Doctors' Digest

Private speech therapy – what is available?

Private speech therapy can help with a wide range of conditions that affect the way we communicate. Speech problems come in many forms. Adults and children can have difficulty articulating words because of a lisp or a stammer or some other physical problem. There are also more complex issues involving the way the brain processes speech such as choosing appropriate words and understanding their meaning. Most of us take being able to talk for granted but if you have a speech problem and find it difficult to make yourself understood, this can affect your whole life. Speech therapy may be able to help, particularly for children with speech problems, or for adults who have had a brain injury. Private speech therapy can have a bigger impact if started earlier rather than later. This article on private speech therapy is by Kathryn Senior, a freelance journalist who writes health, medical, biological, and pharmaceutical articles for national and international journals, newsletters and web sites.