Speech Pathologist near Beaman Park, Earlwood

Yes. After a stroke or brain injury, many people have aphasia: difficulty finding, saying or understanding words. Others have slurred speech or trouble following a conversation. Therapy at home works on the conversations that matter in daily life, at the table where they happen. The Stroke Foundation reports that one in three stroke survivors have difficulty communicating.

For aphasia work, I recommend a family member joins some sessions. The people at home are the person's daily conversation partners, and small changes in how they talk can make a big difference. More detail: adult speech therapy.

I also see adults for voice difficulties: a voice that is hoarse, tired or hard to hear. See voice therapy.

• Aphasia. Difficulty finding words, understanding, reading or writing after a stroke or brain injury.
• Dysarthria. Slurred or unclear speech because the muscles for speech are weaker or less coordinated.
• Cognitive-communication difficulties. Trouble with memory, attention and following a conversation, common after a brain injury.
• Progressive conditions. Parkinson's disease, motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis change speech over time. Starting therapy early builds strategies, and planning for AAC (aids that support or replace speech) can begin before it is urgent.
• Voice. Hoarseness that keeps coming back, a voice that tires by the end of the day, or loss of volume. If a structural vocal cord problem is possible, I arrange a referral to an ENT specialist.

Under a Home Care Package, I work within the package budget and coordinate directly with the care coordinator, so the family doesn't have to manage the paperwork.

Adults going back to work after a brain injury often come to me with word-finding and organisation problems that the rest of their rehabilitation hasn't covered. Sessions can happen at home or, anywhere in NSW, by telehealth.