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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: 4.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.4
Summary: The first article in this SIG 18 activity investigates the applications speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and audiologists used most frequently during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also discusses the main obstacles to providing speech, language, and hearing services through telepractice. Through the international distribution of an electronic survey, a total of 1,466 surveys from SLPs and audiologists from 40 countries were used for the analysis. The second article discusses the Auditory Verbal UK's training program for prospective listening and spoken language specialist certified auditory verbal therapists delivered globally via telepractice. The article explores, from a global perspective, audiology and early intervention services and perspectives regarding telepractice. The third article explores parents' and therapists' views of the benefits and challenges of telepractice for early intervention for children who are deaf or hard of hearing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through survey and analysis, the article probes the views of parents, Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Certified Auditory Verbal Therapists in using telepractice to deliver auditory verbal sessions.
Credit(s): PDHs: 4.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.4
Summary: This activity presents a diverse perspective, including four different speech science articles focused on a variety of topics. Kimball and Sayce discuss the pros and cons of research using behavior and functional assessment and treatment in the areas of speech science and voice, specifically their limitation in outlining etiology or explaining treatment resistance. They also provide an overview of genetic research approaches as a possible path forward to develop additional evidence-based treatment approaches. Neel reviews the production and perception of extralinguistic information regarding sex/gender, sexual orientation, age, non-native accent, regional and social dialect, and race and ethnicity. The article explores the literature in the above areas reviewing acoustical features and common misperceptions, concluding with instructional activities to enhance student awareness of indexical characteristics. McAllister et al. studied the effects of biofeedback for residual rhotic errors in a preliminary case series. Participants were five native English speakers who had not yet generalized rhotic production. Treatment consisted of either electropalatographic or visual-acoustic biofeedback using the Challenge Point Program software. Although participant responses to treatment were variable, the median effect size tended to exceed the minimum value considered clinically significant. Gritsyk et al. examined three measures to determine which best predicted change in production accuracy during a vowel learning task. Using 20 female college students, researchers administered three tasks: an oral stereognosis task, a bite block task using auditory making, and a new phonetic awareness task. The bite block task with auditory masking, measuring proprioceptive awareness, was the only task significantly related to performance in speech learning.
Credit(s): PDHs: 4.5, ASHA CEUs*: 0.45
Summary: This SIG 2 activity, participants explore aspects of service delivery and advocacy for people with aphasia that are innovative and/or unique. The first article describes the creation of community aphasia groups and includes guidance for creating aphasia-friendly materials for a variety of purposes. The second article describes the challenges of people with aphasia in navigating the justice system and discusses strategies to support their success within that unique environment. The third article describes the nature of verbal short-term memory impairment in people with aphasia, methods of assessment, and potential directions for treatment.
Credit(s): PDHs: 2.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.2
Summary: This Perspectives course contains three articles that focus on social considerations in the elderly, with emphases on risk factors for dementia and treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Credit(s): PDHs: 3.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.3
Summary: This course is composed of three articles that center around quality of life: at end of life, following a stroke, and among individuals with voice disorders.
Credit(s): PDHs: 7.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.7
Summary: This journal self-study course addresses the effectiveness of various aphasia treatments, a topic that many researchers explored at the 51st Clinical Aphasiology Conference (CAC) in North Carolina. Published in a special issue of the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, these articles examine specific interventions for particular patient populations, including individuals with stroke-induced aphasia, those with acquired apraxia of speech, those with anomia, and those with Alzheimer's dementia.
Credit(s): PDHs: 1.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.1
Summary: In this SIG 3 activity, experts in pediatric voice disorders present a series of interactive cases to help speech-language pathologists develop their knowledge and skills completing voice evaluation and treatment planning for children with bilateral benign vocal fold lesions, unilateral vocal fold paralysis, and sulcus vocalis.
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.
Credit(s): PDHs: 1.0, ASHA CEUs*: 0.1
Summary: How can audiologists enhance patient-centered communication, even during the COVID-19 pandemic? This self-study is from the journal, Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups, SIG 7: Auditory Rehabilitation and Its Instrumentation. It features two articles focused on patient-centered strategies for effective communication, from initial consultations to prioritizing follow-up care, during COVID-19. It also includes the article that won the 2021 ASHA Journals Editor’s Award for Perspectives (for SIGs 6, 7, 8, and 9) by Davidson and Marrone. The first article is, “How to Provide Accessible Hearing Health Information to Promote Patient-Centered Care.” Kelly-Campbell and Manchaiah review the literature within audiology on patient-provider communication. They focus on research studies of communication during initial audiology consultation sessions. Through a summary of themes in the literature, they categorize important research findings that provide insight into communication between patients and their audiologists. Finally, they identify five key strategies for effective patient-centered communication. Each strategy is then reviewed in detail, with clinical examples and specific recommendations that can be immediately implemented in practice. The second article is, “A Clinically Valuable Interaction in the Midst of COVID-19 and Beyond: A Viewpoint on the Importance of Patient-Centered Outcomes in Rehabilitative Audiology.” Davidson and Marrone discuss patient-centered communication following hearing aid device fittings. They identify challenges facing patients and audiologists related to follow-up hearing aid services as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on a literature review and their own recent research, they developed a decision-tree algorithm to help audiologists prioritize clinical activities following hearing aid fittings, including remote formats for care. The algorithm was based on use of a patient-centered outcome measure, the Measure of Audiologic Rehabilitation Self-Efficacy. Patient-centered outcomes measurement is suggested as an engagement strategy for continued communication with patients during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
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