Services
We are experienced speech therapists who are passionate about our work and dedicated to providing quality speech therapy services for adults and teens in the Montreal area. We understand the importance of early intervention and offer minimum wait times. We work in English, French, Italian, and Czech.
Our services include evaluation and intervention.
Intervention may be:
• One-on-one therapy
• Training of family members or care providers on communication techniques
• Referral to other relevant professionals and resources
Services are offered in person or via telepractice (internet, phone) on a case-by-case basis.
Areas of Expertise
Voice disorders
Most of us have had short-term problems with our voice at some point in our lives, for example, during a common cold. Some voice problems however are long lasting. These can develop for a number of reasons ranging from neurological injury and disease such as stroke or multiple sclerosis, structural reasons such as polyps or nodules, or simply from improper or inefficient use of the voice. Speech therapy can not only help restore your voice, but also teach you how to use it in a healthy way and take better care of it to prevent future vocal issues.
Tongue Thrust
If your tongue pushes forward or to the sides when you swallow, you likely have Tongue Thrust. Tongue thrust is part of something called Orofacial myofunctional disorders (OMD’s). OMD’s refers to abnormal movement and position of tongue, lips, and jaw during rest, speaking, and swallowing. It can be caused by a variety of factors including blocked nasal passages, sucking and chewing habits continued passed the age of 3, or structural abnormalities such as tongue tie. Individuals with OMD’s may also have difficulty with pronouncing some sounds such as ‘s’, ‘t’, or ‘j’. Finally, they may have difficulty with breathing through the nose. A speech-language pathologist can help you improve the resting position of your tongue, lips and jaw, change how you chew and swallow, learn to pronounce your sounds more clearly, and practice different breathing patterns.
Gender Affirmative Voice and Communication Services
You may feel that your voice does not represent who you are. We would be happy to work with you to change the way you speak so that your voice and communication style are more aligned with your gender. The following are some of the things we could work on: pitch (how high or low your voice sounds), intonation (the melody of your speech), resonance (the quality of the sound of your voice), volume, word choice, body language, and how you articulate your sounds.
Parkinson’s, voice, and speech
If you have Parkinson’s and have a soft, hoarse sounding voice or difficulty with articulating your words, you’re not alone. Up 90 % of people with Parkinson’s end up with a communication difficulty which can have a detrimental effect on their lives. Speech therapy for Parkinson’s is effective at improving voice quality and loudness, as well as articulation, intonation, and facial expression. Most of our clients also report improved self-confidence and overall quality of life. Studies and clinical experience have shown that it can also help improve swallowing difficulties linked to Parkinson’s Disease.
Apraxia of Speech
Speaking requires messages to go from your brain to your mouth. The brain tells the muscles how and when to move to make sounds. When a person has apraxia of speech due to a stroke or other neurological disorder, the messages might not get through correctly. The difficulties might range from not being able to move the lips and tongue to produce specific sounds or in severe cases, not being able to speak at all. This can be frustrating as the person tries to correct errors, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. A speech-language pathologist can figure out if you have apraxia of speech, how severe it is, and provide you with the best possible treatment.
Dysarthria
Speaking requires the movement and coordination of many muscles including muscles in our face, lips, tongue, and throat, as well as muscles for breathing. Brain damage from a stroke, brain cancer, degenerative illness or injury can cause dysarthria which is a motor speech disorder. The muscles can be weak, too tight, or lack coordination which can make it harder for you to talk and pronounce words clearly. Speech can be slurred or mumbled, be too slow or too fast or even sound robotic. People may have trouble understanding what you are saying and you may have to repeat yourself often. A speech-language pathologist can determine what type of dysarthria you have, work with you to improve your speech, and teach you to use strategies or tools to help you be more easily understood.
Chronic Cough
Chronic cough is a cough that lasts 8 weeks or more for adults and 4 weeks or more for children. It can affect your quality of life by interrupting your sleep and getting in the way of daily activities. Chronic cough can be caused by a respiratory infection that resolves, but the cough lingers. Other causes include asthma, allergies, and acid reflux. To help manage your cough, you may need medical treatment; however, often this does not suffice. Speech-Language Pathologists can collaborate with your doctor and provide effective behavioural intervention to help you manage your cough.
Aphasia
Aphasia is a condition that affects a person’s ability to understand, speak, read and write. It can occur suddenly after a stroke or head injury, but can also develop slowly as a result of brain tumour or progressive disease. Speech therapy for aphasia aims to improve the person’s language but also communication skills in a broader sense. Speech-language pathologists can train family members, caregivers and others in the environment of the person with aphasia to communicate more effectively with them.
Oropharyngeal Dysphagia
Oropharyngeal dysphagia is a swallowing disorder involving the mouth and throat. People with oropharyngeal dysphagia may have trouble with chewing, moving food or liquid into the throat, starting a swallow, squeezing food down the throat, and closing off the airway to keep food and liquid out. Dysphagia puts people at increased risk of dehydration, weight loss, choking, and development of pneumonia or other lung infections. A speech-language pathologist can evaluate your swallowing to identify problem areas, refer you for special tests if needed, and help you manage and/or improve your swallowing.
Cognitive-communication disorders
Communicating requires more than just your speech and language abilities. We also use our cognitive abilities which includes attention, memory, organization, problem solving, reasoning and judgement to name a few. Cognitive-communication disorders are problems with communication that occur primarily as a result of a cognitive deficit which can result from a traumatic brain injury, brain cancer, stroke or dementia. A person with a cognitive-communication disorder may have difficulty paying attention during a conversation, staying on topic, remembering information, answering questions, understanding jokes or following directions. A speech therapist can evaluate your cognitive-communication abilities, help improve them, teach you communication strategies, educate people in your surroundings, and adapt your environment as needed
Completing the Disability Tax Credit (DTC)
The DTC is a non-refundable tax credit that helps a person with a disability reduce the amount of income tax they may have to pay. As speech-language pathologists, we can help you complete the DTC forms if you have what the form refers to as “speaking impairments”.
Application to a rehabilitation centre
Following an evaluation of your communication abilities, if appropriate, we can help you complete application forms to an outpatient rehabilitation centre in the Montreal area.