Speech therapy services in Minnesota and western Wisconsin

Communication is one of the most important parts of life. Through speech and language, we build relationships, ask for what we need and experience the world. When speech disorders, illness or other conditions make communication challenging, our speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are here to help.

At HealthPartners, we offer speech therapy services for patients of all ages, from infants to seniors. Our SLPs provide comprehensive evaluation, education and treatment for people with speech, language, cognitive, voice and swallowing issues.

With clinics in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, we make it simple to get speech therapy when and where it’s most convenient for you. No matter what your needs are, our speech-language pathologists will develop a personalized treatment plan to help you meet your goals.

Speech therapy can be used to treat much more than conditions that impact the way you speak. If you’re struggling with speech, language, voice quality, swallowing or cognitive changes, you could benefit from speech therapy.

Our speech-language pathologists work with patients from a variety of backgrounds. We also work closely with people who are managing neurological conditions, including stroke, brain injury, ALS, Parkinson’s disease and cancer.

We offer a comprehensive range of speech therapy services for patients of all ages. Our services include speech therapy, pediatric speech therapy, voice therapy, speech therapy for neurological disorders and many others.

Speech therapy is a specialized type of rehabilitation that’s used to assess and treat a range of conditions affecting your ability to speak, swallow or use language. During speech therapy, our SLPs will assess your symptoms, discuss your treatment goals and create a specialized speech therapy treatment plan that meets your unique needs.

Depending on your concerns, we’ll use a combination of exercises, education and assistive technology to help you communicate more effectively. Our SLPs may work with you to improve your breathing and breath support, achieve a louder or clearer voice, strengthen muscles used while swallowing, improve your memory and improve your ability to communicate complex thoughts. We’ll also educate and guide you and your family so you can continue your recovery at home.

A neurological condition or traumatic brain injury can impact your memory, the way you communicate, process language or swallow. Our SLPs offer speech therapy support for neurological disorders such as stroke, brain injury and Parkinson's disease. We’ll assess your needs and create a personalized treatment plan to help you rebuild your skills.

We also work closely with neurosurgeons and neurologists across our care organization to offer speech therapy rehabilitation whenever our patients need it. This includes providing speech therapy services at Struthers Parkinson’s Center and HealthPartners Neuroscience Center, and being in the operating room during brain surgery to help protect communication function while damaged tissue is removed.

Speech therapy is often recommended as part of treatment for ALS. Our speech-language pathologists will identify your unique needs in the areas of communication, swallowing and thinking. When needed, we may recommend alternative or augmentative communication devices. Our SLPs may teach you how to use devices that are controlled with eye movements or use a pre-recorded version of your voice (called voice banking).

Parkinson's Disease can make your voice softer or communication difficult. You may experience changes to your memory or thinking, and you may notice you cough when eating or drinking. Our speech therapists can work with you to improve and manage changes to communication, thinking and swallowing.

Depending on your unique needs, we may recommend frequent speech therapy sessions when you first begin therapy. Repeated practice has been shown to best reduce the symptoms of Parkinson's. After you learn new skills, our team will show you ways to maintain them on your own so you can continue to manage symptoms at home. We also offer options to exercise your voice through singing and communication groups at some of our locations, including the Struthers Parkinson’s Center.

Voice disorders can cause issues like hoarseness, laryngitis and difficulty swallowing. Our SLPs will work with you to identify the cause of your voice condition and develop a personalized treatment plan. This may include vocal exercises, breathing techniques and other strategies to improve vocal function and help your voice sound more like it did before.

With videostroboscopy, we can assess the function of your larynx (voice box) and vocal folds. This test uses a camera with a strobe light to record your vocal cords while you speak. We then watch this video in slow motion to assess how the vocal cords move, which can help us understand what is causing problems with your voice. We may also recommend this test to identify issues with swallowing.

Cancer, especially types that affect the head and neck, can change the way you communicate and swallow. Our SLPs provide a wide range of speech therapy for people recovering from or managing cancer. We use education, exercises and other techniques to improve your speech and swallowing.