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.

Lily Pads
Okay, so let ’s get this out of the way first. I was wrong. I was very, very wrong.A few years ago, I wrote a blog piece about something I saw online, a photo of a group of speech language professionals seated around a table, communicating with each other using AAC devices. To my reactionary eye, the photo was troubling. It felt like just one more exercise for able-bodied people to “get” what it must be like to have a speech disorder like Schuyler’s. It looked bad to me in part because I was seeing it linked on the Facebook page of an AAC company, which felt unseemly to me. Worse to my eyes was the fact that they s...
Source: Schuyler's Monster: The Blog - October 17, 2018 Category: Disability Authors: Robert Rummel-Hudson Source Type: blogs

What Was the Name of ASHA ’ s First Journal?
Next month we turn our clocks back as daylight-saving time ends for most of the country. Here at ASHA—at least for those of us maintaining the archives—we already turned back to the year 1936. In honor of October being American Archives Month, the ASHA Archives staff created a new online exhibit sharing the history of our scientific journals. In launching the journals’ long and distinguished history, ASHA printed the first issue of its first journal, Journal of Speech Disorders, in March of 1936. The first issue contained four articles spread across 34 pages. ASHA saw a steady growth in its journals program over ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - October 15, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Mona Heath Tags: Audiology News Slider Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: blogs

Character with Dyspraxia Featured on ‘ Doctor Who ’
When viewers tuned in to the international premiere of “Doctor Who” last week, the hit science fiction show introduced several new characters, including one with dyspraxia. In the episode, the audience meets 19-year-old Ryan Sinclair, who admits he’s frustrated about not knowing how to ride a bike at his age. Ryan is revealed to have the developmental coordination disorder dyspraxia, which prevented him from mastering this skill as child. Even though his grandmother and step-grandfather try to help him, Ryan continues to struggle and fall off his bike. In reality, the actor playing Ryan (Tosin Cole) does ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - October 12, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Jillian Kornak Tags: News Slider Speech-Language Pathology Apraxia of Speech Childhood Apraxia of Speech communication sciences and disorders dyspraxia motor speech disorders Source Type: blogs

4 Reasons to Use Curriculum-Based Intervention
Not using curriculum-based intervention? You may be working too hard. As a young speech-language pathologist, I was confronted with a large and staggeringly diverse caseload. It nearly brought an immediate end to my early career. I worked across two campuses with 65 Spanish-speaking students and conducted evaluations on another five campuses. Nearly half of my students were 3-year-olds in a half-day program, and many of them had multiple disabilities. I wasn’t alone. Educators in my district also taught students from a range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Working with students from diverse backgrounds poses so...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - October 9, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Scott Prath Tags: Private Practice Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Early Intervention Language Disorders Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs

Interactive Musical Created for Children With Autism
Adjusting live performances to fit the needs of audience members with autism or other sensory issues is nothing new. Creating an interactive show especially suited to a neurodiverse audience is less common. Staff and students from Michigan State University’s (MSU) theater department created “Farm! A Musical Experience,” to fit exactly that niche. According to articles published by ABC News, MSU theater faculty member and outreach coordinator Dionne O’Dell worked with a class of students last year to create “Farm.” First, O’Dell visited and worked with theater companies specializing in shows for audiences wit...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - October 5, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Shelley D. Hutchins Tags: Academia & Research Health Care Private Practice Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Autism Spectrum Disorder Language Disorders Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs

Tips for Making a Successful Cleft Palate Team Referral
A school-based speech-language pathologist is assessing Eleanor, age 6, when she notes an unusual articulation pattern and nasal quality to Eleanor’s speech. Although Eleanor does not have a cleft palate, the SLP has concerns about palatal function and wants to refer her to a team of professionals specializing in disorders of resonance and velopharyngeal function for further assessment. She asks, “Where do I begin?” Most people with a cleft palate begin working with an interdisciplinary team at birth. However, SLPs occasionally need to seek the guidance of such a team when they suspect velopharyngeal dysfuncti...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - October 1, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Shelley D. Hutchins Tags: Health Care Private Practice Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology cleft palate Speech Disorders velopharyngeal dysfunction Source Type: blogs

11 Tips to Improve a Child ’s Communication Using Signs
We see it every day with our young clients: When they’re hungry, thirsty, hurt, tired, or want a specific toy or activity, they whine, scream, point or grunt as their means of communication. This nonverbal communication creates a guessing game for the parent, caregiver or speech-language pathologist. Sometimes they guess correctly, but when they don’t, everyone involved can get frustrated, especially the child. If you work with clients who fit this description, I find signing provides good results with most young children and their families. Signing offers a useful and calming communication tool for many situations. I�...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - September 26, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Jill Eversmann Tags: Private Practice Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Augmentative Alternative Communication Early Intervention hearing loss Language Disorders Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs

Transitioning Into Adulthood for Students Using AAC
As a speech-language pathologist focusing on augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for nearly 20 years, I worked with all ages and a variety of complex communication needs. This broad experience helped give me perspective on how communication changes over the life span, specifically in the transition from school to adulthood. I think it’s important to understand and anticipate future communication needs of our clients. How does communication change after transitioning from school age to adulthood? Goals. For school-based SLPs, many treatment targets focus on specific curriculum and other academic goals. Althou...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - September 24, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Rebecca Eisenberg Tags: Advocacy Health Care Private Practice Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Augmentative Alternative Communication Autism Spectrum Disorder Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs

How SLPs Can Foster Bilingual Skills in Students on the Autism Spectrum
In a recent online chat, SLP and bilingual researcher Betty Yu shares strategies for encouraging students and families to communicate in their heritage language. Participant: Is there ever an age or circumstance where you feel it is too late to start exposing a child to their heritage language? Betty Yu: It’s never too late to start learning one’s heritage language. Just as it’s never too late to learn any additional language. A common occurrence in the U.S. is people start seriously learning (or re-learning) their heritage languages as adults, often in college, once they’re mature enough to underst...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - September 10, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Betty Yu Tags: Academia & Research Health Care Private Practice Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Apraxia of Speech Autism Spectrum Disorder bilingual Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs

3 Questions to Ask Clients About Their Vocal Care
Our voice represents our rich inner world of thoughts, feelings, wants and needs. It is an instrument—and every instrument needs careful maintenance for optimal function When providing voice treatment to my clients, I can’t stress enough the importance of a vocal hygiene protocol. Some recommendations are standard, such as adequate water intake and using a humidifier at home. But to give my clients the best opportunities for improvement, I like to go beyond the basics. To accomplish this, I take a holistic dive into the diet, lifestyle and environment the client encounters daily. This insight can shed light on factors ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - September 4, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tina Babajanians Tags: Health Care Private Practice Slider Speech-Language Pathology Speech Disorders Voice Disorders Source Type: blogs

Word APP! Use Apps to Build Vocabulary Interactively
Students with language disorders may struggle to learn, retain, describe and connect vocabulary words, causing them problems with functional and academic communication. Apps to the rescue! Clinicians can tap a number of app- and web-based tools to help students connect vocabulary to material in and beyond the classroom. Picture power Photos, semantic maps and other visual supports can be key to bolstering word learning. Quickly create photo arrays to define words using the app Pic Collage (free for iOS/Android). You can do this via the app’s precise, relevant web search (using a restricted, kid-friendly version of Micros...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - August 20, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Sean Sweeney Tags: Health Care Private Practice Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Early Intervention Language Disorders Source Type: blogs

Rewire, Don ’ t Retire: Volunteer Professionally
Instead of retiring from our careers as speech-language pathologists, my friend Claire Gilgannon and I decided to look for volunteer positions incorporating our skills as SLPs. That’s how we met. And here’s how we went about volunteering. For both of us, our love of New York City combined with our interest in art led us to volunteer at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. We took a chance and YES! We still could learn a new skill even after 30-odd years of being SLPs! Volunteer training at The Met is intense, but over about 18 months we successfully transitioned, almost without even being aware, into our new roles as to...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - July 30, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Heidi Katz Tags: Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology Autism Spectrum Disorder Language Disorders Professional Development Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs

One in eight children in India aged 2 –9 may have neurodevelopmental disorders
Conclusions: The study identifies NDDs in children aged 2–9 years as a significant public health burden for India. HI was higher than and ASD prevalence comparable to the published global literature. Most risk factors of NDDs were modifiable and amenable to public health interventions. The Study in Context: Study combines neuroimaging with machine learning to predict, with 96% accuracy, whether high-risk 6-month-old babies will develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by age 2 Neuroimaging study finds extensive brain rewiring–in just six months–among illiterate adults learning to read and write Is modernity lead...
Source: SharpBrains - July 27, 2018 Category: Neuroscience Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning autism hearing impairment India intellectual disability learning disabilities neurodevelopmental disorder PLOS Medicine Source Type: blogs

New Post Doc Opportunities at BCBL - San Sebasti án, Basque Country, Spain
The Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language – BCBL- (San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain) is offering a postdoctoral position focused on SIGNAL PROCESSING ENGINEER, as part of an ERC funded research project OsciLang (PI: Manuel Carreiras).The goal of OsciLang is to provide an affordable, lightweight, wearable brain-computer-interface neurofeedback system that can facilitate the detection and treatment of language disorders such as dyslexia and specific language impairment (SLI). This tool will (a) diagnose/measure and (b) improve/rehabilitate an individual ’s ability to synchronize their br...
Source: Talking Brains - July 27, 2018 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Greg Hickok Source Type: blogs

Practical and Applicable Solutions: How SLPs Benefited from ASHA Health Care Connect
SLPs came to ASHA’s Health Care Connect conference ready to learn about dysphagia, head and neck cancer, Parkinson’s disease, concussion, delirium—and much more. Across three days of sessions, SLPs heard how their unique skills and training prepared them to work as an integral part of multidisciplinary teams. Editor’s note: This is part two of a series on tips SLPs learned at ASHA Connect 2018. Read part one for insights heard from attendees of the schools’ sessions. Ruth Snyder, an SLP and solo practitioner in Jacksonville, Florida, began her Friday morning at Vivian Sisskin’s session, “Differential ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - July 24, 2018 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Jillian Kornak Tags: Academia & Research Events Health Care Private Practice Schools Slider Speech-Language Pathology dementia Dysphagia Parkinson's Speech Disorders Source Type: blogs