As communication professionals, we are pleased with the international attention the award-winning The King’s Speech film is bringing to treating communication disorders and allowing individuals to reach their potential.
In the United States, about one percent of the population numbering over three million Americans stutter. Stuttering, like public speaking, is one of life’s stressful conditions; it can mean living in silence with emotional pain and anguish.
For over 35 years, we have been helping individuals of all ages and backgrounds to overcome their communication challenges. One of our younger patients was a three year old who was non-verbal and profoundly deaf, but, with speech therapy, learned to communicate his needs and wants. Similarly, in the case of an eighteen year old college student who sustained a serious head trauma resulting in aphasia, an intensive speech therapy program enabled him to return to classes. And, after a local doctor learned to correct his speech patterns, he was better able to communicate his diagnoses and treatment recommendations to his patients.
Share your stories with us. If you are a speech-language pathologist, how have you helped your students or patients to overcome their communication challenges?