Jessica Nicholson

Speech-Language Pathologist

Ms. Jessica Nicholson is a Speech-Language Pathologist in Hollywood, FL with special training and skill in preventing, assessing, diagnosing, and treating speech, language, cognitive communication, and swallowing disorders arising from illness, injury, deficiency, or congenital birth defect. As a Speech-Language Pathologist, Jessica Nicholson performs testing, evaluation, and treatment of disorders relating to how patients form words, communicate, and process the speech of others. Speech-Language Pathology is a medical specialty that deals with disorders related to how patients form words, speak, and understand what others are saying to them. Significant diseases and conditions treated by Speech-Language Pathologists include speech disorders like stuttering and dysarthia, language disorders like articulation and phonological processing disorders, social communication disorders, cognitive-communication disorders, voice disorders, and swallowing disorders that may arise from conditions like stroke, dementia, brain injury, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease, autism, hearing loss, or congenital birth defects. Medical tests, procedures and therapies provided by Speech-Language Pathologists include speech and language assessment, hearing assessment, developing treatment plans based on assessment and test results, developing communications strategies for patients and caregivers, working with patients to achieve communication goals, and providing patient and parent education.

The speech-language pathologist is the professional who engages in clinical services, prevention, advocacy, education, administration, and research in the areas of communication and swallowing across the life span from infancy through geriatrics. Speech-language pathologists address typical and atypical impairments and disorders related to communication and swallowing in the areas of speech sound production, resonance, voice, fluency, language (comprehension and expression), cognition, and feeding and swallowing.

Occupational Therapy Assistant

An occupational therapy assistant is a person who has graduated from an occupational therapy assistant program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) or predecessor organizations, has successfully completed a period of supervised fieldwork experience required by the accredited occupational therapy assistant program, has passed a nationally recognized entry-level examination for occupational therapy assistants, and fulfills state requirements for licensure, certification, or registration. An occupational therapy assistant provides interventions under the supervision of an occupational therapist which emphasize the therapeutic use of everyday life activities (i.e., occupations) with individuals or groups for the purpose of facilitating participation in roles and situations and in home, school, workplace, community and other settings. Occupational therapy services are provided for the purpose of promoting health and wellness and are provided to those who have or are at risk for developing an illness, injury, disease, disorder, condition, impairment, disability, activity limitation, or participation restriction. Occupational therapy assistants address the physical, cognitive, psychosocial, sensory, and other aspects of occupational performance in a variety of contexts to support engagement in everyday life activities that affect health, well-being, and quality of life.