Speech Therapy

UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Voice Center has highly trained speech-language pathologists in multidisciplinary teams who treat a wide variety of speech, voice, swallowing, and related conditions. Our speech-language pathologists offer exercises and other nonsurgical therapies to improve the speaking and singing voice, as well as swallowing and breathing abilities.

Specialized Speech-Language Services for Voice, Speech, and Swallowing

Speech-language therapy includes a wide range of services that speech-language pathologists use to diagnose and treat conditions and injuries that affect voice, speech, and swallowing capabilities.

With expertise in a full range of medical and neurological conditions, our team has specialized training in assessing and treating all of these areas. We work with children and adults to improve their ability to communicate with their voice.

We provide specialized services for singers, performers, and others whose careers involve heavy voice use to help them optimize their voices. We also work with people who have undergone surgery or other procedures to treat head and neck conditions, helping them restore a strong voice.

Conditions We Treat

We have extensive experience in evaluating, diagnosing, and treating people with voice, swallowing, and related conditions and injuries. Depending on the specific condition, speech-language therapy can be the first-line treatment, or it might occur after other treatment such as medications or surgery.

Our speech-language pathologists treat conditions and injuries such as:

Voice problems

• Aging voice
• Hoarseness
• Muscle tension dysphonia
• Functional aphonia
• Spasmodic dysphonia, also known as laryngeal dysphonia
• Speech impairments, especially those related to head and neck cancer
• Vocal cord scars
• Vocal tremor
• Pain with voice use (odynophonia)
• Vocal fold paralysis
• Voice restoration after total laryngectomy

Airway problems

• Chronic cough
• Vocal cord dysfunction or paradoxical vocal cord motion
• Vocal cord paralysis

Swallowing problems

• Aspiration
• Swallowing disorders (dysphagia)

Speech-Language Services and Treatments We Offer

When patients come to the Voice Center, our speech-language pathologists begin with a comprehensive evaluation. We use interviews, observation, and the latest technology for an accurate assessment to help guide treatment planning.

At UT Southwestern, our speech-language pathologists often work closely with our fellowship-trained laryngologists. They also partner with other specialists throughout our system to provide seamless care. Depending on each patient’s individual needs, we work with:

• Gastroenterologists (digestive tract specialists)
• Neurologists (brain and nervous system specialists)
• Pulmonologists (lung specialists)

Our speech-language interventions focus on areas such as:

• Laryngectomy: Fitting with the appropriate tracheo-esophageal prosthesis, training in the use of an electrolarynx, and esophageal speech training
• Professional voice: Well visits for singers, performers, and other voice professionals; exercises to reduce voice strain and improve projection and stamina
• Speech: Exercises to improve speech production, quality, and clarity, especially in patients with a history of head and neck cancer
• Swallowing: Exercises to increase strength in the tongue and throat muscles and therapy with VitalStim® (e-stim)
• Voice: Exercises to optimize vocal production, behavioral modification techniques to enhance voice use, and education on how to care for the voice