For nearly every adult on the planet, verbal communication is of vital importance. Adult speech is key to living well-rounded happy lives, existing productively in society, and simply navigating our world.
But speech issues can happen at almost any time. A stroke, a brain injury, an illness, or even just the natural effects of aging, can have a massive impact on the communication skills of adults. These challenges, especially in adults who are used to having all of their faculties, can be frustrating, isolating, and formidable.
Fortunately, working with a speech language pathologist can help lift patients out of this frustration, isolation, and fear. Working with a speech therapist can help adults re-achieve their natural communication skills and offer more fulfilling lives.
Speech therapy can even help with other issues tied to speech, the mouth, and cognitive abilities, including swallowing and eating, as well as cognitive tasks involving language.
Whether you or a loved one has had a stroke, is recovering from an illness or injury that affects speech, or is experiencing a decline in speech associated with aging, a speech language pathologist can likely help.
In Arizona, and around the world, speech language therapy is a powerful tool for recovery.
The Role of a Speech Therapist
A speech-language pathologist, also known as an SLP for short, evaluates and provides therapy for those with speech issues, including adults in Arizona. SLPs are licensed healthcare professionals who are often employed by schools, care homes, hospitals, and skilled nursing facilities to provide speech therapy to their patients.
Speech language pathologists use a variety of techniques and therapy exercises to help improve things such as:
- Speech clarity
- Speech fluency
- Cognitive skills, especially those tied to language
- Swallowing and eating skills
- Strengthening of the voice
- Understanding spoken and written language
- Rebuilding overall communication skills
- And more
Speech language pathologists are also skilled in recognizing and diagnosing issues tied to speech, as well as providing care schedules and pathways for those with whom they are working.
Common Reasons Adults Seek Speech Therapy
Speech therapy is more than fixing a stutter or other speech ticks and inaccuracies. It involves retraining the brain to rebuild language pathways lost due to illness, injury, and aging. It can also help adults overcome mechanical issues hampering speech, eating, or swallowing.
Speech therapy can be effective for adults who:
Are Recovering From a Stroke
Among the most common reasons an adult might visit a speech language pathologist is if they are recovering from a stroke. Strokes often impact the language centers in the brain negatively. They also often impact areas of the brain tied to fine motor control, and control of the mouth and face.
Speech therapy helps to retrain the brain, as well as recover skills lost to the stroke, and is often remarkably effective. Many patients even make a full recovery. Speech therapy can also help patients learn alternative strategies for communication if they are severely impacted like using notepads and other visual communication devices.
Are Managing Speech or Communication Challenges Related to Illness or Injury
Another common reason an adult might seek speech therapy is due to an illness or injury. Perhaps the most common injury affecting speech is a traumatic brain injury. Those suffering from an aneurysm or recovering from surgery may also need speech therapy to regain their linguistic functions.
Some illnesses or conditions that might also benefit from SLPs include:
- ALS
- Multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Cerebral palsy
- Other diseases affecting the movement and control of muscles
Like those above who have suffered from stroke, those who have had injuries or illnesses affecting speech may experience difficulty understanding speech or expressing themselves through language, slurred or difficulty understanding speech, or trouble coordinating the muscles in their face and mouth to create speech. A speech language pathologist can help retrain these muscles to perform to a greater degree of precision.
Have Speech Issues Related To Age
The natural process of aging can also affect speech in negative ways. In some cases when we age, our ability to use speech both mechanically and cognitively declines. Speech therapy can also support adults suffering from age-related illnesses such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Oftentimes, elder care homes or skilled nursing facilities will have speech language pathologists onsite who can help residents with problems tied to age or age-related illness. In many of these cases, therapies are focused on maintaining communication skills rather than rebuilding them. This can help patients protect their independence, confidence, and ability to connect with those they love.
Have Mechanical Issues Related To Eating and Swallowing
In some cases, the afflictions above also create issues with swallowing and eating. These issues are often mechanical, and result from weaknesses in the mouth, lips or tongue, poor coordination of these muscles, and potential blockages related.
SLPs can help overcome these issues by accurately diagnosing their causes and providing individualized therapy plans, including distinct exercises and strategies, to help overcome them.
How To Know if Speech Therapy Is Needed
Common signs a speech therapist is needed include:
- Difficulty understanding language, especially after an illness or accident
- Difficulty finding the right words when in conversation
- Difficulty organizing speech
- Difficulty speaking clearly
- Saying the wrong word without meaning to or not understanding the word was incorrect
- Problems forming complete sentences
- Trouble staying focused on speech or language-related tasks
- Slurred speech
- Memory problems associated with language
- Difficulty swallowing
- Difficulty eating
If you or a loved one are experiencing any of these symptoms, especially if they are new or occurring after an illness or injury, you should speak with a doctor about seeing a speech pathologist immediately.
What To Expect in Therapy Sessions
The first thing you should expect in a speech therapy setting is an initial assessment and goal setting from your speech language pathologist. The therapist will make a full assessment of your speech abilities, habits and mechanical abilities, and from this, will work with you to develop a treatment plan.
Once the plan is developed, you’ll be assigned a number of therapy exercises to do both with the therapist present and to do on your own. These exercises may include techniques to strengthen your muscles, games to play that help your memory as tied to language and problem solving, and work that will help you speak more clearly.
Your therapist will also likely help you with strategies for improving everyday communication skills. This may be as simple as dedicating time to converse each day with a loved one or certain reading and writing exercises. They also may help provide you with alternative communication skills, such as the use of notepads, to help you along in the short or long term.
Benefits of Speech Therapy for Adults
The benefits of speech therapy go beyond the ability for understandable speech. For those who are facing life after an illness or injury, effective speech can mean improvements in independence, mental health, and overall quality of life.
As each case is different, it’s difficult to say how long it takes for speech therapy to work for adults, but many people see results within just a couple of weeks.
Enhancing Communication and Social Connection
One of the most important aspects of speech therapy is enhancing social connection through speech. Speech or communication skills are a near-vital prerequisite to social connection. Lacking it, especially for those who are used to speaking almost as easily as breathing, can result in isolation from peers and family members. This isolation, in turn, can result in depression and even fear.
Restoring Independence After a Brain Injury or Health Challenge
Language is involved in most everyday activities. From going to the grocery store or the pharmacy to paying bills, language is a near necessity of everyday life. Even just expressing needs to loved ones is generally done through language. Speech therapy can help your loved one regain control over everyday tasks and take back their independence.
Supporting Cognitive Abilities
Speech therapy isn’t always just about the words that come out of the mouth, but the ideas and functions in the brain behind and around them. Speech therapy helps build good cognitive habits around ancillary functions to language as well. Things such as memory, attention span, problem solving, organization, and much more can all be positively affected by speech therapy.
Improving Overall Quality of Life
Above all, speech therapy helps improve the quality of life for adults all over Arizona and the world. It supports communication and social connection, can restore independence, helps with cognitive abilities, and improves overall quality of life. It allows adults to participate more fully in their own lives and connect with others.
Benefit From Speech Therapy In Arizona Today
If you or your loved one is having any issues with speaking related to illness, injury, or old age, contact Haven Health today to explore our offerings for speech therapy. Speech therapy can restore lost independence, enhance communication and connection, and improve overall quality of life.
Don’t wait. Contact us today to see how our speech language pathologists may be able to help you regain the gift of language.
Contact Haven Health to learn more about how we can help your loved ones with speech therapy.
Sources:
In Brief: What is Speech Therapy? (2025).
Page, A., et al. (2025). Exploring the Stability of Communicative Participation and Level of Daily Speech Usage Among Individuals With Hypophonia and Parkinson’s Disease.
Speech-Language Pathology Services. (2025).