We provide speech therapy online for children, adolescents and adults with dysarthria.
We are a registered NDIS provider and use an inclusive approach to therapy, where the person can be in the comfort and familiarity of their own home.
How can speech therapy benefit people with dysarthria?
Speech therapy can provide significant benefits to individuals with dysarthria, a motor speech disorder characterized by weak or uncoordinated muscle movements affecting speech production. Here are some key ways in which speech therapy can help:
1. **Improving Speech Clarity:** Speech therapists can work with individuals to enhance articulation and pronunciation, helping them produce clearer speech and be better understood by others.
2. **Strengthening Oral Muscles:** Therapy often includes exercises designed to strengthen the muscles involved in speech, such as the lips, tongue, and jaw. These exercises can improve control and coordination for better articulation.
3. **Modifying Speech Techniques:** Therapists can teach techniques for modifying speech patterns, such as slowing down speech, using appropriate pauses, and utilizing greater vocal projection to enhance clarity.
4. **Facilitating Breath Support:** Proper breath support is crucial for speech. Therapy can focus on breathing techniques to improve diaphragm control, allowing for stronger and more sustained speech.
5. **Using Assistive Devices:** For some individuals, speech therapists can recommend and provide training on assistive communication devices (e.g., speech-generating devices or apps) to facilitate communication when verbal speech is challenging.
6. **Developing Communication Strategies:** Therapy can assist individuals in developing effective strategies for communicating in various settings, including teaching alternative ways to express thoughts or ideas when verbal communication is difficult.
7. **Enhancing Intelligibility:** Therapists can help clients improve their overall intelligibility by focusing on changes in pitch, loudness, and voice quality to ensure their speech is easier for listeners to understand.
8. **Emotional and Psychological Support:** Dysarthria can impact an individual’s confidence and social interactions. Speech therapy can offer emotional support and strategies for coping with the challenges of the disorder, boosting self-esteem and encouraging social engagement.
9. **Personalized Treatment Plans:** Each session can be tailored to the individual’s specific needs, goals, and severity of dysarthria, which allows for targeted interventions that are most effective for the individual.
10. **Family Involvement:** Therapy can include family members to teach them how to best support their loved one’s communication efforts, fostering a better understanding and more effective interactions at home.
Overall, speech therapy aims to enhance communication abilities, making it possible for individuals with dysarthria to express themselves more effectively and improve their quality of life.
Services for children, adolescents and adults
We have speech therapists who work with children, adolescents and adults, and we have therapists who have experience with dysarthria. Read more about our therapists here.
NDIS registered provider
We are a registered NDIS provider and work with self-managed, plan-managed and agency-managed clients.
If your are an NDIS provider or support coordinator we can provide reliable speech therapy for clients with dysarthria in any location. Refer a client and we’ll connect you to the right clinician.
Is online speech therapy effective?
Yes! A growing body of evidence shows that online delivery of therapy can be as effective as face to face. Online therapy has many other benefits too, including being convenient and accessible for people in regional and rural areas.
How does online speech therapy work?
At Umbo online therapy is not just zoom plus business-as-usual. It’s much more diverse than simply videoconferencing. Umbo therapists provide an individualised approach to each person, using the latest evidence, and a variety of technologies and engagement techniques.
Umbo champions person-centred therapy. It means the person and their family/support people leads the conversation. We believe that the most effective therapy occurs when support is given in the environment where the person lives, learns, works or plays. Therefore we work with the family, and teach skills to you or to other supporters. This means you’re achieving real-life goals, rather than just achieving goals in a clinic.
We are a certified social enterprise helping Australian families access allied health services.