May is Better Hearing and Speech Month

May is Better Hearing & Speech Month

May is recognized as Better Hearing and Speech Month. Created in 1927 by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), this month aims to raise awareness and promote education and understanding of communication disorders and a person’s ability to hear. This year’s theme is “Communication at Work.”

The Center for Hearing and Communication shares that over 48 million Americans suffer from hearing loss. Leaving hearing loss untreated can lead to a decline in your mental and physical health. People suffering from hearing loss may face depression, fatigue, heart disease, migraines and more.

The COVID-19 outbreak has made communication more important than ever, but it has also added new challenges. To have effective virtual meetings:

Holzer’s Audiology team is dedicated to helping individuals of all ages and treating hearing loss of all types. 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 appointments can be made at Holzer locations in Athens, Gallipolis, Jackson and Proctorville, Ohio.

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 because 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 Gallipolis and Jackson locations.

For more information or to schedule appointments for services, visit www.holzer.org or call 1-855-446-5937.