech & Language Screening in Fairfax, VA, or Chantilly, VA

If you or someone you care about is struggling with a speech and language disorder, reach out to Virginian Rehabilitation & Wellness in Fairfax or Chantilly. Our dedicated team is ready to help enhance your or your loved one’s communication skills. Schedule a consultation today to start on the path to better communication.