Speech therapy offered in Cebu

Roble

Increasing market demand is driving the Cebu Doctors’ University to  expand the operation of its Department of Speech and Language Pathology (DSLP).

Genevieve Roble, the university’s DSLP chairperson, said  more patients, especially those recovering from stroke and head injuries,  are seeking the assistance of speech and language therapists.

The same need is felt for children who are suffering from developmental delays and autism.

Roble, who obtained  her SLP degree from the University of the Philippines in Manila, is also looking at the possibility of linking SLP with Cebu’s education system.

“Ideally, as a career option, speech therapists can also be employed in schools because there are also children who are at risk there. There are children who are labeled as ki-at (restless) but  they just can’t comprehend their  lessons,” she said.

CDU in Mandaue City pioneered the operation of a DSLP in the Visayas and Mindanao. They started to offer  SLP on June 2012 with 56 students for their five-year course.

Enrollment increased to 133 in the second semester this  year, perhaps because students are beginning to see the importance of having a mastery in speech and language pathology.

Some students take SLP as a pre-medicine course.

“Language is not just an art. There is also a science to it,” said Roble.

Internship

Roble said their students get a feel of the actual practice during their internship at the SLP clinic  at the Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Center of the Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital (CDUH)  along Osmeña Boulevard in Cebu City.

To date, Cebu  only has six professionals offering speech and language pathology services.

Roble said four of them are connected with CDUH while the two others have clinics in Cebu City.

“If people will know that we exist, we can address the market demand for the service,” Roble said.

CDU’s College of Rehabilitative Sciences started to offer SLP in 2012 in addition to their respiratory therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy courses for a fee ranging from P30, 000 to P40, 000.

SLP is a field dedicated to the understanding of normal communication processes and the application of knowledge for the identification, treatment, and prevention of communication disorders in children and adults.

It draws on the domains of linguistics, psychology, biological and physical science to capture the normal processes of communication, as well as the nature of communication disorders and their effects on the individual throughout their lifespan.

Those involved in the field of Communicative Sciences and Disorders seek to understand and minimize the impact of disordered speech, language, hearing and swallowing processes on a person’s educational, social, or vocational success, and offer help not only the patient, but also the family, and caregivers.

“We address the needs of people with speech and language problems and even those with swallowing difficulties,” she said.
Speech difficulty is common among children experiencing development delays and those with autism and cleft palate.

Therapy is also advised for adults who either suffered from a stroke or vehicular accidents to hasten their speech recovery.

TREATMENT

At CDUH, they cater to the needs of at least five to six in patients and walk-in clients per day.

In some instances, they  provide   home service for patients who are already bed-ridden.

They hold clinics on Mondays, Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The rest of the week is spent holding  classes at CDU.

A therapy session would  cost P500 to P1,000.

The one-hour session includes 45 minutes of actual therapy held at their clinic which resembles  a playroom.

“We interact with our patients during our sessions. We do not only rely on the use of gadgets,’ she said.

The remaining 15 minutes is devoted to  consultation with the patient’s parents or family members.

“We involve the family because they are the ones who stay with the patients 24 hours a day. We share with them techniques on how to better communicate with the patient,” she said.