The speech therapist is the specialist who offers both diagnosis, prevention and treatment of speech and language disorders. This speech therapist (or speech-language pathologist) assists people with difficulties with various conditions; swallowing problems or communication disorders caused by lack of hearing, brain injuries, congenital defects and a variety of diagnoses related to speech education (Speech Therapy). Speech therapists, in addition to taking part in the diagnosis and treatment to be applied to their patients, are also involved in improving the aptitude of said person, since communication is an innate ability, a need and a right that can be be diminished by the different pathologies that condition both personal and professional life.
The speech therapist
Job description of a speech therapist
Speech therapists always diagnose and develop treatments for people with oral or communication adversities. They implement treatments and interventions in a personalized way based on their own evaluation of the problem and the references they receive from social workers, doctors or psychologists.
As part of the patient's evaluation, the speech therapist performs particular tests. These evaluations have the possibility of being standardized, but the ideal is that they should not be, but should base their treatment on individual, non-standardized visualizations and observations. It is important to develop throughout the process to keep track of the patient's evolutionary process, capturing it in the control documentation of each case, reflecting the progress and improvements from the beginning of the treatment to continue making progress and improvements of the patient until achieving the goal. marked objective. Other tasks could be the creation and writing of teaching projects or some documentation that is required by other professionals.
The speech therapist's relationship is not only limited to that of him and his patient but goes further and establishes continuous communication with his family who are fundamental support throughout the process starting with the diagnosis through the day-to-day treatment to follow. as well as any doubts, shortcomings or needs that arise throughout the process.
Family members are a fundamental pillar for the improvement of the individual and the tasks of the therapist because they have to get involved and/or educated in the entire treatment process. For all of this, the presence of the speech therapist within the family is also a fundamental task. .
In all these tasks, the speech therapist cannot forget the continuous training to continue being updated in all the new techniques to apply in a process or therapy and use this new information to improve in his work and thus provide better care to his patients.
The speech therapist has to be seen as the person who provides emotional support in all the care that the patient needs to feel that they are meeting objectives throughout the process and that together they are walking towards a final goal.