Speech Therapy

Riverview Therapy has an amazing team of specialists that can help you improve your swallowing or verbal communication skills. With private rooms, this therapy is done with dignity in a caring environment. Our trained staff is accustomed to working with adults and seniors.   Since we have a dietician on hand, we can also help you understand, and effectively communicate the type of food preparation you might need to avoid choking, coughing or gagging while dining.

What to expect from Riverview Therapy to improve swallowing.

While swallowing is considered an effortless, reflexive action, it’s actually a complicated and coordinated maneuver involving many muscles and nerves.  As a result, neurological conditions characterized by damage to the brain, spinal cord or nerves can often result in difficulties swallowing, called dysphagia. Depending on the specific neurological condition, a person may experience dysphagia for unique reasons. For example, with a stroke, a person may have difficulties swallowing because there may be an absent or delayed swallowing reflex, weakened throat muscles, and difficulty controlling tongue movements. In Parkinson’s disease, dysphagia may occur from a delayed swallow response, as well as a symptom called tongue pumping, in which a person’s tongue moves back and forth repetitively preventing food from leaving the mouth. Therapies designed to improve swallowing are focused on strengthening muscles and building coordination of the nerves and muscles involved in swallowing. Exercising your swallowing muscles is the best way to improve your ability to swallow.

What to expect from Riverview Therapy to Improve Speech Impairments:
Often speech impairments occur from a stroke, or other neurological trauma.  It takes time to retrain the brain to make the right words or say the words right.  At Riverview, speech therapy can involve using tongue and month exercises, working through speech drills, practicing sound production, and other techniques to improve brain to mouth communication.

We offer LSVT LOUD for Parkinson’s
At Riverview, many of our Residents suffer from or no someone that suffers from Parkinson’s.  Riverview Retirement Therapy offers the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LVST ®) programs for those with Parkinson’s Disease.  LSVT programs are based on research to treat common symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The programs can be customized to meet the unique goals of each patient. Riverview Rehabilitation has specially trained clinicians certified to offer LSVT programs.

LSVT LOUD
This program focuses on communication skills. You may benefit from an improvement in:
• Vocal loudness
• Articulation and speech intelligibility
• Intonation
• Facial expression