Speech & Hearing

We treat speech, language, voice and swallowing difficulties that frequently develop due to:

• ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)
• Autism
• Cranial-facial abnormalities
• Developmental delay or disorders
• Head and neck cancer
• Head trauma
• Laryngectomy
• Multiple sclerosis
• Neurological disorders
• Parkinson's disease
• Respiratory disorders
• Stroke
• Tracheotomy

Some children are born with hearing loss. Adults gradually lose hearing as they age when their inner ear structures degenerate. Other causes of hearing loss include:

• Abnormal bone growths or tumors
• An ear infection
• Certain medications such as some chemotherapy drugs
• Damage to the inner ear
• Gradual buildup of earwax
• Loud noises
• Ruptured eardrum

• Voice difficulties. A comprehensive voice evaluation and therapy program is available for both children and adults experiencing voice disorders. These may be associated with behavioral as well as physiological causes, including vocal-fold paralysis and laryngectomy.
• Delayed speech. Infants and children with delayed speech and language are at increased risk for learning problems later in childhood, such as reading disabilities. It is critical to intervene early to lower the risk of future development and learning problems.
• Swallowing disorders. Symptoms can include coughing when eating, unexplained weight loss, having to swallow multiple times, the feeling that food is stuck in your throat, and difficulty when starting to swallow. Our team will diagnose and treat your swallowing disorder.
• Hearing difficulties or loss. We give hearing evaluations for both adults and children. If necessary, we provide a complete line of digital, programmable and analog hearing aids.

Speech and language experts at Catholic Health use the following advanced technologies:

• Augmentative/alternative communication (AAC). Devices, such as Dynavox and Lingraphica, that are available to try during an evaluation.
• Flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES). A technique used to evaluate swallowing difficulties. It uses an endoscope to view laryngeal and pharyngeal structures during swallowing and non-swallowing tasks.
• Lee Silverman voice treatment (LSVT LOUD). Considered the standard treatment for speech and voice disorders resulting from Parkinson's disease.
• Modified barium swallow studies (MBSS). A fluoroscopic x-ray conducted with radiology that allows us to view and evaluate the oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal stages of swallowing.
• PROMPT (Reconstructing Oral Musculature Phonetic Targets). This therapy uses touch cues to your jaw, tongue and lips to guide you through a targeted word, phrase or sentence.
• Surface electromyography (SEMG). A non-invasive technique used to evaluate and treat communication and swallowing disorders. It works through the use of physiological data gathering and biofeedback.
• Visi-Pitch™. Software that records your voice and provides visual and auditory feedback in both adults and children.
• VitalStim®. Swallowing therapy is a non-invasive, external electrical stimulation therapy cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the safe and effective treatment of swallowing disorders, also called dysphagia.

Audiology services at Catholic Health include speech-language pathologists and otolaryngologists, vestibular balance testing and newborn hearing screenings. Our dedicated staff provides diagnostic and therapeutic audiological services to patients of all ages, including:

• Assistive listening devices
• Complete audiological evaluations
• Complete line of digital, programmable and analog hearing aids
• Custom made earmold, noise protection and swim molds—an earmold is a piece of carefully molded material that sits in your ear and connects the ear canal to the hearing aid
• Hearing aid checkups, adjustments, dispensing, fittings and evaluations
• Pediatric hearing evaluations

We also provide frequency modulation (FM) evaluations, fittings and adjustments. These are used with hearing loss in children or adults and are sometimes called auditory trainers. An FM system is a special wireless device that helps people hear better in noisy environments. FM devices use radio waves to transmit audio signals to the listener.