Adult

ESL/Second Language Acquisition  

Tutoring available upon request, including IELTS preparation, functional role plays, and accent reduction.

Receptive & Expressive Language

Receptive Language refers to your ability to comprehend language and follow instructions, while Expressive Language refers to your ability to convey thoughts using spoken words and sentences, gesture and writing. A breakdown in communication ability may occur following neurological events such as a stroke or traumatic brain injury.

 

Speech Disorders

  • Apraxia of Speech (AOS)

    If you have apraxia of speech (AOS) you will know what words you want to say, but your brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say all the sounds in the words. As a result, you may say something completely different or make up words (e.g. ‘chicken’ or ‘bipem’ for ‘kitchen’). You might recognise your error and try again—sometimes getting it right, but sometimes saying something else entirely. This situation can become quite frustrating.

    With AOS, you may demonstrate:

    • better automatic speech (e.g. greetings) than purposeful speech

    • difficulty imitating and producing speech sounds, marked by speech errors such as sound distortions, substitutions, and/or omissions

    • groping of the tongue and lips to make specific sounds and words

    • impaired rhythm and prosody of speech

    • in severe cases the inability to produce any sound at all  

    • inconsistent speech errors

    • slow speech rate

  • Dysarthria

    Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder. It results from impaired movement of your muscles used for speech production, including the lips, tongue, vocal folds, and/or diaphragm. The type and severity of dysarthria will depend on which area of your nervous system has been affected. Dysarthria is a common symptom of neurological diseases and events such as stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, Huntington’s disease and traumatic brain injury.

    If you have dysarthria, you may demonstrate some of the following speech characteristics:

    • abnormal pitch and rhythm when speaking

    • changes in voice quality, such as hoarse or breathy voice or speech that sounds ‘nasal’ or ‘stuffy

    • limited tongue, lip, and jaw movement

    • rapid rate of speech with a ‘mumbling’ quality

    • slow rate of speech

    • ‘slurred’, ‘choppy’ or ‘mumbled’ speech that may be difficult to understand

Swallowing/Mealtime Difficulties

Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) means it takes more time and effort to move food or liquid from your mouth to your stomach. Dysphagia may also be associated with pain. In some cases, swallowing may be impossible.

Some signs and symptoms that you have a swallowing disorder may include:

  • coughing or gagging when swallowing

  • drooling

  • dysphagia – difficulty with swallowing food, drink and saliva

  • eating soft food such as soup or puddings, avoiding certain food or cutting food into smaller pieces because of difficulty swallowing

  • frequent heartburn that creates a burning sensation in your chest

  • odynophagia – pain while swallowing 

  • regurgitation – bringing food back up 

  • the sensation of food getting stuck in your throat or chest or behind your breastbone (sternum)

  • vocal hoarseness – you sound like you’re losing your voice

  • weight loss that is unwanted & unexpected

 

Voice Disorders

Voice disorders are medical conditions involving abnormal pitch, loudness or quality of the sound being produced by your larynx (voice box) consequently affecting the production of speech. Signs that you could have a voice disorder may include:

  • increased vocal effort

  • limited pitch range

  • limited volume range

  • vocal hoarseness

 

Gender Affirming Voice & Communication Training

Being trans, gender diverse, nonbinary or genderqueer, your voice may currently be incongruent with your physical and social presentation. Tailored voice & communication programs provide strategies to help you to use your voice safely, in a discreet, affirming and warm environment.

Various aspects of communication are targeted in the program, including:

  • articulation – how speech sounds are produced with coordinated movement of lips, teeth, tongue and palate

  • language – including vocabulary

  • nonverbal communication – including posture, gesture and of course…..laughter

  • pitch – how deep or high your voice is

  • pragmatics  – the social ‘rules’ of communication in context

  • prosody – the rhythm of your speech

  • rate – how quickly or slowly you speak

  • resonance – the quality and warmth of your voice

  • respiration – breath support for improved vocal quality, and exercises to facilitate a reduction in stress and anxiety

  • volume – how loudly or softly you speak

Enquire today