Hi there, and welcome back to Aging Together! May is Better Hearing & Speech Month! In this article, I provide a recap of a Q&A session I had with Speech and Language Pathologist. Carissa Schroeder, MS, CCC-SLP shares expert insight into communication and aging.

The following conversation has been summarized for clarity. You can listen to the full conversation on the podcast!

Pooja (Host): Carissa, thank you so much for joining me in this discussion today!

Carissa (Speech & Language Pathologist): Thanks for having me! I am excited to be here today.

Pooja: Let’s start with telling us a little bit about yourself, how you got into this area of practice, and what your credentials mean.

Carissa: I learned about the field of Speech Pathology from my aunt, who is also a Speech Pathologist. When I was in high school, she came to my school and presented about her career as an SLP. I was fascinated about it and asked to shadow her, which at that time she was working in a skilled nursing facility. Like many other people, I had mostly only heard about Speech Pathologists working with kids in a school setting, so it was refreshing to learn about the other end of the life spectrum and how we can provide services to them. Throughout my undergraduate and graduate studies, I focused my research and clinical work on primarily adults and the geriatric population. 

Once I completed grad school, I was required to complete a clinical fellowship year before I can obtain a certificate of clinical competence, or CCC-SLP. This allows me to be credentialed through our governing body of Speech Pathology by completing the appropriate coursework, clinical hours, tests, etc. I was fortunate enough to get hired for my clinical fellowship year at Northwestern university and was then promoted to full time clinical faculty where I was contracted to work at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which is where I met you! I was working as an inpatient speech pathologist where I would evaluate and treat patients who may be experiencing changes to their ability to communicate or swallow.

Pooja: That’s amazing! It’s been so nice to meet you through work over the past few years, and I’m excited to hear your thoughts on this topic today! We all know the abilities to hear and speak are important at all stages of life. However, I feel there are many discrepancies in how people approach these basic human fundamentals as they begin to get older. What do you feel is the biggest misunderstanding when it comes to speech and language for older adults?

Carissa: I think one of the biggest misconceptions that older adults have is that their likelihood for recovery or rehabilitation as you age decreases. People commonly think of any therapy more in younger adults and children, but what they don’t realize is that even as you age, your brain has plasticity, or the ability to change, which allows for us to work on rehabilitating your brain after any changes that may have occurred. Whether that’s from normal aging processes as your brain can start to slow down or it be from a acute neurological or degenerative change and you need rehabilitation to try and build back some of those neural connections.

Pooja: I love that you highlighted how people don’t realize there can be rehab potential even as they age. What are some key myths and facts related to speech and language as we age?

Carissa: One of the biggest myths I’ve addressed often is that older adults believe that they can’t rehabilitate neural pathways. In fact, common dysfunctions that benefit from rehabilitation include presbyphonia, presbyphagia, and presbycusis.

Pooja: Isn’t it so interesting when you think about how the general population I feel knows you can rehabilitate most joint and muscle functions following an injury or a stroke, but likely don’t know or understand that it’s part of rehabilitating neural pathways. & I guess along with that, perhaps it’s not a common understanding that our vocal and swallowing functions involve muscles that can be rehabilitated similarly! What are some reasons an aging adult might want to come see you?

Carissa: This ties into my answer above – people come to me for any changes in their speech or swallowing mechanism. I always recommend clients start by speaking with their physician before starting therapy with me so they can help identify the etiology of their complaints which will help me better understand the reason why they are experiencing these changes and how I can help them. 

As a speech pathologist our job is to evaluate or assess for any potential speech, language, cognition, or swallowing disorders. For the geriatric population, we may evaluate an individual in any of these areas, whether it be from general aging, or from a diagnosis of dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke or other neurodegenerative and neurogenic disorders.

Things that clients will often times come to me with relate to difficulty swallowing (saying they cough or choke when eating or drinking, feeling like things aren’t going down right, or other challenges related to the swallowing mechanism), changes to their speech saying they sound quieter or less articulate now, or changes in their ability to remember or process information (which also often comes from a client’s family member who notices those things first)

Pooja: What are some specific treatments that a SLP or other professionals can provide to those with speech and language impairments?

Carissa: Our therapy can vary from helping with word finding difficulty, speech and articulation challenges, swallowing problems, memory or attention, and more. It all depends on my initial evaluation as well as your past medical history that allows me to better understand where some of your impairments may lie and allow me to come up with a treatment plan. I think it is so important to create treatment plans that are functional, patient driven, and viewed as important to the client and their family. 

Pooja: Have you encountered any cultural considerations or hesitations when it comes to speech and language augmentation?

Carissa: Absolutely, I think even cultural considerations aside, even generational considerations have played a role in an individual’s willingness to participate in therapy. I’ve had clients who have been resistant to the term therapy and some of that is a part of their generation where therapy is a term that is not viewed in a positive light. 

And then I’ve also experienced cultural considerations while working at a hospital, because a large bulk of my caseload was dysphasia or difficulty swallowing, I had many conversations with patients and their families regarding safety surrounding eating and drinking, and I had to navigate some of the patient’s wishes based on, their cultural background. Some cultures have strong beliefs about how their loved one should be cared for at end of life stages, they also may feel strongly about doing everything in their power to keep them alive or they value a more comfort based approach where they want to provide them with anything their culture finds valuable especially in regards to eating and drinking.

Pooja: What is one takeaway you’d like the audience to consider as it relates to speech, language, cognition, and aging?

Carissa: Do not be afraid to utilize health care professionals to support you and educate you about ways to improve your quality of life. Both eating and communicating are fundamental pieces of your life and if they begin to become impacted, it is important to find ways to learn about how to rehabilitate it, maintain it, or preserve it.

Pooja: As your final question – I know you recently branched out and started your own private practice – how exciting! Tell us what that’s all about and how people can reach you!

Carissa: Thanks! Yes I recently started my own private practice called NeuroConnect Speech Therapy. This is an adult and geriatric outpatient clinic that provides in-home and virtual speech therapy evaluations and therapy for those experiencing any speech or swallowing changes. If you would like to learn more about my services you can visit my website at neuroconnectspeech.com or contact me directly at carissa@cccspeech.com.

Thank you for tuning into this week’s Q&A with our expert guest speaker! Check out the full episode on your favorite podcast platform! Sharing expert perspectives on various age-related topics can help the community learn how to plan for a healthier future.

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At Caregiver Consulting & Healthy Solutions, we are dedicated to helping you navigate aging together. This blog page is for everyone: whether you are an older adult looking to age in place, a caregiver seeking support and guidance, a young or middle-aged adult planning for the future, or simply someone interested in learning more about the aging process. I hope you’ll join me on this journey. Let’s navigate aging together.