Treatment of Communication Disorders Unit

Prof. Aviah Gvion- Director, Communication Disorders Unit

The treatment of Communication Disorders Unit at Reuth TLV Rehabilitation Hospital diagnoses and treats patients with language, speech, voice, and swallowing difficulties resulting from various brain injuries. The unit’s goal is to enable those who require these services to return to full activity, as much as possible, in their ability to communicate with their environment and to regain functional swallowing ability.

Patients

The Unit treats individuals suffering from defects in communication abilities that could be derived due to various causes, including CVA, brain traumas as a result of an accident, brain tumours, and degenerative diseases.

The disorders are divided into four types:

Language disorder (aphasia): brain damage, for the most part in the left hemisphere of the brain that could be expressed by various degrees of severity of disorders in speech, comprehension, reading and/or writing.
Speech disorder (dysarthria): injury to areas of the brain controlling the facial muscles, the tongue and other areas required for speech. The difficulty could be expressed by pronunciation, by the speed of speech and the vocal quality.
Harm to the quality of the voice (dysphonia): brain damage or direct damage to the vocal cords which could cause a decrease in the vocal quality going so far as inability to produce sounds.
Difficulties with swallowing (dysphagia): brain damage that could harm the swallowing system. This is a complex system which obligates coordinated activity of various muscle systems. Difficulty in swallowing could harm the patient’s nutrition and sometimes even endanger his life.

Treatments

A range of treatments are provided in the Treatment of Communication Disorders Unit:

Treatment for language disorders: the treatment has two main objectives: reduction of the linguistic difficulty thus the patient is able to return to communicate as closely as possible to his previous ability, and simultaneously to focus on provision of strategies and additional non-verbal means that will enable the patient to communicate with his environment notwithstanding his linguistic restriction.
Treatment for Speech and Voice Disorders: The treatment includes a variety of exercises aimed at improving movement and sensation of the speech organs to improve articulation and vocal quality. The staff also specializes in unique methods for voice disorders such as LSVT and Speak-out, which are also unique for treating voice and speech disorders characteristic of patients with degenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s.
Treatment of swallowing disorders: the treatment includes exercises for strengthening and improvement of the swallowing mechanism, alongside learning safe swallowing techniques. Furthermore, each patient receives customized nutritional textures which he can swallow without risk. If necessary it is also possible to receive nutritional advice from the hospital’s dietary unit.

Treatments in the unit are provided within three dedicated clinics: language and speech therapy, voice therapy, and swallowing therapy.

Research and academic activity

Student Training: The unit is recognized as a training center for students from various institutions of higher education, who are at different stages of their studies, and is also involved in supervising advanced degree students in MA and PhD theses.
Research and Academic Publications: The unit conducts extensive research activities and carries out studies in collaboration with researchers from Tel Aviv University, Haifa University, Ariel University, and Ono Academic College, and from Rambam Hospital and Beit Loewenstein Hospital.

The team

The team at the Unit includes 13 speech therapists with extensive experience in the field of rehabilitation, dyslexia and dysgraphia, and expertise in the treatment using the LSVT method and an EEC physician who specializes in execution of FEES tests. The team works in full collaboration with the various relevant units in the hospital including the team of dieticians and nursing personnel.