Tallulah – Ashton Massey said local health care providers were asked about unmet needs in Graham County and a common response was speech therapy.
Massey was raised in Graham County, but was putting her education in speech therapy to use at PT Solutions at its locations in Bryson City and Sylva.
Following the survey, PT Solutions created a new service in Robbinsville to bolster its already-robust, physical-therapy clinic and named Massey director of speech therapy.
It was a perfect fit, Massey said.
Massey provides adult and pediatric outpatient speech therapy at PT Solutions’ Robbinsville, location at 409 Tallulah Road, sharing the building with Tallulah Community Health Center. PT Solutions acquired the practice from Harris Regional.
She can help with a range of issues, including language delay and disorders, speech sound disorder, aphasia (a language disorder caused by damage in a specific area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension), and dysphagia (difficulty swallowing).
Sharing a building with Tallulah Community Health Center, Massey is right down the hall whenever a health care provider needs a speech referral or consultation.
Massey was inspired to become a speech therapist by her older sister Allison Rogers, a speech-language pathologist at Select Rehab, which is based out of Graham Healthcare & Rehabilitation in Robbinsville.
Massey earned her undergraduate degree in biology and worked for a couple of years at the Graham County Health Department, before earning a master’s degree in communication science and disorders in January 2021 from Western Carolina University. Her professional title is Ashton Massey, MS CCC-SLP (Master of Science, Certificate of Clinical Competence).
Right out the gate, she started working for PT Solutions at its locations in Bryson City and Sylva, but she said Robbinsville was always on her radar.
In June, she was named director of the speech clinic in Robbinsville, dividing her time between Robbinsville, where she works two days a week, and PT Solutions’ other nearby clinics.
For now, her caseload is mainly pediatric cases. She said many of her clients are coming from outside Graham County, saving them a longer trip into Bryson City or Sylva.
Speech therapists help with a wide range of issues that might not seem related to speech.
Some people have problems swallowing, for example; it feels like they have a lump in their throat when they swallow. Adults may experience it for years such that it becomes normal for them, but therapy can help. Therapies are individualized and can include diet modification and exercises as simple as putting your tongue between your teeth while swallowing to strengthen the muscles.
Speech therapists also work with cancer and stroke patients to help them in their recovery.
“We see everything here,” Massey said.
For details, call (828) 479-8320.