Speech therapy can provide a world of benefits for aging adults. With older age often comes challenges with communication and speech, which can come with a host of frustrations. For seniors affected by illness and weakened physical condition, participating in speech therapy can aid in various areas.
Strokes may cause damage to parts of the brain that are responsible for managing speech and communication. Stroke victims can often experience difficulties with motor skills and language impairment. It is ideal to participate in speech therapy soon after experiencing a stroke to boost the chances of improvement and recovery.
With older age comes the possibility of weakened muscles within the jaw and throat, which could lead to problems chewing & swallowing, posing a choking hazard. Speech therapy aids in strengthening the muscles in the area and promoting an improvement in the reflexes responsible for swallowing.
While seniors with dementia or Alzheimer's might not experience difficulties with speech and communication, participating in speech therapy can help improve other cognitive aspects such as response time, attention, memory, focus, and even problem-solving. By providing mental and physical stimulation, speech therapy can be a valuable tool in helping persons with dementia manage the various symptoms associated with dementia and Alzheimer's.
Communication is one of the foundational building blocks for people to connect and take care of themselves. Seniors with untreated speech issues may experience feelings of isolation and frustration due to the inability to communicate fully. Engaging with speech therapy resources, even from home, gives aging adults the opportunity to feel more confident, improve their overall health and wellbeing, and have a better quality of life.
Speech therapy has many benefits, and online applications make these treatments more easily accessible for seniors. Below we've highlighted our top picks for applications to help get seniors to take those first steps toward speech therapy.
Conversation Therapy is an easy-to-use application that helps users focus on more than just the sounds and feelings of words. It encompasses tools to help improve situational conversations and the corresponding responses. By concentrating on conversational nuances, it allows users to find the best way to express themselves in a way that fits the unique situations they are placed in. The app is also organized into categories of interest, such as 'hobbies', 'health', and more, for greater focus on areas of interest.
Download it from the Play Store here.
Naming Therapy comes packed full of drills, flashcards, and practice opportunities to help stroke victims cope with anomia - the struggle of recollecting people and words for everyday activities and objects. The app focuses on being able to place names and boost memory function during the process as well. By placing focus on descriptions and testing those skills, it encourages users to strengthen not only recollection but communication as well. Coming with over 700 flashcards to learn with, it also comes with an additional 400+ pictures to conduct practice on your own.
Download it from the Play Store here.
Communication is what helps us to foster connections amongst one another and gives us the ability to meet our personal needs. Speech therapy and the various applications available to download today are a great stepping stone to help seniors grow confidently into their older age. With the growing awareness surrounding the benefits of speech therapy, these resources can prove helpful for people within older age brackets.
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