Defy Therapy Services LLC

MS Awareness vs Parkinson's Sometimes the symptoms of them are similar This is a great quote!! by Michael J Fox
MS has Lesions that break down the myelin coating on our nerves but Parkinson's does not.. in Parkinson disease the nerves die off!

Presentation linked here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?mc_cid=b2bbbc43a4&mc_eid=be6ba605be&v=-OZkMCk8xI4&feature=youtu.be

Join us the first Thursday of the month for a virtual caregiver support group! Email for link!

We want to take a moment to share with you one of our favorite people. This is our Nana. This first picture was taken a few years ago, and is one of our favorites.

Yesterday we celebrated Nana as she was inducted into the Chester County Sports Hall of Fame. She was a talented multi-sport athlete and as the business manager for Immaculata - while raising 5 children - she created historic opportunities for women’s basketball. She negotiated deals to have the first ever women’s basketball game played at Madison Square Garden and the first college women’s basketball game nationally broadcast on television.

If you ask Nana about her accomplishments, she will tell you she was just living her daily life. As her granddaughters, and as women who own a business we are so grateful and proud for the part she played in the history of women’s equality. ❤️

Join us Thursday at 7pm for a virtual caregiver support group!

Join us this Thursday for a Virtual Caregiver Support Group! See below for information and please share!

We love playing cards! Did you know that playing card games is an excellent way to get work on different cognition skills?

Simply reading and listening to the directions is a great way to get your brain moving. Check out the next slide to see what other skills card games help you work on and leave us a comment on your favorite card game below. 👇🏻

Check out this great Webinar from the Brain Injury Association of Delaware!

How Community Members Can Access Services - Jennifer Tozer, Manager of Family Engagement Overview of Division of Developmental Disabilities Services (DDDS) and Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Lifespan Waiver – How Community Members Can A...

Happy New Year!

2021 was beautiful and challenging. As we enter 2022 we will continue to learn and grow as a business, while remembering to cherish these small moments.

Defy Odds. Defy Expectations.

Update! We now take Medicare, DE Medicaid and some commercial insurances! Treatment in the home or virtual. Whatever you are comfortable with. Visit our website for more information. We look forward to working with you!

www.defytherapyservices.com

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Selecting the perfect gift during the holidays is hard! Let us help! Here are some gift ideas that are perfect for get-togethers and can be modified to hit those speech, language, and cognitive goals!

Modifications can include:
- Eliminating time pressures
- Keeping notes
- Utilizing all forms of communication (acting out, gestures, writing, etc)
- Reading words out loud
- Take away words to work on listening skills
- Simplifying directions
- Taking out multiple steps
- Playing in teams

Check out our IGTV for more in-depth discussion on how to use these games.

The world of social media is powerful and complex. As we celebrate the holidays and start reflecting on the past year, social media is often flooded with the highlights of everyone’s lives and it is hard to remember that is exactly what it is - the highlights of someone’s life.

It is natural to want to share the good times, and there is nothing wrong with that. After the last couple of years, we should bring as much joy into the world that we can, but while you’re scrolling try to remember that there is no perfect life and that everyone has challenges.

Comparing yourself personally or professionally to some else’s journey can take a toll on your mental health. Remember during this time to give yourself grace and allow yourself to rest.

Dysphagia is a fancy medical term for difficulty eating and/or swallowing.

Swallowing disfunction can occur following brain injury and can take a significant toll on a survivor’s quality of life. Breakdown in oral motor and swallowing skills can result in risks for choking and for food entering the airway, which can lead to respiratory illness and even aspiration pneumonia.

In addition to the physical implications, patients with dysphagia can struggle socially retreating from events that focus in and around food. These individuals may feel embarrassed by any diet modifications, drooling, or compensatory strategies they need to employ to enjoy a meal. This is why dysphagia needs to be addressed early in recovery and monitored closely by a speech therapist to advance their diet as the individual recovers. 

If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulty with dysphagia please consult your primary care physician and request a feeding evaluation. 

Just a simple Tuesday morning reminder to wear a helmet. Accidents happen to adults too.

Holidays are extra stressful when you have difficulty engaging in conversations. Here are some ways you can help your loved one with a brain injury feel more comfortable and accepted at your holiday events. 

* Educate your family members ahead of time. Giving others tips and tricks to socialize with your loved one reduces awkwardness and helps facilitate social engagement.

* Eliminate distractions! Turn down (or turn off) background music/ TV, engage with loved one in a quiet room, reduce number of conversations being had, and monitor for signs of social fatigue 

* Less is more- keeping conversations simple but age appropriate allows time for processing and response 

* Avoid talking for your loved ones and finishing their train of thoughts. 

* When they struggle, switch to yes/no questions and provide choices when possible 

* Remember that social engagements require double or triple the energy for someone recovering from a brain injury. Avoid meltdowns by keeping engagements short or providing opportunities for cognitive breaks to help with endurance over the longer days. 

Let’s talk about concussions…

If concussion symptoms last more than a week, a SLP can help you with comprehension, working memory, and new learning!

Accidents can happen anywhere. Is your house safe? Infants and toddlers are hard work! Sometimes you can’t take your eye off them without them getting into trouble. Do yourself a favor and child proof your house so that those quick moments don’t end in a hospital stay.

Hi Everyone 👋🏻

We have loved connecting with all the new faces here, so we wanted to reintroduce ourselves! We are sisters who combined our strengths to build Defy Therapy Services.

We like to say Maggie (left) is the face of the business. She is the Speech Therapist and loves working with clients and their families to target functional goals. Molly (right), runs the backend of the business and has a mind for operations. We are opposites in the way we think, but both have shared passions for helping clients and educating the community.

We are excited to continue to grow this community. Our goal for both our clients and our business is to defy odds & defy expectations. We are excited to have everyone follow along!

-Maggie & Molly

[ 📷📷📷: ]

In a previous post, we discussed parts of the brain and each one’s role in communication and comprehension of language. Today, we want to highlight some possible cognitive communication deficits you may see if you sustain an injury to that part of the brain.

Some other information that is important to know:

Diffuse injury (multiple parts of the brain) vs. Focal Injury (one part of the brain)- A focal injury may be a little easier to predict and tease out the deficits where as a diffuse injury adds complexity and increases the SLP critical thinking skills.

Left hemisphere (analytic and focal) vs. right hemisphere (creative and holistic) damage. In a left hemisphere injury, we would suspect more pointed speech, expressive and receptive language deficits. They will likely know what they want to say but can’t formulate the words, find the right words, or be able to compose a sentence structure. Comprehension deficits may be due to the inability to accurate process the words being said. When looking at the right side injury, deficits in organization of thought and speech may be difficult, difficulty understanding abstract language and humor, or putting linguistic information together to draw conclusions.

Knowing this key information can help you select appropriate assessment tools, identify strategies for improvement, and educate!

www.neuroskills.com
https://www.asha.org/slp/cognitive-referral/

According to the CDC, someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. Strokes can happen anywhere and to anyone. Could you recognize the signs of a stroke? Knowing the signs and acting fast can be the difference between life as you know it, disability, and death.

Cdc.gov
Stroke.org

Did you know that speech and language is more of a left brain activity and global thinking and creativity is more of a right brain activity? Did you know that the right brain controls the left side of the body and the left brain controls the right side of the body (with some exceptions)? The brain is a remarkable organ! It works endlessly to keep our heart pumping, lungs breathing, regulates our emotions, helps us process what we see and hear, allows us to put together thoughts, communicate, read non-verbal language and so much more!

Biausa.org
BIADE.org
Neuroskills.com

Caregiving is complicated and often exhausting. It is important for caregivers to know how to advocate and take care of themselves as well as their loved one.

Check out our tips for caregivers 🧠

Sustaining a brain injury is hard enough without all the fancy medical lingo. Let us break it down for you!

Aphasia- This is an impairment in your ability to understand what others are saying, difficulty saying what you want to say, trouble reading text, and/or difficulty writing. An aphasia diagnosis ranges from mild-severe and is impacted by the severity of the injury. Many survivors struggle with finding the right words (word finding), mixing up words (paraphasic errors), and overall awareness of errors.

Dysarthria- This is an impairment in speech that is impacted by muscle weakness. People can experience a wide variety of difficulties ranging from poor breath support, slurred speech, difficulty with vocal control, and changes in tone of voice.

Apraxia- This is an impairment in the ability to motor plan and sequence the movements of the mouth. People who have neuro apraxia of speech tend to know what they want to say but have trouble “getting it out”. Apraxia also is noted to get worse with increased length and complexity of speech task.

Speech therapist’s can help diagnosis and treat all of these speech problems following a neurological incident (stroke, traumatic brain injury, encephalitis, tumor, etc). From skill building to compensatory strategies, communication is the goal!

Did you know that falls are not a normal part of aging? We should no longer accept this fate for ourselves and our loved ones! There are many ways that you can prevent falls and it could be as easy as modifying your environment, keeping up with medical appointments, and getting out for some low impact exercise a few days a week.

Check out a few good resources below:

National Council for Aging

National Institute on Aging

The CDC

FYI - simple steps can help protect your brain 🧠