INUVIK - When people lose the ability to speak or be understood, they can lose their identity.

From left, Jean Boyle, Anick Jenks, Amie Hay and Kayla Abrams of the Speech Language Pathology Department at Inuvik Regional Hospital display some of the tools they use to help children communicate better. - Samantha Stokell/NNSL photo

"Speech is everything," said Jean Boyle, a regional speech language pathologist. "It's the thing that separates us from other animals. Without conversations, we're not human."

Whether it's two-year-old children with a low vocabulary or elders with dementia, the speech language pathologists at Inuvik Regional Hospital work with patients to help everyone communicate.

May is Speech and Hearing Awareness Month and Boyle and Amie Hay hope to let people know that their work is more than assisting those who stutter. They take care of the speech, language and hearing issues of more than 300 people in Inuvik throughout the Beaufort Delta and Sahtu regions.

Their work covers the breadth of communication, from assessing, treating and intervening for communication or swallowing disorders, education with teachers and parents and consultation with other professionals, such as doctors or occupational therapists.

Some of the issues patients have are speech delays, language delays, pre-literacy and literacy skills, stuttering and communication disorders related to brain injuries or diseases such as dementia, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis or ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease.)

"We work in all areas of communication and speaking and understanding what's being said to us, like directions," Hay said. "And reading and writing. We help people get the words from their brains to their hands."

Language

The "language" part of speech language pathologists also comprises an important part of their work. They work with children to create a phonological awareness – recognizing the sounds of language that will prepare them for reading. They do this through activities that have children identify the first sound of a word, syllables or other words that rhyme.

These are the building blocks to reading and speaking.

"We're kind of a booster to give them the stepping stones they need to stay at the right level," Hay said. "Sometimes in school people have difficulty following directions, so we teach basic concepts for directions, such as under, over."

With children, a lot of the speech pathologists' work involves games that have a structure that allows them to reach a goal, such as knowing when to use 's' or 'ing' on a word, something that people learn in speech naturally.

Many adult patients come to them after they have strokes, brain trauma injuries or dementia. For patients with degenerative conditions in palliative care, Hay and Boyle work to ensure they can express themselves right up until the end of their life.

"We work on 10 sentences they would most like to say at the end of their life," Hay said. "We give them a gift at the end of their life to be able to speak to family members and say what they want to say."

Rehabilitation

For clients with traumatic brain injuries or post-stroke clients, the pathologists' job is to rebuild the communication connections in the brain that might be impaired. The characteristics of these problems may vary; while some clients may speak fluently, they might not understand what is being said. In other cases, the person may not understand abstract language, such as sarcasm. Therapy for the client and educating the family are crucial to help clients reach their goals.

While speech, language and swallowing problems stem from a physiological problem, clients may have emotional impacts since these are all tied to everyday life. Pathologists, such as Hay and Boyle, often find themselves counselling clients about the challenges these may present.

"When people celebrate, they will likely eat and communicate with each other, but maybe you can't go to the restaurant and eat the food or go for coffee like you could before," Boyle said. "Imagine not being able to say I love you. If you can't say it, you lose a part of yourself."

If people suspect that someone they know has trouble communicating, contact your doctor or public health. They will then send you to the speech language pathology department.

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