Regaining the Ability to Communicate

When you ask J. Eric Baker-Aidukas, SLP, what the Eisenhower Health speech therapy program that he manages is all about, he points to a framed quote on his desk by renowned orator Daniel Webster that reads, “If all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I would keep the power to communicate, because with it I would soon regain everything else.”

“This quote reminds me every day what speech therapy makes possible,” Baker-Aidukas says. “While what we do is to provide a range of services to assess, diagnose and treat childhood speech disorders and adult speech impairments caused by stroke, brain injury or other conditions, the real benefit that our team delivers is to help people retain or regain the power to communicate.”

“Communication is one of the most essential life skills,” adds Sherry Ewing, SLP. “It helps you participate in your community, job, family and relationships. A communication impairment can be devastating.”

The largest program in the desert
Baker-Aidukas heads a team of three full-time, one part-time and four per diem speech-language pathologists (SLPs). The largest and most comprehensive program of its kind in the desert, these highly trained professionals provide both inpatient and outpatient speech therapy services and are on track to handle more than 11,000 patient visits in 2022 — greater than double the volume they saw during the height of the pandemic. {MORE]

“As a stroke certified hospital, we provide inpatient coverage seven days a week,” he says, noting that he focuses on inpatient services while Ewing is the clinical lead for outpatient speech therapy. Outpatient services are available Monday through Friday, both in person and via telehealth appointments.

Common disorders SLPs treat
Aphasia, which affects a person’s ability to express and understand written and spoken language, is one of the most common disorders affecting someone who’s had a stroke. It also can occur suddenly after a head injury or develop slowly from a growing brain tumor or disease.

“We have a range of augmentative and alternative communication techniques that can help people who are unable to use verbal speech to communicate,” Ewing explains. “These can be low-tech, like facial expressions, gestures, sign language or an alphabet or symbol chart, or high-tech speech devices. These methods are personalized to meet each patient’s needs.” 

Some of the other common disorders that Eisenhower’s speech-language pathologists see include presbyphonia (aging voice), hoarseness related to acid reflux, apraxia of speech (AOS, a neurological disorder that affects the brain pathways involved in planning the sequence of movements involved in producing speech), and speech intelligibility (dysarthria) and voice problems related to Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Help for people with Parkinson’s, dementia
“In people with PD, their voice may not be as loud or their articulation as clear as it once was, or they may speak in a monotone,” Ewing explains. To help these patients regain vocal loudness and speech clarity — and improve their ability to communicate — Eisenhower’s speech therapy team is certified in and offers SPEAK OUT®. The program emphasizes speaking with intent and converts speech from an automatic act to an intentional function. 

Speech therapy can also help improve communication skills when someone has cognitive issues or dementia. The speech therapist can provide strategies to help these patients compensate for their deficits, including ways to “find their words” or follow directions with one or more steps. 

SLPs address swallowing disorders, too 
Baker-Aidukas points out that speech-language pathologists also address swallowing disorders. In fact, “about ninety percent of what we do deals with dysphagia (difficulty swallowing). It primarily comes into play with stroke patients as well as in people with Parkinson’s disease, head-and-neck cancer, radiation fibrosis (a complication of radiation therapy), and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease),” he says. 

“Our chief objective is to help prevent aspiration pneumonia in these patients,” he adds. Aspiration pneumonia is inflammation and infection of the lungs or large airways that occurs when food or liquid is breathed in instead of swallowed. 

“We also treat patients with dysphagia by providing diet modifications and safer swallow strategies to avoid feeding tubes, or assist patients in having their feeding tube removed,” Ewing says.

One of the most effective tools used to treat dysphagia is called VitalStim®. The only FDA-cleared device for treating dysphagia, it is a non-invasive therapy that uses electrical current to stimulate the muscles responsible for swallowing.

Evaluation, diagnosis and treatment
Speech-language pathologists don’t just treat communication and swallowing disorders, however. 

“About eighty percent of what we do is evaluation and diagnosis,” Baker-Aidukas says. “That’s why we’re called ‘pathologists.’”

While the vast majority of patients who utilize Eisenhower’s speech therapy services are over 65, reflecting the large number of retirees who make up the Coachella Valley’s population, the team also provides care for the youngest patients — newborns in the Medical Center’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

“In premature infants, the swallow reflex hasn’t always kicked in,” Baker-Aidukas explains. “We can help awaken it so they’re robust enough for the breast or bottle.”

“It’s a cool job”
Both he and Ewing love what they do.

“It’s a cool job because you can help people at so many levels,” Ewing says. “And it’s dynamic; every day is different,” she adds, noting that in addition to seeing patients, she periodically goes out into the community to provide outreach and education to support groups and other organizations.

Baker-Aidukas circles back to the Daniel Webster quote on his desk.

“It sums up what patients tell us about the impact speech therapy has on their lives,” he says. “I’ve had stroke patients tell me they’d gladly be in a wheelchair for the rest of their lives before they’d give up the ability to communicate. And it was the greatest gift when they regained the ability to talk and make themselves understood.

“It’s a great gift for us to be able to help them achieve that,” he adds.

To learn more about Eisenhower Rehabilitation Services, visit EisenhowerHealth.org/Rehab or call 760-773-2033.