MINNESOTA VOICE & SPEECH CLINIC is a specialty practice in speech/language pathology. Our patients come to see us for evaluation and therapy for voice, speech, language, and orofacial myofunctional problems. Most patients are referred by a physician or medical practitioner. Some are self-referred or recommended by family or other care givers. Patients most often are seen for the following problems: Voice disorders--vocal nodules, vocal polyps, muscle tension voice disorders, loss of voice of unknown origin, recurring voice roughness, puberphonia, paradoxical vocal fold motion, etc. Patients with these types of problems should be seen by an ENT for examination prior to evaluation and beginning therapy. Pediatric speech articulation disorders--Young children with unintelligible speech and children and teenagers with articulation errors that do not qualify for speech therapy at school are most often within this category. These problems may have resulted from chronic or severe upper respiratory problems or middle ear disease in infancy or early childhood. Other problems, such as oral growth malformations or slow oral development may be involved. Pediatric language deficits--Young children with limited language development will often require therapy to acquire normal receptive and expressive abilities. These problems can occur from varied factors, such as chronic illness, prenatal problems, or other genetic or physical problems. Myofunctional disorders--These are oral functional disorders involving normal oral resting posture, oral stage swallowing, and speech articulation. These problems are most likely identified by the patient's dentist or orthodontist. These types of problems can contribute to abnormal oral skeletal growth or interfere with orthodontic treatment or dental health. These problems can also be found in adults who are encountering long term problems with oral stability and functioning. These adults can present with problems such as recurring choking, face and jaw pain, or other strange oral symptoms that do not seem to have a clear underlying pathology. Fluency disorders--Fluency disorders may arise in early childhood or early school age. While no sure “cure” has been developed for disfluency, therapy can be effective in helping to facilitate ease of communication, reduce speaking stress, and help to develop understanding within the family and peer groups. Early identification and therapy has been shown to be most effective in treating fluency problems. Teenage speech and language problems--Teenagers present an interesting and difficult array of speech and language problems. Most often these are problems that have not been addressed when they where younger or did not respond well to therapy when they were younger or improve with maturation. Patients who have had chronic problems with upper airway infections, breathing problems (asthma, bronchitis, etc.), oral skeletal malformations can have problems with speech, oral resting posture and movements. They can also have receptive or expressive language problems that were never identified or addressed when they were younger. As their communication needs change in this pre-adult stage, they can often encounter problems with family and peers. Adult speech and language disorders--These problems most often occur as a result of neurological disease or condition or illnesses or incidents that interfere with normal neurologial functioning. When the brain areas impacted are those related to speech and language, significant problems communicating with family and peers can occur. There are three primary goals for any of the patients that we see: Look well, Eat well, Speak well. Look well encompasses the concept that appropriate, normal orofacial resting posture presents the basis from which purposeful communication begins. It also provides the muscle stability that not only stimulates normal oral skeletal growth, but it also helps to maintain the oral skeletal landscape over time. Eat well is the basic idea that the normal developmental reflexes and responses involved in feeding, eating, and swallowing are the bases from which speech communication develops. Examples are: /k, g/ emerge from gagging reflexes and /t, d, n/ emerge from “tongue bowl” response that begins to occur as solid foods are introduced. Normal, efficient swallowing patterns, or best compensated swallowing patterns are also important for patients, both children and adults, who may be at risk for choking or aspiration of foods and/or liquids. Speak well is the third component, which follows from the first two concepts. Speech is the most normal of humans behaviors. It is the extension of our personalities into the world around us. The ability to communicate is what allows each of us to function successfully in our lives. Speech is the human toolbox of living and working and getting along. Regardless of our occupations, the most important job that we have in life is to communicate with each other. We strive to give each patient, whether a child, a teenager, or an adult, the tools and techniques that will allow them to improve and maintain their oral functional abilities: “Look well, eat well, speak well.” Robert B Grider, M. S./C. C. C. Made with Xara © Minnesota Voice and Speech Clinic 2010