Speech Therapy

Speech Therapy

When disability or illness interferes with your ability to speak or swallow, the licensed and certified speech therapists at Northwestern Medicine can help you participate fully in life again.

Your speech therapist will conduct a comprehensive evaluation and establish a therapy plan to meet your personal goals for using and understanding language, feeding and swallowing. 

The dedicated team’s goal is to use advanced assessment and therapeutic techniques to return you to the highest level of function possible for a more satisfying life.

The speech therapy team* includes licensed speech therapists who assess and treat people from birth to old age with diverse communication and swallowing disorders caused by a number of conditions. Speech therapists use a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to diagnosing and treating communication and swallowing disorders. 

Your individualized treatment plan will be based on your specific needs and goals, but could include education and training in:

• Articulation and language rehabilitation
• Assessment and treatment of swallowing disorders
• Cognitive rehabilitation
• Family/caretaker education
• Geriatric feeding rehabilitation
• Head and neck cancer rehabilitation (focused on speech and swallowing)
• Pediatric feeding therapy
• Pediatric screenings for speech development, fine motor skills and sensory processing issues
• Videofluoroscopic swallowing evaluations
• VitalStim® to stimulate muscle activity necessary for functional swallowing
• Voice assessment and treatment (including hoarseness, weakness or hypernasality)