During the week of August 16th, fans recognize the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. Earlier this year I was providing Neuro-Muscular Electrostimulation at a skilled nursing facility. The patient was enjoying an Elvis impersonator, which is a great opportunity to integrate attention tasks with swallow therapy. My mind went wild with other ways I could integrate speech therapy opportunities if Elvis ever reappeared–
- Asking Questions/Voicing: individuals request songs
- Recall: sing along to the song
- Inflection: sing with expression
- Imitation: individual repeats lyrics
- Reminiscent therapy: recall memories and events associated with the music
- Word-finding: describe the song
- Comprehension: explain what the song is about
- Problem-solving/Recall: sing the wrong lyric and see if the individual can come up with the correct lyric
- Clear speaking: articulate the lyrics clearly
- Executive functioning: have the audience organize a list of songs they want to hear and the order they want to hear it in.
Let me know your other ideas! And if you or a loved one needs speech or swallow therapy, reach out to Live Well Speech Therapy and let’s chat. We serve Utah County.
