what is speech therapy

Speech therapy is a treatment that helps people improve their communication and language skills. It can be used to treat a variety of speech and language disorders, including problems with speech sounds, language, literacy, social communication, voice, fluency, and cognitive-communication. Speech therapy can help people with difficulty speaking to communicate better and to break down the barriers that result from speech impediments. The goals of speech therapy include improving pronunciation, strengthening the muscles used in speech, and learning to speak correctly. Speech therapy techniques vary depending on the type of disorder, and a long series of treatment sessions is typically needed, with each lasting 30 to 60 minutes. Speech therapy can be used for a lot of different speech problems and disorders, from smaller problems like a hoarse voice up to partial loss of speech due to brain damage.