Speech Therapy Goals for Stroke Victims

Stroke victims often need speech therapy after their ordeals. Depending on the patient and the extent of the damage, therapy can include writing, telephone calls, exercises and activities. The ultimate goal for the patient is to restore as much of their former abilities as possible.

First Steps

• Therapy sessions for a stroke victim may take place just days after the stroke. One of the very first goals may be to teach the patient to eat, drink and swallow properly. Because stroke victims often suffer from paralysis on one side of the face, these simple activities may be difficult during recovery.
  The next goal would be saying just one or two simple words. Nonverbal patients may use chalkboards or other communication devices at first to communicate with therapists, medical staff, family and friends, but eventually they may be able to say short words or partial words. Speech therapists then begin working with them to string those words into short phrases, working toward using sentences and longer words and expanding their vocabularies.
  While patients are encouraged to say whatever they are able to, speech therapists may guide them to use words that are especially helpful in everyday situations, reviewing lists of numbers or flashcards containing the days of the week. In essence, patients are learning the English language all over again.

Long-Term Goals

• Each stroke victim recovers at his or her own pace, but many people need long-term speech therapy to fully recover. While in the short-term patients may be able to say simple sentences and ask for the things they need, the goal of long-term speech therapy is to help stroke victims communicate independently, using gestures and devices only if needed.
  In a new form of speech therapy, Melodic Intonation Therapy, patients sing instead of talk. This method can help certain stroke patients recover more fully than traditional speech therapy as singing allows the patient to form and remember words more easily.