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by learning to speak slower. His therapist taught him breathing
exercises, which helped reduce his anxiety. He also spent hours
reading books out loud to practice smooth speech. He stayed
fluent by attending follow-up maintenance sessions with speech
therapists. The therapy helped Sproles so much that he turned
down the offer of an NFL contract in his junior year. Instead he
worked to obtain a master’s degree in speech-language pathol-
ogy before joining the NFL upon graduation.
Those who make a career as a speech therapist often work to
help people who stutter or lisp. However, the scope of the work is
much broader. Speech therapists are highly educated health care
professionals who use their understanding of anatomy, linguistics,
genetics, and psychology to diagnose, treat, and prevent a wide
range of disorders involving speech, communication, swallowing,
and breathing. They evaluate a patient’s problems, identify treat-
ment options, carry out individualized treatment, and teach pa-
tients how to make sounds, improve their voice, and strengthen
muscles used in swallowing. Speech therapists also help patients
cope with their disorders.
Speech therapists help patients build their articulation skills,
which include the physical ability to move the tongue, lips, and
jaw to produce sounds. Those who stutter are evaluated for pos-
sible psychological and emotional problems related to anxiety and
stress. Speech therapists work with people who have voice and
resonance disorders caused by problems with their vocal cords
and nasal and oral cavities. They treat cognitive-communication
problems, which are difficulties in self-expression that are associ-
ated with brain functions like attention, memory, and reasoning.
Sports speech therapists work with athletes who have speech
impediments or lack the communication skills necessary to give
the interviews and speeches that are part of their high-profile job.
Sports speech therapists also treat athletes who have suffered
concussions, which can cause people to slur their words and
have other speech problems. These speech therapists specialize
in what is called cognitive rehabilitation, which involves helping
injured athletes recover from brain injuries and helping them deal
