Speech and Language Disorders Blogs This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Consider Experience as Part of Evidence-Based Practice to Evolve Our Profession
I was happy to read Melanie Potock’s recent blog, “Three Structures in a Child’s Mouth That Can Cause Picky Eating.” The post sparked a considerable amount of discussion on social media. I also appreciated ASHA’s response about professional experiences, and the value they bring to our profession. I have several thoughts on this blog regarding evidence-based practice and tethered oral tissues (TOTs). ASHA reminds us on the website that evidence-based practice (EBP) involves clinical expertise/expert opinion coupled with scientific evidence and client perspective. To me, EBP means more than level-one research or la...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - October 17, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Robyn Merkel-Walsh Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Feeding Disorders Professional Development Speech Disorders Swallowing Disorders Source Type: blogs

How a Football-Loving SLP Views Potential Effects of Repeated Head Injuries
When I was in high school applying for colleges, I had two criteria for my potential university: strong academics and football. I knew I wanted the camaraderie of a football game day. My older sister, Beth, attended Marshall University during the Randy Moss/Chad Pennington years, and I was fortunate to attend many Thundering Herd home games during her time there. I chose the University of Tennessee for my undergraduate degree. Saturday game day in the Southeastern Conference with the Vol Navy was even more than I had expected. The power-T and tailgating were even enough to get my parents to make the drive from Williamson,...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - October 12, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Katie Suggs Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Cognitive Rehabilitation Language Disorders Traumatic Brain Injury Source Type: blogs

Reflecting on the Links Between Literacy and Dementia
Each year as International Alzheimer’s Day on September 21 (today) follows closely after International Literacy Day on September 8, I think about dementia and literacy. Specifically, I consider how people with cognitive impairments may—in addition to more widely publicized social deficits—also lose their ability to read. I also think of adults who are illiterate and how that might relate to the onset of dementia. As a speech-language pathologist who consults in neuropsychology at Alzheimer’s Day Care Center in Rabat, Morocco, I wanted to take advantage of the calendar connection linking these international aware...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - September 21, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Mohamed Taiebine Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Alzheimer's dementia Language Disorders literacy Source Type: blogs

How To Clear Four Common Roadblocks to Coverage of Stuttering Treatment
Dealing with fluency issues can be confusing and frustrating for the client and family. Navigating health insurance reimbursement for stuttering treatment can also present challenges for them. In our extensive work with clients who stutter, we’ve learned several tips for getting treatment covered—either initially or through an appeal if the insurance company denies coverage. Ease your clients’ and your own anxiety by learning how to navigate through (or around) these four common insurance roadblocks. Does the policy cover stuttering treatment? Become familiar with an insurance company’s specified benefits to determ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - September 19, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Brooke Leiman Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Fluency Disorders Speech Disorders stuttering Source Type: blogs

Using Popular Books Like Harry Potter to Teach Context-Based Language Skills
In a “Language Development and Disorders” course I recently took at Gallaudet University with Professor Karen Garrido-Nag, we learned how to integrate the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into sessions through context-based intervention (CBI). Our tools for captivating and motivating older children are popular books like the Harry Potter series or the book “Holes.” Garrido-Nag taught us to address a child’s language needs in the classroom by blending a standards-based approach with a context-based approach. We developed goals and activities by considering how the student will need to access the...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - September 7, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Kali Cika Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Common Core State Standards Language Disorders literacy Schools Source Type: blogs

Tips on AAC Systems for Clients with Acquired Brain Injury
Implementing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) practices for people with acquired brain injury (ABI) requires a speech-language pathologist to delicately balance restoration goals with compensation strategies. The range of non-traditional communication tools gives us excellent options for setting up a system that allows clients to communicate in a variety of contexts. Matching a system to your client’s level of functioning, skills, preferences and needs can certainly present challenges. I find the following aids and devices useful for supporting clients with ABI across a range of skills by promoting their ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - August 31, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Mandie Oslund Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Augmentative Alternative Communication Health Care Language Disorders Speech Disorders Technology Traumatic Brain Injury Source Type: blogs

Help Parents Replace Screen Time With Talking
We’ve all seen it: a lovely family sitting in a restaurant, with music playing (we’ll say Van Morrison) and food waltzing by. Everyone at the table is oblivious, however, because everyone only sees their device—kids on tablets, parents on smart phones, teens on something cool I haven’t heard of yet. Ah, the ubiquitous smart phone and family of other digital handheld gadgets. Many of us would be hard-pressed to live without them anymore. Most of us are on them constantly to email, use apps, send texts and search the Internet. While we as adults choose to use our devices however we like, should we give our children t...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - August 24, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Katie Suggs Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Language Disorders Technology Source Type: blogs

Now That President Trump Signed It Into Law, 5 Steps to OTC Hearing Aid Implementation
President Trump just signed into law legislation requiring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to develop regulations related to over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. This new category would apply to adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. The FDA will have three years to develop the regulations, as directed by the legislation (H.R. 2430), passed by the House of Representatives in July and the Senate in August. So what’s next for OTC hearing aids under this legislation? Here’s a step-by-step look. 1. Once a bill is signed into law, it typically falls under the responsibility of one federal agency to dete...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - August 18, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Michelle Mannebach Tags: Advocacy Audiology Speech-Language Pathology Hearing Assistive Technology hearing loss Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs

My 4 Favorite Tips to Involve Parents in Treatment
The other day I was talking to a colleague and he was emphasizing the need for a certain patient to receive treatment at least four or five times per week at 60 minutes per session. I could see his point, in a way. The patient is 3 years old and doesn’t have a functional communication system. The patient used around three words and the parents wanted their child to start preschool in the fall. Now, of course this child needs services, but had already been in treatment for more than a year. Let’s do the math. The patient had sessions twice a week for 18 months. How many sessions is that? I’ll save you the trouble. It ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - August 17, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Jonathan Suarez Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Early Intervention Language Disorders private practice Schools Source Type: blogs

Back to School: Self-Advocacy Tips for Students Who Stutter
Back to school season fills children with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. They probably feel excitement to reunite with friends, participate in clubs, sports or other extracurricular activities, and continue learning (even if they refuse to admit it!) On the flip side, they might experience nervousness about making new friends, getting accepted socially by peers, and finding out if new teachers will be nice or mean. As children get older, they might also worry about achieving good grades. Inevitably, the first day of school arrives. Take a minute and try to put yourself in the shoes of a 4th grader on the morning of ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - August 8, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Alex Whelan Tags: Advocacy Speech-Language Pathology Fluency Disorders Schools Speech Disorders stuttering Source Type: blogs

7 Fun and Easy Ways to Get Moving In Sessions
I’ve been reading a lot of research articles lately that keep saying over and over: Kids learn best when they’re moving. It makes sense to me. We all know the benefits of exercising, and I notice a huge difference in engagement and motivation when I incorporate movement into my speech-language sessions. The good news is that adding physical activity into your sessions doesn’t necessarily mean extra prep time for you. In fact, it could mean less—and you might get a break from some of those board games you play 20 times a day. (If there’s ever a Connect Four Vegas-style tournament in the future, I feel very confide...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - July 27, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Karen Krogg Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Augmentative Alternative Communication Early Intervention Language Disorders Prosodic Disorders Schools Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs

Send the Leader a ‘Case Puzzler’ for Its Award-Winning Column
It didn’t take much for speech-language pathologist Ken Anderson to sell The ASHA Leader editorial staff on his idea for a “Case Puzzler” column in the Leader. The case involved a student on his caseload who’d received a mistaken diagnosis of autism when the real issue was anxiety. We on the Leader staff had heard about cases of autism/anxiety confusion before, some of us even experiencing it with our own children. We asked Ken, an SLP at Walt Whitman High School in Long Island, how quickly he could get the column to us. And its content didn’t resonate with just us: It hit a chord with Leader readers—garnering ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - July 3, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Bridget Murray Law Tags: Audiology Speech-Language Pathology challenging cases diagnosis Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs

Horsing Around
Beth Macauley gets to play with horses at work. The associate professor of communication sciences and disorders at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, uses hippotherapy in treatment with her clients. A recent article in the Grand Rapids Gazette shares insights from Macauley on how hippotherapy can help with speech-language treatment. “We are actively moving the horse to facilitate different neurological reactions in a person, including body control, posture and attention, which leads to speech and swallowing because it is all the same nervous system,” Macauley states in the article. Macauley ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - June 21, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Shelley D. Hutchins Tags: News Speech-Language Pathology Cognitive Rehabilitation Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs

Put the Fun Into Executive-Function Skills Practice This Summer
Executive functioning—as related to schools—includes all self-management skills students need to succeed in a classroom. More specifically, it involves the ability to make goals, plan steps required to achieve those goals, and then execute the plans. For example, attention, focus, planning, organization, working memory, recall, self-regulating emotions, and self-monitoring all fall under the umbrella of executive functions. For many types of learners, these skills are not intuitive or innate. They need to be learned—sometimes explicitly—and frequently practiced. Here are some ways to practice these crucial skills, ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - June 20, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Emily Jupiter Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Executive Functions Language Disorders Schools social skils Source Type: blogs

Tips to Better Communicate With Patients
The way you communicate with your patients is often as important as the information you give them. Research shows a strong correlation between a health care provider’s communication skills and patient health outcomes and satisfaction with care. Knowing this, I created a fun mnemonic device for successful approaches I use to COMMUNICATE with patients and their families. See how some of these insights work for you! Communicate with the patient directly Acknowledge your patients’ communicative competence by looking them in the eyes and speaking directly to them. Avoid speaking about them to care partners if they’re in t...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - June 15, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Mandie Oslund Tags: Audiology Speech-Language Pathology Health Care patient-centered care Professional Development Source Type: blogs