May is Better Hearing and Speech Month
Holzer Joins with ASHA To Raise Awareness

May is Better Hearing and Speech Month. For 2019, the theme is "Communication Across the Lifespan.

May is recognized as Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM), and Holzer joins with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) to raise awareness. For 2019, the theme is "Communication Across the Lifespan." 

Hearing, speech and language disorders take many forms.  Babies can be born with these disorders and injury or illness can cause them at any age.  These disorders can limit academic achievement, social adjustment, and career advancement. Fortunately, most people with hearing, speech and language problems can be helped.  Even if the problem cannot be eliminated, individuals can be taught strategies to help them cope.

Holzer's professional audiologists specialize in evaluating, diagnosing, and treating people with hearing loss and balance disorders. The Audiology team is experienced in the counseling and fitting of basic hearing aids as well as the most advanced technological devices in the market today. Our Audiologists treat all ages and types of hearing loss: adults, teens, children, and infants. Almost all types of hearing loss are treatable by an audiologist.

Holzer Audiology Services include: prescribing and fitting hearing aids, assisting in cochlear implant programs, performing ear or hearing-related surgical monitoring, designing and implementing hearing conservation programs and newborn hearing screening programs, providing hearing rehabilitation training such as auditory training, speech reading, and/or listening skills improvement. Audiology services are available at Holzer Athens, Gallipolis, Jackson, and Proctorville locations.

Speech Therapy involves the rehabilitation and treatment of physical and cognitive problems that lead to difficulty with overall communication. It aims to increase communication skills through a variety of efforts, including articulation, intonation, and phonology. Communication challenges lead to difficulty with verbal and nonverbal interaction.

Speech Language Pathologists are responsible for diagnosing a wide range of speech disorders, including those with swallowing. Speech difficulties can arise as a result of stroke, head injury, surgery, brain tumor, tracheotomy, and more. Speech Language Pathologists at Holzer are committed to maximize each patient’s function in their daily lives. Speech Therapy includes, but is not limited to:

• Speech: phonation, articulation, fluency, resonance, and voice including aeromechanical components of respiration;
• Voice: vocal quality (hoarseness and dysphonia), poor vocal volume (hypophonia), abnormal (rough, breathy, strained);
• Swallowing Disorders;
• Language: Phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatic/social aspects of communication including comprehension and expression in oral, written, graphic, and manual modalities, language processing, pre literacy and language-based literacy skills, phonological awareness.
• Cognitive communication: Attention, memory, problem solving, executive functions.

Holzer Speech Therapy Services are available at Athens, Gallipolis, and Pomeroy locations. For more information on the services Holzer provides, please visit www.holzer.org or call 1-855-4-HOLZER.

About American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA):
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for more than 173,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, speech, language, and hearing scientists, audiology and speech-language pathology support personnel, and students. Audiologists specialize in preventing and assessing hearing and balance disorders as well as providing audiologic treatment, including hearing aids. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems, including swallowing disorders. www.asha.org/.