Constraint Induced Aphasia Therapy

aboutaphasiaThe Aphasia NYC Blogger is a great source for all things Aphasia and is authored by Dr. Dorothy Ross, the founder of Aphasia NYC.  One of the site’s latest posts highlights a video of Constraint Induced Aphasia Therapy for stroke patients. The study is a joint collaboration between the Drake Center Rehab Hospital and the University of Cincinatti. The study tests the effectiveness of having stroke patients play the card game, “Go Fish” which forces them to speak and socialize as a part of the game with fellow patients.

Check out the video below:

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Carly Simon and Tavis Smiley Discuss how they Overcame their Stutters

carly3In a 2008 interview with Tavis Smiley, Carly Simon discusses what it was like growing up with a severe stutter and how she learned to overcome it using rhthym and song. Simon describes her mother teaching her how to “speak with rhythm” as a means of helping her communicate.

As Simon jokes, “I learned to talk with a very bizarre sense of rhythm that my teachers could never quite figure out.” Smiley also talks about his own experience growing up with a stutter, and in his case, listeningto the recordings of Dr. Martin Luther King done by Barry Gordy. According to Smiley, the recordings taught him “to emulate Dr. King’s cadence, which was slow and deliberate and methodical” as a means of getting over his stutter.

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Recession Affects The University of Florida’s Communication Science Departments

n20127915558_4270A recent article in Advance for Speech-Language Pathologists & Audiologists details how the state budget shortfall in the state of Florida has caused the school to consolidate two communication science departments to form the largest academic program of its kind in Florida. The department of the communication sciences and disorders in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is merging with the department of communicative disorders in the College of Public Health and Health Professions as part of a series of university cost-cutting measures.

This newly expanded department, located in the College of Public Health and Health Professions at the UF Health Science Center, has 45 faculty members and offers a bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and disorders, and a master’s degree in speech language pathology and on-campus distance-learning Doctor of Audiology programs. U.S. News and World Report ranks the audiology program sixth in the nation and the speech pathology program is ranked 12th.

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Important Facts on Children and Speech or Language Impairments

topic-language-impairmentIf you’re looking for some basic information on adolescent speech or language impairment then check out this informative article at Disabled World. The article outlines the definition of a speech or language impairment, the difference between speech and language, the education of speech-language pathologists and a few basic facts on speech/language impairments.

The article is quick to point out that there is no proven origin for Speech Language Impairment (SLI) but that 50-70% of children with SLI have at least one family member who also has SLI. The condition first appears in young children and may persist into adulthood without early identification and intervention.  Parents of children with SLI can equip their child for success by the time their child is age three or four, leading to positive experiences for their child in kindergarten.

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Stuttering Stories

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We were touched by the stories we read on LaTrobe University’s iStutter website. One story in particular caught our attention. Laurence, a thirteen-year old stutterer, wrote about how he was often embarrassed and frustrated when giving in-class presentations or even talking to his friends. His parents sent him to intensive speech therapy, where he gained greater fluency by talking to strangers and learning techniques to form more natural speech sounds.

Laurence writes of his speech therapy experience, “This is the story of how I survived with my stuttering. Everyday is still a challenge. Everyday I still have to try hard at my speaking techniques. I can still stutter. It will never go away. I am still vulnerable to scary speaking situations. But I know how to control it. It will never again control me.”

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Korean Government Embraces Telemedicine

a doctor at Kyungwon medical center is examining a patient

The Korea IT Times reported on August 11, 2009 that the Korean government has announced amendments that would allow more people to utilize telemedicine for medical treatments. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs is targeting its telemedicine program at the 4.7 million people who live in places where medical services are not usually offered.

From past studies, the Korean government estimates that about 7.5% of the targeted people will actually participate in the telemedicine program. It hopes that the introduction of the telemedicine amendment will save Koreans more than 61,000 won each year.

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Blogger Discusses the Psychological Side of Stuttering

business-anxietyIn a recent blog post, a blogger called “Stuttering Jack” offers his opinion on how stuttering increases people’s anxieties and destructs their confidence. He suggests several methods for treating the negative psychological effects of stuttering,such as cognitive behavior therapy and neuro linguistic programming.

Overall, the blog offers valuable resources on stuttering, including information on stuttering research and treatment and access to stuttering support groups.

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Study of the Brains of Epileptics Provides New Insight into how the Brain Processes Language

key_art_wired_scienceA recent post in Wired Science discusses the surprising findings of a study conducted by researchers in San Diego and Boston that used brain-reading technology to precisely measure the electrical activity in the brains of epileptics who are not responding to treatment. Data from the study has provided a unique view into how the brain processes language, showing that Broca’s Center–the area of the brain responsible for language–handles multiple tasks at once, rather than just one (as was previously believed).

Typically, scientists studying language have used fMRI studies, which can highlight regions of the brain where activity is occurring, but not detail what’s happening in them. However, this research used intra-cranial electrophysiology, in which electrodes are implanted in the brain itself. Though, as Wired points out, this type of brain-reading technology is “far too invasive and risky to ever be used for academic research,” the authors of the study are hoping to study other language processes in the hopes that the findings will be applied to treating language disorders.

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Stay on Top of the Latest Research in Speech, Language, and Hearing Disorders

The Callier Library is a great resource that is constantly updated with the latest research on anything rechild-lablated to speech, language, and hearing disorders. The abstracts tend to be very technical, but the search feature allows you to easily identify articles on specific topics.

For instance, a search for the word “videoconferencing” turned up with a fascinating article which suggests that telehealth can be used to deliver effective and inexpensive health care to the deaf population.

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Audiology Telepractice Overcomes Obstacles in Accessibility

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A 2008 article in The ASHA Leader chronicles the increased popularity of audiology telepractice over the past few years. Here are some highlights from the article:

  • In Canada, audiologists are using telepractice to give hearing screening tests to newborns who don’t pass their first test. The telepractice program is expected to expand to 15 remote sites; it is especially useful to Aboriginal communities in Canada that are only reachable by air.
  • In Florida, telepractice is helping families shorten the distances they must travel for children’s cochlear implant mapping.
  • In Alaska, store-and-forward telepractice has proven invaluable to patients who would have had to wait months for an otolaryngologist visit. Phil Hofstetter, the director of the audiology at the Norton Sound Health Corporation, says that telepractice has also reduced patients’ travel costs by more than $100,000.
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