Speech Therapy in Adults: How Long Does it Take?

All of us spend the majority of our time communicating! We constantly engage ourselves in activities that are cognitively and linguistically demanding. Understanding what other people communicate with us or their language to express themselves may seem so basic to us. But millions of people out there suffer from speech and language disorders and find it hard to lead a normal life. You can reach out to speech therapy for adults in big cities like Chennai to rebuild your skills in communication and improve fluency. There are also other elective services like accent neutralization to improve adult speech disabilities.

Speech Therapy for Adults & Common Speech Disorders

Speech therapy for adults is planned based on the symptoms they exhibit. A few of the most common symptoms are:

• Retrieving words
• Listening and understanding what the others say
• Thinking, remembering, and organizing own thoughts
• Using the right tone and prosody to convey emotions
• Coordinating the phonation and respiration accordingly to speak in an appropriate volume and vocal quality
• Arranging the words in a proper syntactic order
• Coordinating the speech mechanism to articulate the desired sound

An Insight Into Speech Therapy for Adults

Speech therapy for adults is necessary when a person is recovering from trauma or illness and aspiring to communicate with excellence. Adults have a deeply ingrained habit that impacts how they communicate and speak. By working on these habits, any individual will be able to ace the problem and feel normal again. The factors essential to aid speech therapy are the intensity of practice and motivation. However, their specific goals and the intensity of neurological injury are other factors to delay the recovery process. For example, if an adult has a cognitive-communication disorder and takes up speech sessions four times a week for one or more hours each day, they will see a significant improvement in a month. Thus, the speech therapy results depend on the type of programme and the severity of the problem. Any adult will see a tremendous result for problems with clarity, voice, fluency, and public speaking skills within one to three months.

The speech therapy for adults offered by renowned clinics in Chennai implements the art of intuitive caring along with scientific expertise to help them achieve their goals. Speech therapists focus on the psychological and emotional needs of the patient. They apply various principles to enhance the patient’s internal motivation, feelings of well-being, and ability to regulate emotions to succeed with their approach in all circumstances. The speech therapy sessions are always holistic for adults by treating them with a unique approach to solve their multidimensional needs. Thus, therapists recognize the physical and cognitive-communication needs of patients effortlessly.

Also Read: What Are the Various Speech Therapy Techniques?

Speech Therapy Exercises for Adults

Speech therapy for adults provides the best results when certain exercises are included in the treatment plan. Some of the exercises incorporated into a speech therapy program in leading clinics in Chennai are listed below.

1. Improving voice, articulation, and fluency- Resonant-based exercises solve the problems with articulation. It helps the patient maintain the voice by decreasing the laryngeal tension.
2. Enhancing public-speaking abilities- Reading techniques are provided to improve public speaking ability. It helps the patient become a better communicator and presenter during meetings by changing their overall delivery tone and format.
3. Accent reduction- By working on individual sounds, an individual will be able to neutralize their accent. This will help in shifting the speaking mannerism and improving the intonation.
4. Vocal coaching- Therapists will use therapeutic interventions to identify whether the voice is misused, overused, or abused. Then they will train the speech to acquire a professional tone to communicate effectively.

How Long Will Speech Therapy for Adults Take?

Most people ask a very common question about how long speech therapy will take. Speech therapy makes use of one’s time and money, and thus it is quite natural for people to feel the need to minimize the time and cost but maximize the quality and gain a holistic treatment. Some speech therapy for adults may take a few sessions, while others may require a few months to see results. As each individual varies from one another with different intentions, it is hard to determine the time span for speech therapy.

Factors Contributing to the Speech Therapy Duration

A few common factors that influence the duration of speech therapy are:

1. Severity- It is essential to consider the severity of the communication difficulty, the seriousness of the condition, and patient participation in the social environment. It can range between mild, moderate, and severe. The more severe the situation is, the more time the therapy will take.
2. Area of communication- If communication difficulty is present in different areas of language, clarity, and speech, more intensive therapies must be given, which will take more time.
3. Engagement and participation- The engagement levels of the patient in the speech therapy session will have an impact on how much they reap from the treatment. Thus, therapists strive hard to attain maximum engagement from patients to improve the outcomes.
4. Consistency and treatment intensity- Consistency is the key to learning anything effectively. The same applies to speech therapy for adults. If an individual regularly misses the appointment, then the intensity of the treatment decreases, which will negatively impact the progress. Eventually, this will lead to an extended therapy schedule and time. Consistency plays a critical role in home practices too. Therefore, to maximize the outcome and progress, home-based practices are very important.
5. Individual goals- Patients have goals in mind, which vary from one person to another. A few may want to strengthen particular skills and abilities, whereas others may way to gain a holistic solution to their problems. Thus, the time frame for speech therapy depends on the type of goals.

The Takeaway
Therapy duration varies from one adult to another based on the factors mentioned above. JOGO’s digital therapeutics provide the best speech therapy sessions for adults in Chennai by minimizing the cost and maximizing the quality of treatment.