A Speech Language Pathologist is a professional who may diagnose and treat speech, language, cognitive communication, and swallowing disorders of all ages, from infants to the elderly. Speech therapy services are available for inpatients, outpatients, and skilled nursing patients. MaKenzie is a Speech Language Pathologist who is licensed by the state of Idaho and nationally certified by the American Speech-Language Hearing association.
A speech disorder: a person may have difficulty with speech sounds, fluency, or with his/her voice. Disorders include: dysarthria, apraxia, stuttering, and voice disorders.
A language disorder: a person may have difficulty with receptive language (understanding or comprehending others), or with expressive language and can present during written, or spoken forms of verbal expression.
Disorders include: aphasia
A cognitive-communication disorder: a person may have difficulty with memory, organizing their thoughts, and/or problem solving. A cognitive communication disorder usually results from a stroke, brain injury, or dementia.
A swallowing disorder: a person may have difficulty chewing, swallowing, the feeling of food getting “stuck”, food coming back up, and/or having to swallow multiple times.
Disorders include: dysphagia
Common medical diagnosis:
Our Speech Language Pathologist is certified in VitalStim Therapy. VitalStim Therapy is a therapeutic intervention for use in the treatment of dysphagia. It is FDA approved and is a specialized form of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), specifically designed to treat dysphagia.
Our Speech Language Pathologist is able to provide a specialized assessment of swallowing called a Modified Barium Swallow Study (MBSS). This is a swallow assessment done in the radiology department for a thorough examination of swallow function; specifically to determine which part of the swallow is impaired, what kinds of food may be the safest to swallow, and if any compensatory strategies improve the safety of your swallow.