Research in speech-language pathology
Short description
Speech-language pathology involves the diagnosis and treatment of both developmental and acquired language, speech, voice, and swallowing disorders. As such, research in speech-language pathology encompasses the entire lifespan, from early childhood through to later life.
Our research
The research aims to increase knowledge about communication and swallowing disorders — how they sound and feel, what consequences they have, and how they are perceived by the children and adults affected and by those around them.
In speech-language pathology research, several different types of assessment tools are used: tests, self-report questionnaires, interviews, auditory-perceptual and acoustic analyses of recorded speech, and analysis of video-recorded natural conversations. The assessment process also includes developing theories and models of communicative function and development. An important part of the research focuses on developing and evaluating different types of treatment methods.
Acquired swallowing and communication disorders
In our research group, we investigate how illness or injury in adolescents and adults can lead to impairments in the ability to communicate or swallow, and how these difficulties can be diagnosed and treated. For example, stroke or traumatic brain injury, tumors or viral diseases, and progressive neurological diseases, can cause communication disorders in the form of aphasia, dysarthria, and cognitive communication disorders (CCD), as well as swallowing disorders.
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Developmental communication disorders
Our research examines the speech, language, and communication difficulties that can arise in individuals with developmental speech and language disorders, such as language disorders, genetic syndromes, cleft lip and palate, stuttering, autism, or multiple disabilities. Developmental disorders are present from birth or emerge during childhood but may persist into adolescence or adulthood. Our research aims to investigate how communication is affected and how different types of interventions impact speech, language, and communication.
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