What now? Will my loved one ever be able to speak again? An Article by Mark Ittleman, M.S., CCC/SL
A stroke or brain injury can turn a family’s world upside down in seconds. You find yourself in the battle of your life, being guided by whomever you met at the hospital, hoping they have the answers. As time goes on and speech does not return, you begin to wonder: “What now?” “Will I (or my loved one) ever be able to speak again?”
Are you tired of gimmicks, worksheets, software, or boring one-hour sessions reciting lists of words? In my clinical practice as an expert speech-language pathologist for the past 40 years, I have seen hundreds of frustrated patients and family members who have said those very words to me.
I, too, was tired of programs that didn’t bring success to my patients. I knew there had to be a better way, so I began treating my patients differently. I put the gimmicks and worksheets and software away, and I began talking with my clients about things they were interested in. Imagine that! I learned that people learn much faster when they talk with another human instead of a computer!
The Teaching of Talking our book which has been published, is a totally new concept in speech therapy. Within its pages you will find a refreshing, revolutionary speech therapy method that will rock the world of someone you love. You see, we believe that speech therapy is best done in the home, by family and caregivers, under the supervision of a licensed speech-language pathologist familiar with the methods in The Teaching of Talking.
If you have ever taught a toddler to speak, you will quickly see why our method works when others fail. We begin slowly, with simple “yes” and “no” questions and one-word answers, and we talk with the person who is learning to speak again all day long, through all of the activities of daily living. Sound familiar? If you offer a toddler some milk, you ask him to “say ‘milk.’” Well, our method is very similar. As one-word answers begin to come easily, we expand to two-word phrases, and so on.
The fact is that in today’s system, most people with moderate to severe speaking difficulties will be discharged by an insurance company long before the need for therapy has ended. You no longer have to be bound to a speech-language pathologist or insurance company or management system that is going to discharge you soon anyway.
Take a proactive role in the speech and language stimulation of your loved one. Become a pivotal, active participant in your loved one’s recovery, not a passive observer, wondering if they will ever get better. So when the day comes that your loved one’s therapy is terminated or if they have been discharged, for whatever reason, you feel confident in going forward with speech-language stimulation at home for as long as it takes to hear them speaking with clarity once again!
If you would like to know more about this revolutionary new method, and how to order Teaching of Talking, please visit my website, http://www.teachingoftalking.com . My name is Mark Ittleman, M.S., CCC/SLP, The speech pathologist who can make a rock talk! You may contact me at markittleman@teachingoftalking.com