Dysphagia, or eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties can affect a person’s quality of life.. North Belfast man John Toal knows all too well the importance of being referred for Speech and Language Therapy
Eating, drinking and swallowing is an essential part of our day and is often taken for granted, but for some of us it's not that easy.
John, 40 and from Ardoyne, has a learning disability, epilepsy and cerebral palsy. He choked a few times and sought advice from an SLT team to help stop choking. "My family were really worried about me so after that I had an assessment from the SLT team who did a report all about my swallowing difficulties and educated me about it. I was given a personal resource outlining what I can and cannot eat - what's safe and what's not."
John shared his story to mark Swallowing Awareness Day, a time to raise awareness of how Speech and Language Therapists help people living with eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.Olivia Compston, a Speech and Language Therapist at the Belfast Trust, supports the communication and swallowing needs of adults like John with a learning disability.
Olivia said: "It's a very common misconception that the role of SLTs is all about speech sounds and elocution but it's very vast. It covers all sorts of communication and swallowing needs and across all ages from babies right up to the elderly.
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