Speech therapy services are provided by a speech therapist, also known as a speech and language pathologist. A speech therapist has a college education. A speech therapist may specialize in certain kinds of problems, so it is important to choose a speech therapist carefully. There are four kinds of problems that speech therapy can treat. Examples of speech problems include stuttering, a lisp, garbled speech after a stroke , or loss of the voice box, or larynx, after a laryngectomy .
Language is the use of symbols, such as words, numbers, or gestures, that have meaning.
A person may have trouble understanding or accurately choosing words or numbers or gestures. The third kind of problem is cognition, or thinking skills. In order to communicate accurately with others, a person must be able to pay attention, concentrate, and use various thinking skills. In order to treat certain language problems, the speech therapist may need to work on these thinking skills. The fourth kind of problem is swallowing difficulties .