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Speech Therapist

Speech Therapist: Melanie Landman

Speech and language therapists work to prevent, assess, diagnose, and treat speech, language, social communication, cognitive communication, and swallowing disorders in children and adults.
Melanie Landman, a speech and language therapist, says they help adults and children alike. "Our caseload will typically have adults who have had strokes, had a head injury, have a problem with their voice or have a progressive disease. We see children who have delayed development of language, unclear speech, stutter, are autistic, have Down’s syndrome, have difficulties with reading and spelling and much more,” Landman says.
Since she’s in a private practice, “my patients come to me for half-hour sessions of therapy after a full assessment. I also see patients that have been admitted to hospital, and see more long-term patients at the rehab hospitals.”
Speech and language therapists can also work in hospitals or for schools full time as well as for the Ministry of Education.
“When I was at school I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I did know I wanted to be in a paramedical occupation, as I liked being with people. So I researched the various professions and settled on this one,” she says.
“Helping people to communicate is very inspiring. Communication is such a human need, and when it is difficult it impacts all areas of our lives. It can be exhausting and overwhelming at times, but it is very rewarding to see someone improve and be given the opportunity to live their best life and communicate with the people around them,” she says.
Speech and language therapists should love working with people, have a lot of patience and creativity and be able to relate with old and young people.