Being able to speak, comprehend others, write, and communicate are abilities that many of us take for granted. Unfortunately, for many who suffer from disorders like apraxia, these skills can be a real challenge—but not an insurmountable one. Treatments for speech-related issues have seen great improvement in recent times, and technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) are being integrated to improve treatment exponentially.
The Basics of Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)
It's the healthcare field that has everything to do with communication; from expressive language disorders to aphasias and swallowing disorders, speech-language pathology covers a wide variety of disorders that are on the rise, with around 7.7% of American children suffering in some form.
Broca's Area
This part of the brain deals with speech—specifically, how speech is processed, articulated, and understood. It is also responsible for verbal working memory—the process of storing and manipulating verbal information like syntax, grammar, and the muscle movements required for speech. Broca's area was discovered by French physician, anatomist, and anthropologist Paul Broca while studying a patient with severe language impairments.
Why is this relevant for modern speech therapy? Well, it is covered in online SLP programs for a good reason: speech-language pathologists need to understand the cognitive basis for language disorders.
One such disorder is expressive aphasia, which is often caused by a stroke or other damage to Broca's area. Upon suffering such damage, many patients will be able to form sentences but struggle with joining 'and' or 'the' words and find it harder to understand others.
Wernicke's Area
Another part of the brain associated with aphasia is Wernicke's area, discovered by Carl Wernicke, who observed patients with a condition called receptive aphasia, where individuals had fluent but nonsensical speech and impaired language comprehension. Through post-mortem examinations on patients with these symptoms, Wernicke discovered lesions in the left posterior superior temporal gyrus of the brain.
Patients with receptive aphasia, unlike expressive aphasia, can articulate words but are unable to order them to form a sentences appropriately. The patients themselves, who do not realize they aren't making sense, often become incredibly frustrated with others for failing to understand them.
Apraxia
This is a neurological condition that sadly affects multiple types of fine motor movement. However, we will focus on apraxia of speech (AOS). Unlike aphasia, which affects linguistic processing capabilities, AOS impairs the fine motor movements needed to produce sounds.
Unlike other speech disorders that involve muscle strength and coordination issues, AOS specifically impacts the planning of speech movements. People with AOS know what they want to say but have trouble coordinating their lips, jaw, or tongue to produce the right sounds. There are two main types of AOS. The first is childhood AOS, present from birth and more common in boys, and includes symptoms such as delayed first words, limited sound production, and difficulty with syllables and stress placement. The second is acquired AOS, which occurs in adults due to brain damage such as from stroke or injury and includes symptoms such as slow speech and sound distortions. Treatment for both types focuses on speech and language therapy to improve communication.
Expressive Language Disorders
Aside from aphasias and apraxias, SLP also covers many other issues. Expressive language disorders appear from a young age and are categorized by communication difficulties that impact the ability to express thoughts, ideas, or information effectively. These challenges can appear in various forms, including speech, writing, and nonverbal communication, often leading to simplified or incomplete communication and making socializing with peers challenging, but there is a range of treatments, like speech therapy, that are highly effective.
Technological Advancements: AI & Speech-Language Therapy
Now that we understand some of the issues that cause impairment, we must look at how the latest speech-language therapy techniques aim to treat them. Like any form of therapy, it is important to note that no two people will have the same experience.
Children with expressive issues are often engaged with thorough play, where an SLP will show them objects, pictures, or books, stimulating them to talk and express themselves and correcting errors. For adults with aphasia, new technologies like AI are being used.
AI for Analysis
One of the ways AI is improving aphasia therapies is through a project by Constant Therapy, a platform that analyzes a database of over 230 million speech and cognitive exercises from more than 100,000 identified patients to create a customer treatment plan for aphasia speech therapy. The platform uses AI models to predict individual recovery profiles based on therapy practice patterns, allowing therapists to forecast recovery sequences and tailor treatment plans faster.
AI Therapists
Online speech therapy company BetterSpeech has actually developed its own AI speech therapist, called 'Jessica.' Jessica utilizes the power of AI to provide personalized speech therapy to patients who are able to personalize their Jessica avatar. While Jessica is not designed to replace a human speech therapist, it is a cutting-edge tool, available 24/7 to patients on any device, in addition to their in-person therapy. It's an extra bit of support to help patients on their SLP journeys, and it provides this in a convenient, accessible, and more affordable way than many traditional forms of therapy.
AI as a Diagnostician
Aside from personalized therapy programs, AI shows promise as a future diagnostician. Many see how AI's neural networks can be harnessed to analyze speech. After all, an AI program will always be able to remember more speech types and patterns than even the best therapist. AI could compare speech from patients to a database of thousands of others instantly, analyzing commonalities to assess what the cause could be. While a human therapist is still necessary for patient care in the diagnosing phase, the help of AI will make this process quicker and easier for the professional, who will, in turn, be able to spend more time actually treating and working with the patient.
AI and the Future of Speech Language
Programs like Constant Therapy and the many AI-powered audio enhancers are tools that have already helped many patients treat and overcome speech-related issues in a far more efficient manner than any speech-language pathologist would have thought possible 50 years ago, and this growth will only continue in the years to come.
The potential for AI to revolutionize this field is immense, with advancements in machine learning and data analysis paving the way for more personalized and effective treatment strategies. AI's ability to analyze vast amounts of data quickly and accurately means that therapists can gain insights into a patient's progress and adapt their treatment plans in real-time.
As if that isn't enough, the use of AI in speech therapy isn't just limited to treatment. It also has the potential to aid in the early detection and diagnosis of speech and language disorders, which really helps to treat patients and use resources effectively.
The future of speech-language therapy is bright, and AI will play a pivotal role. As technology continues to advance, we can look forward to seeing more and more innovative solutions to help those struggling with speech and language disorders overcome their challenges and communicate more effectively.
