About Us
The Speech and Language Therapy Department
Who is the service for?
The Speech & Language Therapy Department provides assessment, diagnosis and treatment for adults and children with speech, language, communication, voice and eating/drinking/swallowing difficulties. The service is available to:
- Current inpatients of the hospital
- Patients who are attending a consultant in an outpatient clinic
- Patients who are attending the Charlie O’Toole Day Hospital
Patients who have a speech, language, communication, swallowing or eating/drinking/swallowing difficulty which is not related to their current episode of care in the hospital may not be suitable for the AMNCH speech and language therapy service. These patients may be more appropriately referred to their local community service.
A limited service is provided to the inpatient Psychiatry Unit.
The Speech and Language Therapy Department aims to provide a service of the highest quality in close liaison with all other hospital services in the hospital and in partnership with community services.
The philosophy of the SLT department reflects the vision and values of the hospital, respecting the dignity, rights and needs of patients, carers and staff.
Hours of Service
The core working hours of the department are Monday – Friday8.30am to 4.30pm. Appointments may be offered outside these hours to suit patient requirements.
Location
The Adult Speech & Language Therapy Department is located in the Rehabilitation Area. Access is through the main entrance of the hospital. Turn right onto "Hospital Street" and then take the first left. This will bring you into the Rehabilitation area. All visitors to the Department should check in at the reception in the Rehabilitation Department.
The Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Department is located in the children's section of the Out-patients Department. Access is through the main Out-patients entrance, through to the end of the children's outpatient corridor and turn left. Speech and Language Therapy rooms are the first three doors on the left hand side.
Adult Information
Who do we see?
In the adult department the Speech and Language Therapists work with people who have difficulty communicating and eating/drinking/swallowing. These difficulties can occur as a result of;
- brain injuries (e.g. stroke, traumatic brain injury)
- progressive neurological conditions (e.g. Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Motor Neuron Disease, Dementia)
- other medical or surgical conditions (e.g. respiratory, gastrointestinal problems, patients who have had a tracheostomy inserted, Ear, Nose and Throat problems)
- mental health conditions.
Difficulties may include:
Dysarthria: Dysarthria is a speech disorder resulting from weakness or incoordination of the muscles used for speech. Speech may sound quiet or nasalised and speech sounds may appear slurred or be slow and laboured.
Apraxia of Speech: Apraxia of Speech is a speech disorder resulting from difficulty putting speech sounds together.
Aphasia: Aphasia is a disorder of language which can result in difficulties with understanding, speaking, reading and writing. It is caused by brain damage from a stroke, head injury, brain tumour or other neurological condition.
Voice Disorders: Voice disorders can result from many different causes including muscle tension, psychological factors, structural abnormalities, laryngeal conditions and neurological conditions. Voice problems may lead to changes voice quality.
Difficulty Communicating: People with dementia and with mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia may have difficulty communicating and interacting with others.
Dysphagia: Dysphagia is a difficulty eating, drinking and/or swallowing foods and liquids.
Services provided
We aim to ensure all assessments and treatments provided are evidence based and in line with current best practice. All staff are involved in a programme of continuing professional development and we regularly evaluate and audit our practices and treatment outcomes to ensure a high standard of service provision. Services provided include:
- Assessment and diagnosis
- Individual therapy
- Group therapy
- Deep Pharyngeal Neuromuscular Stimulation
- Vitalstim
- Videofluoroscopy with Digital Swallow Workstation
- Information and Education for Patients, Families and Carers
Paediatric Information
In the children’s department the Speech and Language Therapists work with children who have difficulty communicating and/or eating/drinking/swallowing. These difficulties can occur in association with;
- developmental difficulties (e.g. developmental delay, intellectual disability, autistic spectrum disorders)
- other medical or surgical conditions (e.g. respiratory, gastrointestinal, Ear, Nose and Throat problems)
When should children be referred?
Children should be referred as soon as there are any concerns about their communication or eating/drinking/swallowing. We provide a service to children from birth.
A child should be referred to the speech and language therapy service if they present with any of the following
- Difficulty interacting or avoiding interacting with parents/siblings/peers
- Avoiding eye contact
- Difficulty taking turns
- Difficulty understanding what is being said to him/her appropriate to his/her age
- Vocabulary development is limited for his/her age
- Displaying frustration at not being able to communicate his/her message
- Difficulty breast or bottle feeding
- Difficulty moving to solid foods
- Coughing or choking when eating or drinking
- Eating only a very limited range of foods
How can I help my child to communicate?
IASLT Communication development.pdf (size 59.2 KB)
Research
The department has a strong committment to carrying out clinical and service research.
Current research topics include:
- Adaption of the Functional Lumen Imaging Profile to evaluate the Upper Esophageal Sphincter in Neurogenic Dysphagia
- Analysis of speech and language therapy practices in the management of pharyngeal and oesophageal diverticulae
- Screening times during videofluoroscopy of the oropharyngeal swallow
- Systematic review of naming therapies in semantic dementia
Recent publications
Regan, J. Walshe, M., Rommel, N. & McMahon, B. A New Evaluation of the Upper Oesophageal Sphinctner using the Functional Lumen Imaging Probe- A Preliminary Report. Diseases of the Esophagus (in press).
Regan, J., Walshe, M. & B.P. McMahon. Current Evaluation of the Upper Esophageal Sphincter in Dysphagia Practice- An International SLP Survey. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders (online October 2011) DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-6984.2011.00087.x
O'Rourke, J., Tobin, F., O'Callaghan, S., Sowman, R., Collins, R. YouTube': a useful tool for reminiscence therapy in dementia?
Age and Ageing (online August 2011); doi: 10.1093/ageing/afr100
Regan, J., Walshe, M. & B.P. McMahon. Use of the functional Lumen Imaging Probe to Measure Upper Esophageal Sphincter Opening. Dysphagia (online June 2011) DOI: 10.1007/s00455-011-9345-1.
Kenny, C. Loudness therapy application for Parkinson's disease using iPhone and iPad. International Journal of Integrated Care(online June 2011) DOI: 10.1-101505/ijic2011-68
Regan, J. and B.P. McMahon, T1907 A Novel Distensibility Technique for Measuring Upper Esophageal Function-Pilot Data. Gastroenterology, 2010. 138(5): p. S-604-S-604.
Regan, J., Walshe, M. & B.P. McMahon. Distensibility Testing using the Functional Lumen Imaging Probe to Measure Duration and Extent of UES Opening - Preliminary Data. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology: February 2011 - Volume 45 - Issue 2 - ppg 181-201. doi: 10.1097/MCG.0b013e3182092381
Regan J, Walshe M, Tobin WO , Immediate Effects of Thermal-Tactile Stimulation on Timing of Swallow in Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease., Dysphagia , E-pub , 2009, p1 – 10
Regan, J. & Keane, J. (2009). Association between timing of swallow and safety and efficiency of swallowing in Parkinsons Disease. Dysphagia. Vol. 24, No. 4, 461-484, DOI: 10.1007/s00455-009-9234-z
Collins DR, Sowman R, Tobin F, O'Rourke J, Liston R. (2010). YouTube: A useful tool for the older generation? Geriatric Medicine: Midlife & Beyond. April. 197-199
O'Rourke J. Tobin F. O'Callaghan S. Sowman R. Collins DR. (2010). "YouTube": A useful tool for reminiscence therapy in dementia? European Geriatric Medicine Vol.1-Suppl. 1 p.S60
"The online future of Reminiscence Therapy". Irish Medical Times. November 24th 2010
Sowman, R., Peach, P. and Walshe, M. (2008) Referential communication in Alzheimer’s disease- what lies beneath? Irish Journal of Medical Science, 77, (9), S349-S350
Walsh, I.P., Regan, J., Sowman, R., Parsons, B. & Mc Kay, A.P., A needs analysis for the provision of a speech and language therapy service to adults with mental health disorders", Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , 24, (3), 2007, p89 – 93
J. Regan, I. Walsh, R. Sowman, B. Parsons, A.P. Mc Kay , 'Prevalence of dysphagia in acute and community mental health settings" , Dysphagia, 21, (2), 2006, p95 – 101
Sowman, R., Robinson, D., O' Riordan, R., Connolly, S., & O' Neill, D. (2006). Rapidly deteriorating speech and language in a case of probable sporadic Creutzfeld- Jakob disease. Aphasiology, 20 (6), 579-592
Book Chapters:
Regan, J & Walshe, M. Neuromuscular Conditions. In Newman, R & Nightingale, J. Videofluoroscopy: A Multi-Disciplinary Team Approach. Plural Publishing Inc. (in press).
Regan, J. Texture Modified Diets. Ed. Ickenstein, G. in Diagnosis and treatment of neurogenic dysphagia. UNI-MED Science, 1st edition 2011, 96 Seiten, 31 illustrations, Hardcover, ISBN 978-3-8374-1273-4,
Regan, J., Sowman, R., & Walsh, I.P. Schizophrenia in dysphagia. editor(s)H. Jones J.Rosenbeck , Dysphagia in Rare Conditions: An Encyclopaedia., San Diego, Plural Publishing Inc., 2009, pp523 – 525.
Sowman, R., Regan, J. & Walsh, I.P. Biploar Affective Disorder in, H. Jones J. Rosenbeck , Dysphagia in Rare Conditions: An Encyclopaedia., San Diego, Plural Publishing Inc., 2009, pp47 - 57,
