Treatment for Aphasia, Acquired Apraxia, Cognitive-Communication impairment after Stroke, or Neurological Condition

WE DON'T BELIEVE IN PLATEAUS AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU

We See You

You Have Goals and You Want to Do LIFE

What is Aphasia?

Traditional speech pathology classifies aphasia by types Wernicke’s, Broca’s, Anomic, Transcortical Sensory, Transcortical Motor, or Conduction Aphasia. Each has its own unique language characteristics. You may have been diagnosed with a specific type of aphasia. But aphasia 'types' can change over time with recovery.  It's important to know that aphasia symptoms can improve with proper treatment, and a person can transition from one type of aphasia to another.  Addressing specific speech, language, and cognitive deficits after a stroke is called impairment-based treatment, the traditional medical model approach.

We utilize the LIFE Participation Approach to Aphasia Treatment that looks at life situations, personal identity, attitudes and feelings, communication and language environment, language, and language and related impairments. Focusing on these areas in treatment equals living your best life with aphasia.

LIFE Speech Pathology addresses the whole person + whole family functionally, based on the person with aphasia's goals, likes, desires, needs, and motivation.  Goals are created in collaboration with the client and their family, based on the most important to their life and relationships.

Diagnoses & Conditions We Work With

APHASIA

People with aphasia may have difficulty understanding what is said, finding specific words, and speaking in sentences. They may struggle to read and write words or sentences.

Labels for the type of aphasia can be helpful initially, but rest assured that our comprehensive evaluation and treatment will always be personalized to target your goals and address the underlying impairments.

Our neuroplastic treatment stimulates the brain to grow and find new pathways.

We target mindfulness with the mantra
know > plan > think > do > remember

APRAXIA & DYSARTHRIA

Acquired apraxia of speech is a disorder that affects the brain pathways involved in planning the sequence of movements involved in producing speech. The brain knows what it wants to say but cannot properly plan and sequence the required speech sound movements. Effective treatment targets communication.

Dysarthria is a speech disorder due to muscle weakness resulting from damage to the nervous system.  The muscles used to speak become damaged, paralyzed, or weakened. A person with dysarthric speech can sound slurred and often has a one-sided facial weakness.

COGNITIVE-COMMUNICATION

People with aphasia do not inherently have cognitive deficits. However, as with all neurologic conditions, language does not happen in isolation.

A growing body of evidence and research suggests that aphasia can also be affected and compounded by specific, and often invisible, cognitive deficits of attention + working memory.

Our approach is comprehensive: addressing attention, working memory, and executive function is build-into our innovative treatment program.

NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS

Parkinson's Disease responds to precise treatment.  We have been a certified provider of LSVT (Lee Silverman Voice Treatment) for 25+ years.

We are experienced in supporting each client and their family living with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA).

Neurological conditions needs a foundational, cognitive approach to treatment that is personalized for what the client and the family need.  

No matter the condition, treatment is customized to where you are and your needs.

LANGUAGE IS COMPLEX!


thought — concept — meaning — intention — words — word order — intonation — articulation = MESSAGE


Language can break down at any of these levels and it’s our job to figure it out and make it better!

PERSONALIZED TREATMENT FOR EACH PHASE OF LIFE

Young Adult

After experiencing a stroke or being diagnosed with a neurologic condition, a young adult's needs and desires may differ from those of someone who is more established in their career and social life. To provide a comprehensive approach to treatment and goal-setting, we take into account various factors, including social, emotional, psychological, health, language, and cognition. Our program is designed with patient-centered goals in mind, whether they involve starting a new job, attending school, or dating. We are committed to being here for you every step of the way.

Career

If you're in the prime of your career, a stroke can severely hinder your ability to return to work successfully. At LIFE Speech Pathology, we understand how aphasia can affect your language and cognitive skills for employment, and how it can shatter your confidence. Our treatment approach involves incorporating career-specific skills, terminology, and scenarios into prioritized and functional goals. We'll conduct thorough evaluations and use patient-reported outcome measures to collaboratively develop a comprehensive program that will help you get back to your career.

Retirement

Congratulations on reaching retirement! Whether you are facing minor or significant health challenges, we are here to offer patient-centered treatment tailored to your needs. Our team of experienced clinicians has the knowledge and expertise to help you improve your communication skills, so you can fully enjoy your retirement. We understand where you are and what you need, and our goal is to help you achieve your goals. From planning a vacation to managing household tasks and negotiating with auto repair shops, we can help you develop the skills you need to thrive in this new chapter of your life.

How We Serve Clients and Families

Outpatient Speech Pathology

・Standardized, dynamic, and person-centered assessment
・Functional goals that promote life participation
・Innovative, out-of-the-therapy-box, evidence-based treatment
・Medicare B provider
・Out-of-Network insurance provider

Concierge Communication Program

・Quarterly membership
・Client-directed topics + tasks
・Personalized hobbies & projects
・Brain-health program
・Socialization opportunity groups
       ・Book club
       ・Movie club
       ・Games

Aphasia Academy

Courses
    ・Aphasia Field Guide
    ・Communication Partner Training
    ・Aphasia Coach University
    ・Listen for LIFE podcast
    ・LIFE Speech Pathology Show
    ・Podcast Series exclusive content


Is LIFE Speech Pathology Right For You?

Do you experience any of the following symptoms?

  • Aphasia impairments can impact a person's involvement in his or her personally relevant life situations and roles and can include
  • 👉🏻  Difficulties with personal, family, or social communication 
  • 👉🏻  Challenges in the community with stores, telephone, medical financial, or legal professionals
  • 👉🏻  Struggle with workplace communication or tasks
  • 👉🏻  Difficulties with communication needed for problem-solving, decision making or self-advocacy
  • 👉🏻  Experience some or all of the following challenges
● understanding questions
● listening to the television
● writing a grocery list and shopping
● listening to voicemail
● scheduling medical appointments
● understanding doctor's instructions
● reading medicine labels
● managing and ordering medications
● organizing repairs on the house
● recalling things to do
● completing financial transactions
● participating in hobbies

Evaluation

The evaluation focuses on a person's involvement in his or her personally relevant life situations or goals.  We'll focus on who you are and your participation goals.

● Schedule a phone consultation
● Discuss your concerns, challenges, and your goals of treatment
● Complete intake paperwork and verify benefits
● Assess and discuss the Whole Person's Recovery Plan
     ● physical
     ● psychological
     ● language & speech & thinking
     ● social
     ● spiritual
● Formulate life participation and speech & language goals based on what is most important to you

Communication can be impaired due to

●  Left brain stroke
●  Right brain stroke
●  Concussion
●  Brain tumor
●  Parkinson's disease
●  Primary Progressive Aphasia

If you experience any of these symptoms from any cause, we can help!

“I am not what happened to me,
I am what I choose to become.”
— Carl Gustav Jung


Zooming to You via Telepractice

Let’s Zoom!  

All of your appointments will take place via a HIPAA-compliant Zoom meeting.  We offer the best telepractice platform for working with our clients that provides the greatest flexibility for sharing information via a variety of devices.  Zoom works easily with desktop and laptop computers, tablets (Apple or Android), Chromebook, and smartphones.  

Our preferred devices are a computer or iPad as this provides the ability for both the client and clinician to annotate (to write on) the whiteboard (think colorful chalkboard).  

Our practice selected Zoom for several reasons which include seamless integration with our practice management software, a robust whiteboard that allows all participants to type, draw, highlight, and change colors, and more, low utilization of bandwidth (internet speed) requirement, allowing more people to successfully connect to the session, even in many rural settings, the ability to save whiteboards into the client’s file allows for review of content, practicing of words, sentences, strategies, and overall carryover of lessons learned from one session to the next.

30 Years of Clinical Experience = Reach Your Goals

At LIFE Speech Pathology + Aphasia Academy®, we have a wealth of clinical experience and expertise, spanning almost 30 years. Our program focuses on the intricate neurological processes that affect speech, listening, reading, writing, and cognition. We employ specialized and comprehensive evaluation tools, and our therapy approach is personalized to address both the root impairments and the practical application of communication skills. Our specialty lies in treating individuals who have suffered a stroke 6+ months ago, with a particular emphasis on chronic aphasia treatment. We are committed to helping you achieve your communication goals.

Next Steps

Schedule.

By clicking Schedule an Appointment below, you will be taken to our HIPAA compliant secure software where you will select a date for the complimentary phone consultation.

You will be asked to enter your first and last name and a valid email address.

Check your email address for a welcome email, and follow the instructions to complete the intake questions.

Your appointment will be confirmed once the intake questionnaire is received.

Chat.

You'll receive an email reminder four hours before the consultation appointment.

If you haven't completed the initial intake questionnaire, please do it now.  

We'll call you at the phone number you provided for the consultation.  

We want to hear about who you are, how aphasia is impacting you, and your goals.  

Our treatment is about life participation, connecting and interacting with others, as well as addressing speech, language, cognitive impairments.  

At the end of the consultation we'll discuss next steps which are listed below.

Snap.

Following the phone consultation, you'll receive an email with the remaining intake paperwork.

 These documents include policies and procedures and collects images of the front and back of your insurance card(s) and Driver's License or state identification.

Prepare.

Prepare for your evaluation session by completing the steps in our Telepractice Setup + Troubleshooting Guide. The link will be available in the email following the consultation.

If you have used Zoom before, then you should be good to get started.  

When we meet, be sure you are seated comfortably in an upright chair preferably at a table or desk and your computer, laptop, or tablet is fully charged or plugged into power.  

Reach out to our office if you have any technical issues prior to your first appointment by emailing us at [email protected].

Zoom.

It's go time!

You are now ready for your first official Zoom session.

Woo hoo!

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We teach our clients how to be the pilots of their rehabilitation process by mindfully exploiting neuroplasticity, i.e. the brain’s ability to heal itself. We target the foundation skills that support communication and meet our clients where they are in their recovery. Your communication goals are our goals. We have the specialized skills to analyze and create a step-by-step process to reach your LIFE goals.

Mindfulness refers to consciously attending to thoughts without placing any judgments upon them. We train our clients to think first, say what they are thinking, reflect, and then make calm repairs, if necessary. Mindfulness combats aphasia stress which is detrimental to rebuilding neural pathways in the brain.  

Online, telepractice delivery allows us to reach a greater number of clients with chronic aphasia without the limitations of a physical location. We have delivered innovative treatment over telepractice since 2014 before telepractice was mainstream due to the public health emergency. Our clients continued to receive communication treatment they would not have realized without the internet and our ability to deliver a comprehensive, quality speech and language program. Clients receive their therapy, regardless of their location, or ours. We see clients across the USA and abroad.

Absolutely! WE DON'T BELIEVE IN PLATEAUS! Working with chronic aphasia, defined as six months after the stroke, requires a specialized therapeutic toolbox and speech pathology mindset and approach.  Chronic aphasia treatment requires a Whole Person + Whole Family approach.  We utilize innovative, mindful, neuroplastic philosophies, methodologies, and treatment techniques to achieve patient-centered communication goals. Utilizing out-of-the-therapeutic box thinking + motivated clients = successful communication. 

We are an enrolled provider for Original Medicare part B (outpatient services).  Medicare will be billed directly for qualified services.  Medicare pays 80% of the allowed rate and your secondary insurance will be automatically billed the remaining 20% per visit.  If you do not have secondary insurance, you will be responsible for the co-payment at the time of each session.

We are Out-Of-Network (OON) Providers for Medicare Advantage and all private insurance.  We'll provide you with an Insurance Benefits Worksheet that will guide you through the questions to ask your insurance provider to determine your OON benefits.  OON services are paid by the client at the time of service.  If requested, we are pleased to provide you with a Superbill (like a receipt) for the evaluation and treatment so that you may obtain reimbursement directly from your insurance company.

We offer transparent pricing for all of our services and this will be discussed during the consultation call.  We will provide you a Good Faith Estimate for the services recommended so there are no surprises.

A valid credit card is to remain on file for the entirety of treatment.

You do not need to have a referral from your physician to start therapy.  However, Medicare regulations state that a physician must sign the plan of care within 30 days of starting treatment.  Speak to your physician about starting telepractice speech therapy.  We like to partner with your physician to provide excellent care and communication.  A physician referral is a great first step in this relationship.

LIFE Wellness Coaching nor LIFE Aphasia Academy require a physician referral.

No, LIFE Speech Pathology cannot see your loved one in the hospital.  We provide only outpatient services, under Medicare part B. If your loved one is admitted to the hospital, those services will be covered under Medicare part A. d.

Our services can be reestablished via a reevaluation AFTER your loved one is discharged from the hospital.

Are you still making progress?  You call the shots!  Some clients work to reach a couple of specific goals and others choose to continue regular sessions in our wellness program.  Some choose to take a break from therapy or shift their treatment to group opportunities where their communication is supported, as needed, by the speech pathologist.  

We are out-of-the-box clinicians.  Your treatment can be adjusted for time, intensity, and tasks.  Our clients continue to work with us because they believe in and see the progress they make in their communication.  We work with you to meet your goals, whatever that means for you.

Many of our clients choose to continue treatment to work on higher-level communication goals that exceed what is referred to as ‘medically necessary’ by Medicare. For those clients who want to keep working, we offer an individualized Communication Wellness program to meet your communication goals. In general, the cost is based on the session length of time and frequency per week. Group treatment is also available for the carryover of learned techniques.

Under Original Medicare part B, speech-language pathology and physical therapy ‘share’ the same pot of therapeutic money. We can definitely see you for speech pathology services, reimbursed by Medicare for services that are medically necessary.

Overall, both our clinic and the physical therapy clinic will have to monitor for benefits utilized and actively monitor for claims reimbursement. Often, once the allowed therapeutic amount of money has been utilized for the year, many of our clients transition to our Communication Wellness program to continue working towards their speech-language-communication goals.

I TALK TO MY GRANDDAUGHTER

“Telepractice therapy has been a great opportunity for my dad to continue his speech therapy. He was unsatisfied with his speech when he was discharged from outpatient therapy 4 months ago. Genevieve is so compassionate. She has helped him focus on the quality of his speech, eye contact, and think first before speaking. He has progressed so much and is now able to talk on the phone to his granddaughter who is away at college.  We are so grateful to work with LIFE Speech Pathology.”  
- Oliva P., daughter