An audiologist is a medical professional involved in diagnosing and treating problems associated with hearing and balance. These include noise sensitivity, vertigo, hearing loss and tinnitus. If the diagnosed condition can be treated by a doctor, an audiologist may recommend seeing an ENT expert. (To understand better, read about hearing specialist vs audiologist below.) Else, the audiologist will explore other treatment alternatives like aural rehabilitation (diagnosing various kinds of hearing loss and assessing their treatment methods) and hearing aids (devices fitted in the ears to improve hearing abilities).
Know about hearing specialists vs audiologists? Unlike audiologists, hearing specialists or ENT specialists offer diagnosis and medical and surgical care of the ear, nose and throat.
If you suffer from hearing issues, visit an audiologist in Delhi with extensive experience.
A speech-language pathologist (SLP) can help control and overcome problems of the tongue, throat and/or mouth that affect a person’s communication. Such a specialist can help manage symptoms of speech disorders like stuttering/stammering (or other fluency disorders), apraxia, autism (or other receptive disorders), dyslexia, articulation issues, resonance problems (like swollen tonsils or cleft palate), expressive disorders, voice problems and auditory processing disorder. The expert can help you with communication difficulties by carrying out articulation therapy, language activities and, sometimes, even feeding and swallowing therapy.
If you go through communication problems, visit a highly experienced speech pathologist in Delhi.
| Also Read: What is Stuttering? - Symptoms, Causes & Treatment |
So that your brain can learn new sounds or words, you need to hear them first. People may sometimes develop various degrees of hearing loss. This affects the way and extent of their abilities to hear and comprehend speech and language. The levels of hearing loss include:
The higher the level of hearing loss, the greater is the risk to go through delays in the development of speech, language and reading skills.
Since both audiologists and speech-language pathologists are medical experts in the treatment of communication issues, they share some common features in their skills and knowledge backgrounds. Both must possess empathy, compassion, patience and strong interpersonal abilities. Both kinds of specialists should spend time and efforts working one-on-one with their patients going through communication troubles and likely, discouraged and frustrated as a result. Both types of experts must also carry advanced degrees, professional certifications, high experience, knowledge and skills in their respective fields of study and treatment.
Although they share certain similarities, audiologists and speech-language pathologists also differ in various respects as follows:
While both speech therapists and audiologists help people with communication, they focus on separate areas of a person’s body. Speech therapists deal with broader aspects. Their analysis and treatment areas usually involve nearly any part of an individual’s body above the neck. These include the throat, mouth, tongue, eyes and even ears. On the other hand, the focus of audiologists is constricted. Areas of their analysis and treatment are restricted to a person’s ears and auditory canal.
Speech-language pathologists usually have the following areas of specialisation:
Clinical audiologists generally have the following areas of expertise:
A vital difference between the two kinds of experts concerning their degrees of expertise is that:
Sometimes, professionals qualified and experienced in both the fields, provide audiology and speech therapy to their patients.
Both the specialists help children and grown-ups who struggle with communication in their daily lives. The type of expert right for you depends on your specific communication problem.
If you have trouble hearing and understanding sounds and words, you must visit an audiologist. He/she will perform a diagnosis to check for any of the following hearing problems in you:
If you have difficulty articulating or speaking, you must visit a speech therapy specialist in Delhi. He/she will carry out a diagnosis to check for any of the following concerns in you:
Sometimes you may need to visit experts offering both audiology and speech therapy for issues like auditory processing disorder.
The essential role of an audiologist is to help his/her patients and their family on their path to successful communication by:
The main role of a speech therapist in Indirapuram is also to assist patients and their family on their way to effective communication by:
Helping children and their family realise how hearing loss can affect the patients’ abilities to learn communication in various settings including home vs school, and noisy vs quiet environments
Teaching parents how to help the child learn to listen and speak by:
The audiologists and speech pathologists in Tarang Clinics work with each other to track the patients’ progress and adjust their hearing aids or speech therapy best suiting their requirements of reception and communication. If needed, visit them to receive the best audio and speech therapy in Delhi.