Community Connection: Speech Therapy Department

Speech Therapy Services Available in Western North Dakota

by Kelsey Kuehn, Speech Therapist

What is a Speech-Language Pathologist?

Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) are experts in communication. SLPs work with people of all ages to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat communication and swallowing problems. 

 Who is the SLP at McKenzie Health?

I serve in this capacity. I recently moved to Watford City in March 2024. I enjoy all of what Watford City has to offer and thoroughly enjoy providing my communication expertise to patients here.

I work with ages 1 and up to improve communication skills. For children, speech therapy is beneficial for kids who are not meeting developmental milestones on time. For adults, speech therapy may be beneficial following a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or an acquired disease or disorder (e.g., dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, etc.). Speech therapy can address the following areas in both children and adults: 

• Speech Sounds: Helping patients correctly say and put sounds into words. This may include helping a child correctly articulate a sound (for example saying /r/ correctly) or helping an adult more clearly produce words following a stroke or brain injury. Other words for speech sound disorders include: articulation disorder, phonological disorder, apraxia of speech, or dysarthria. 
• Language: Improving a patient’s ability to understand what we hear or read and use words to tell others what they are thinking. Receptive language (how well we understand what we hear) therapy can help a child or adult identify pictures of objects, follow multi-step directions, correctly answer questions, and much more. Expressive language therapy can improve a child or adult’s ability to label objects, combine words into phrases or sentences, and produce sentences without grammatical errors. 
• Social Communication: Improving a patient’s social use of verbal and nonverbal communication. Social communication therapy can improve an individual’s ability to communicate in conversation (e.g., greeting, asking questions, commenting) and follow rules for conversation and story-telling. Social communication problems may occur in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Social communication problems can also be found in other conditions, such as a traumatic brain injury. 
• Cognitive-Communication: Improving a patient’s ability to organize thoughts, pay attention to tasks, memory, planning, and/or problem-solving skills. Cognitive-communication disorders typically happen as a result of a stroke, traumatic brain injury, or dementia. 

Our Specialties at McKenzie Health

I am a trained clinician in the Natural Language Acquisition approach, which provides effective language therapy for children who use echolalia (saying something they have heard from others or a TV show) to communicate. Another term for this use of language is ‘scripting’. This way of acquiring language is especially present in the autistic population. I am also a Sensory Trained SLP which allows me to incorporate sensory regulation strategies into my sessions to allow for more opportunities to improve language development. 

Additionally, I have a special interest in Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) which provides an additional way for both children and adults to communicate using things like pictures or a Speech Generating Device (e.g., an iPad or tablet). AAC is especially helpful for children who are not yet using words to communicate or for adults who have had severe stroke or brain injury. 

With children, I believe in play-based therapy. Play is an essential part of a child’s development and the most natural way for children to interact with their world, solve problems, and develop skills. I incorporate play into all types of therapy with children, including speech sounds, language, and social communication. Adding play allows for the child to be engaged and learn information in a more effective and efficient way.

Improve your communication today! 

If you or someone you know may benefit from Speech Therapy, McKenzie Health offers quality services close to home. Visit your primary care provider for a referral for Speech Therapy or contact us yourself to schedule an evaluation! 

McKenzie Health: Rehab Department
Located in the Connie Wold Wellness Center
200 8th St. NE, Watford City, ND 58854
Phone #: (701) 842-6315