What is speech therapy?

“Logos” is the ancient Greek term for “the word”. The direct translation of the term “speech therapy” is “word education”. In fact, speech therapy focuses on the language development of children with delayed language development. In adults, speech therapy is used when linguistic communication is impaired by a disease of the brain, larynx or pharynx. Beyond “speech education” in children, speech therapy in adulthood is mainly used for patients with neurological disorders. A characteristic feature of speech therapy in neurology is treatment following a stroke in which the cerebral cortex (with disruption of speech formation; speech disorder, known as “aphasia”) or the brain stem (with disruption of the control of the tongue, pharynx and speech disorder there, speech disorder, known as “dysarthria”) is injured.

In ALS, language formation in the cerebral cortex is usually not impaired. Only in a small group of ALS patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration can speech formation in the brain be impaired. The typical problem with ALS is a progressive weakness (paresis) or stiffness (spasticity) of the tongue and pharyngeal muscles as well as the larynx. These changes lead to a restriction of speech and swallowing. Speech therapy for ALS aims to maintain speech function and support the swallowing process.