As I began my search for helpful information regarding cerebral palsy and how it affects feeding and oral motor function, much of what I found included various cases that have been conducted on this very topic. Oral motor therapy has become quite controversial in our field of speech therapy over the past 10-15 years; therefore some of the ...

This week I am continuing my look at the condition of Cerebral Palsy (CP). Last week's post discussed some of the basic facts surrounding the condition and the overall affect CP can have on an individual. This week I am narrowing the focus and will look at how speech therapy can benefit a child who has been diagnosed with CP. According to the ...

John Glenn calls it ''one of the most emotional moments of my life.'' When Glenn recalled this moment to attendees of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's annual meeting on Nov. 16 in Atlanta, he wasn't reflecting on his long career of public service — as a former U.S. senator, serving the residents of Ohio for 25 years; as a ...

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Tactus Therapy and ADVANCE booths at the ASHA Convention to say ''hello'' and give positive feedback on the blog! It was so nice to meet everyone! I had a chance to sit down with SpeakinMotion's Sean Keegan to talk about the VAST apps while in Atlanta. For those who don't know, SpeakinMotion has 7 apps that ...

Yesterday I evaluated a patient; we'll call him Mr. E. The patient presented with mild cognitive deficits per results of the Brief Cognitive Rating Scale and Global Deterioration Scale, as well as the SLUMS.  Mr. E. also exhibited mild oral stage swallow deficits and word-finding errors. After a chart review, the evaluation, scoring ...

Sometimes there's a beautifully simple and inexpensive solution to a troublesome problem. The problem is drooling, and the solution has been installed on my iPad for months, but I've only recently come to appreciate the power of a little app called Swallow Now. Every time you hear the click, you swallow - so simple, yet so ...

Short-term goals are our steps toward long-term goals and should be seen as milestones that we can use to help the patient to reach along the way to attaining a functional outcome. Therapists identify skills to target as short-term goals that can be learned in a specific time frame of three weeks or so, and these  should be updated as ...

Autism Awareness Month began on Sunday, April 1. My son Doug's birthday is April 1. The fifth annual World Autism Awareness Day was April 2. World Autism Awareness Day ''aims to increase people's awareness about people, especially children, with autism. The day often features educational events for teachers, health care workers and parents, as ...

When do you elicit a language sample? Certainly when you first see a child you would want to take a language sample. However, if the child is not comfortable on the initial assessment, there is nothing written in stone that says that it has to be completed the first time around. That in itself should tell you something. I feel that ...

Dear Kathie: ''Chad is 5 years old and ‘very' autistic and non-verbal. He covers his ears with his hands when there is a loud noise, such as a fire alarm, or even when he anticipates a loud noise, like a balloon that he thinks may pop. How can I help him, his classroom teacher, and his parents? - Payton, speech-language pathologist My ...