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Credit(s): PDHs: 3.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.35
Summary: In this SIG 4 activity, learners will read three peer-reviewed articles centered on cluttering in preadolescent through adult speakers. The first article is a case study of a preadolescent with cluttering. In this paper, the authors highlight brain development during adolescence, adolescent cognitive and emotional development, and the effects of a therapy approach based on objective speech measures. The second article is a research study concerned with disfluency clusters produced by adults with cluttering in natural conversations. The authors describe how disfluency clusters are affected by the nature of the relationship between speakers. The last article presents qualitative data from a focus group of adults with cluttering who have emerged as community leaders. Their reflections include recommendations for listeners and support groups, self management, and their thoughts on labels and acronyms.
Credit(s): PDHs: 3.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.35
Summary: This SIG 5 activity includes three articles from a forum aimed at sharing research conducted in clinical settings around the world. Two research articles analyzed surgical and parent-led therapy approaches for improved speech and resonance outcomes. A third tutorial described characteristics needed in an evaluation to analyze clinically obtained data for research purposes. The first research article is based in Brazil. It demonstrates positive long-term outcomes in children with hypernasality/velopharyngeal dysfunction using the Sommerlad procedure of palatal re-repair to treat residual velopharyngeal insufficiency. The reported scores were in the categories of: “hypernasality, global impression of velopharyngeal function, and/or active speech symptoms.” Overall, this study shows significant improvement in a large percentage of children, with less effect on older individuals ages 17–22 years. The second research article includes parents from a previously published twocenter study in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The aim was to analyze parents’ experiences with parent-led articulation therapy (PLAT) following in-depth training. After a detailed outline is provided regarding inclusion and teaching of the participants, four main themes are identified. These include growth of parents, undertaking PLAT, changes in children, and the future. Ultimately, the majority of parents are in favor of a parent-led therapy approach with the caveat that in-depth training and direct supervision from a speech-language pathologist is needed. The third article, a tutorial, addresses the research–clinical practice gap. A description is provided of a perceptual speech assessment protocol for cleft palate speech, to enable clinical data to be used for research purposes. The article provides detail related to determining the most appropriate standardized assessment tools as well as the best ways to collect and analyze this data. Further details related to implementation within the clinical setting are outlined. The data is easily accessible through networking between cleft teams and Sweden’s national cleft lip and palate registry, making retrospective research attainable in a clinical setting.
Credit(s): PDHs: 2.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.25
Summary: In an ever-changing global landscape, it is pertinent that audiologists and speech-language pathologists “account for the complexity and diversity of healthcare contexts” (as stated in the second article by Pillay and Pillay). Pressing concerns related to advancing technology (artificial intelligence and machine learning), culturally responsive practice, and rapid climate change are all trending societal conversations. This SIG 17 self-study explores creative solutions to pressing global issues that impact the field of audiology and speech-language pathology. Topics presented include key ethical concerns regarding hearing aids with machine learning, a novel culturally responsive framework for contextualized clinical reasoning, and the impact of climate change on communication and swallowing disorders.
Credit(s): PDHs: 3.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.35
Summary: This SIG 5 activity analyzes the relationship between the opioid crisis and cleft lip and palate care across the life span. Two main themes of prevention and treatment after exposure are explained. The articles outline alternatives to opioid use after cleft-related surgeries, impacts on infants and children who were exposed in utero, and velopharyngeal insufficiency treatment after substance abuse.
Credit(s): PDHs: 3.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.35
Summary: These SIG 17 Perspectives articles focus on the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on service provision and student training in four global contexts: Cyprus, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Topics include the rise of telesupervision, telepractice in speech-language pathology (SLP), and distance learning in Cyprus during COVID-19; the effectiveness of SLP and related service treatment of patients with COVID-19 in an inpatient rehabilitation setting in the United States; the impact and transformation of an SLP university program in South Africa due to COVD-19; and the perspectives of parents/caregivers on SLP service provision during the pandemic for children born with cleft palates in the United Kingdom.
Credit(s): PDHs: 1.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.15
Summary: This Perspectives activity highlights two articles with objective measures for both evaluation and treatment of velopharyngeal dysfunction. The first article discusses the palatal closure efficiency (PaCE) index. This is an aerodynamic tool used to estimate the velopharyngeal opening during certain speech contexts. This is done by measuring a percentage of change between nasal and oral cognates of an individual. The second article describes the nasometer in depth, highlighting its use as an evaluation and treatment tool for decreasing hypernasality. It goes into further detail on the differences between hypernasality and measured nasalance, highlighting both strengths and limitations of the nasalance score.