therapists speech in Cameroon

Though they are highly needed in the society, just few of these paramedical professionals are available, majority working in Douala and Yaounde therapists speech in Cameroon.

It is 11:28am on Monday November 13, 2023. 70 years old Jean N. a Douala city dweller, supported by his son is moving to the office of his speech therapist, at the «cabinet d’orthophonie» in bonapriso, Douala. He suffered a stroke in the month of June 2023, which caused him to loss his ability to speak. For the past four months, he has been carrying out several exercises with Monthe Juimo Nys, who is a speech therapist. thus far, he has been making progress.

«The Patient has improved significantly. I started working with him few months back. He had difficulties in understanding, talking, and reasoning. That is to say you could not ask him what is your name and he answers my name is…., because he could not understand therapists speech in Cameroon. Today he understands all oral language» says Monthe Juimo.

The progress of Jean, is also credited to the fact that he has built confidence over time with his speech therapist. In fact, the happiest moment of his life now is when he is going for a session. «The only time when he is truly lively and free is here (at the speech therapy clinic) the conversation between him and the speech therapist is good. When he arrives here, he smiles, and feels relieve» reports his wife.

The family of Jean, has in the last three months spent close to a million francs for his treatment. This is due to the fact that the consultation and treatment of patients like him is rigorous. When the patient gets to the clinic of the speech therapist, he goes through a series of examinations, for proper understanding of the situation therapists speech in Cameroon. For the past one year, Monthe the speech therapist has been receiving a minimum of 6 patients at his clinic in Bonapriso, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. «When patients arrive, we receive them and then interview them. This helps us to know the genesis and evolution of the problem. It is a collection of questions, based on the observations we make on the patient, in order to select the right tool for his or her evaluation»

Patients of all ages are received by the speech therapist. For now, majority of those who visit him are aged men Especially those in their post stroke period. There is no standard duration for the treatment of patients. It all depends on their responds to the different exercises they are made to undertake. For some children who have difficulties in articulating, one month is sufficient, while for some who have experienced damages in the part of their brains responsible for speech, it takes a lifetime.

Only about ten speech therapists are currently in Cameroon, according to Monthe Juimo, Douala alone harboring four of them, whereas, the scope of the activities extends to all groups and ages of people therapists speech in Cameroon. Speech therapy is the crossroads of social, medical and economic sciences. A therapist can work in hospitals schools and in structures where there are persons with special needs. In addition to written and spoken language disorders, speech therapists also rehabilitate neurological disorders, autism spectrum disorders, deafness, genetic or neurodegenerative diseases, etc. Speech therapists prevent, assess and treat oral and written communication deficiencies and disorders, as well as associated disorders.

Rex Afon (Intern)