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Credit(s): PDHs: 3.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.3
Summary: This SIG 9 Perspectives course includes three articles from a forum on pediatric hearing health care disparities. The articles discuss barriers to follow-up in Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs; systematic evaluation of family barriers to care; and the principles and implementation of trauma-informed care in pediatric hearing health care.
Credit(s): PDHs: 2.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.25
Summary: This trio of SIG 13 articles provides information regarding managing and treating dysphagia with adult patients. First, Abrams and co-authors underscore the importance of hydration and discovered that individuals consuming thickened liquids are often at risk for dehydration. Factors to increase fluid intake through different strategies are discussed. Next, Arguello and Kerr discuss the mechanism of a facial burn injury and how it may cause functional impairments that can be directly impacted through early intervention utilizing speech-language pathology services. Finally, Warner and colleagues completed a pilot study investigating the prevalence of pretreatment dysphagia in oncologic patients and individual factors influencing post treatment dysphagia.
Credit(s): PDHs: 1.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.1
Summary: Ototoxic medications and chemical agents in the workplace can put individuals' hearing and vestibular health at risk for permanent injury. Proactive ototoxicity management (OtoM) strategies aim to minimize exposure, avoid onset of symptoms, provide ongoing monitoring, and manage auditory and vestibular changes as the clinical needs of the patient evolve. During a 2021 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Special Interest Groups Open House, members of the International Ototoxicity Management Group discussed how best to integrate OtoM into routine clinical practice, what tools to use, and what special considerations need to be understood to best support patients and their families. Here, we have summarized their viewpoints to encourage widespread adoption of improved OtoM services for at-risk individuals. The field of audiology needs to move to a place where we better understand the full extent of ototoxicity and can agree on expanding minimum guidelines that can be implemented more universally to mitigate, detect, and manage the damage from ototoxic exposures. Only recently has our field seen a therapeutic drug that can protect against ototoxicity; however, the population served is restricted only to children receiving treatment for nonmetastatic carcinoma. This is hopefully just the beginning of future therapeutic interventions to come, but, in the meantime, ototoxicity resulting from other medications in different patient populations and chemical agents persists.
Credit(s): PDHs: 2.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.25
Summary: These SIG 13 articles underscore the importance of being up to date of dysphagia intervention as the diagnosis has many complexities in assessment and treatment. Larsen et al. surmise that current characteristics and physiological rationale may overestimate the skills required for gelatin-based desserts and inappropriately classify them as nontransitional foods. Therefore, as with all products, individual gelatin-based desserts should be tested at the time of presentation to the patient. Mancopes et al. discuss the importance of strategies for facilitating safe and functional bottle feeding in children with dysphagia include selecting nipples that reduce flow rate, pacing, altered positioning, and thickening liquid consistencies. Their study aims to determine the impact of slightly thick liquids on swallowing through retrospective review of a convenience sample of clinical videofluoroscopies (VFSS) from 60 bottle-fed children (21 male, mean age 9.9 months) referred due to suspected aspiration. Garand et al. perform a retrospective analysis of persons with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using modified barium swallow studies and recommend use of functional scales to help evaluate and treat this special population.
Credit(s): PDHs: 2.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.25
Summary: These SIG 9 articles point to the importance of continued research in listening, literacy, and paternal linguistic input for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH).
Credit(s): PDHs: 1.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.1
Summary: As a step toward developing an electrophysiologic method for validating the speech feature discrimination benefits of amplification, the article in this SIG 6 activity evaluates the effect of stimulus level and amplification on the acoustic change complex in adults with sensorineural hearing loss.
Credit(s): PDHs: 1.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.15
Summary: In the rising digital era, and especially since the pandemic, implementation of telehealth and provision of auditory rehabilitation (AR) using digital platforms have notably increased. This has changed the outlook of service provision by audiologists and speech-language pathologists alike. Digital platforms have the potential to positively impact AR practices by improving accessibility of rehabilitation services as well as by facilitating a more effective way to share resources with both professionals and end users. This SIG 7 activity includes two articles about the accessibility and effectiveness of digital platforms to provide AR services for both adults and children with hearing difficulties. The first article discusses the differences in the distribution strategy, users’ experience, and satisfaction for two digital platforms (a static website and an active blog) offering AR materials for professionals. Their study concludes that social media–focused active distribution is effective because it results in more total traffic, a greater number of users, more frequent access, and an overall high level of satisfaction with the quality of information and resources. The second article discusses the details of a Zoom-based telepractice initial evaluation protocol used by speech-language pathologists serving children who are hard of hearing and their families. This clinical protocol was designed to synchronously share resources and questionnaires with family members of children who are hard of hearing. Authors suggest that providing AR services through telepractice facilitates high-quality diagnostics and counseling to the same extent as that of in-person diagnostic sessions.
Presenter(s): Ed M Bice, MEd, CCC-SLP; Raquel J Garcia, SLPD, CCC-SLP, CNT, BCS-S; Shawn M Lowe, SLPD, CCC-SLP
Credit(s): PDHs: 1.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.1
Summary: Professionals and patients face a variety of challenges that are unique to age and health care setting and that can influence outcomes in dysphagia management. In this on-demand course, a panel of experts explores both professional- and patient-related advocacy considerations that impact evidence-based practice and dysphagia management across a variety of adult and pediatric medical settings.
Credit(s): PDHs: 4.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.4
Summary: These SIG 13 articles provide helpful information in dysphagia practice. Tasia Gibbons, Sophia Werden Abrams, Nazia Mohsin, Rebekah Guastella, Stefania Oppedisano, and Ashwini Namasivayam-MacDonald endeavor to validate a new device to measure lingual strengthening and swallow function. Kelsey Thompson, Cara McComish, and Suzanne Thoyre’s work aims to introduce dynamic systems theory to pediatric feeding clinicians. Margaret Wright and Justin Sleffel demonstrate the importance of a multidisciplinary team approach and the vital role of speech-language pathologists in the evaluation and treatment of dysphagia of unknown etiology. Hollie-Ann Lee Shortland, Gwendalyn Webb, Anne E. Vertigan, and Sally Hewat aim to explore the use of myofunctional devices and how speech-language pathologists gain better understanding of this modality.
Credit(s): PDHs: 3.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.35
Summary: These three articles center on aspects of audiology and speech-language pathology providers in pediatric hearing loss. First, “eHealth Coaching: Counseling Characteristics of Coaches Used With Parents” centers on identifying clinician communication behaviors and missed opportunities during an eHealth intervention. Themes were identified within each category. Trends included greater use of close-ended questions over open-ended questions, frequent responses to parent emotions, and engagement in a shared process through providing information and exploring progress on parent goals. Missed opportunities occurred within each category. Coaches' communication behaviors demonstrated support for parent learning that was positively received. Joint planning to address parent challenges was a missed opportunity to support parent behavior changes regarding hearing-aid routines. The aim of “Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Auditory–Verbal Certification: Self-Perceived Benefits and Barriers to Inform Change” was to explore the professional's viewpoint on the path to the Listening and Spoken Language Specialist (LSLS) certification. There were 295 participants from different parts of the world: certified LSLSs, mentees pursuing certification, and professionals interested in certification. The study addressed motivation, self-perceived gains, challenges, and barriers in an international cohort. The purpose of the study was to guide future changes within the certification system. Several indicators pointed to the need for more awareness of significant gains LSLS certification can bring to professionals. There is also a need to address, minimize, and overcome perceived barriers in the process. Similarly, research is warranted to explore obtaining LSLS certification outside English-speaking countries and with a larger, more population-based sample. In the closing article, “Comfort Levels of Providers Serving Children Who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing: Discrepancies and Opportunities,” Blaiser and Mahshie discuss that while best practice outlines specific skills and expertise from highly qualified providers, in reality, many lack confidence related to hearing technology and resources related to serving children who are deaf/hard of hearing (DHH). The study surveyed 459 professionals in ASHA serving children who are DHH. The intent was to compare differences in confidence, training, and using resources between providers who have a self-selected interest in working with children who are DHH (membership in SIG 9) and those who serve children who are DHH and are not part of the hearing-related SIG. The results indicate that there is limited provider confidence in working with this population. These conclusions provide graduate training programs opportunities to explore provision of more intensive, comprehensive experience to better serve children who are DHH.
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