Since last month when I reviewed the app Dysphagia, a new series of dysphagia education apps has been released by Blue Tree Publishing. There are four apps in the series, priced at $4.99 each for iPad only, to cover normal swallowing, oral disorders, residue disorders, and aspiration disorders. Swallow ID is the only app I've used ...

While some patients in skilled nursing facilities are there for short-term stays in order to receive various therapy and nursing services, others will remain with us for months, years, or possibly for the rest of their lives. We expect to see some patients again due to the progressive nature of some disorders. Others might return unexpectedly to ...

This week I am exploring feeding issues found with children diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The information surrounding this topic is very vast and extensive. My goal for this post is to provide useful information and resources for both therapists and parents. Let's begin with WHO is capable of addressing feeding issues with young children. ...

Northern Speech Services' Dysphagia is an essential app for every SLP working with adults with swallowing dysfunction. It provides images of the anatomy seen in a video fluoroscopic swallow study (VFSS or MBS), with videos of a normal swallow in two views and several types of impairments in an adult. The images are the ones used in the MBSImPTM ...

Caregivers often become quite upset over a loved one's behaviors during meals. A family might think that a relative would love to visit a favorite restaurant, only to witness a catastrophic reaction as the person with dementia is faced with a change in routine, a place that may be unfamiliar,  and ...

 Here is another installment in dining strategies for people with dementia. I think the educated and motivated clinician can provide caregivers with many options to use in order to promote the patient's ability to dine as independently as possible, while maintaining and healthy nutritional status.   The patient eats too quickly or is ...

 Many patients with dementia are described by family and caregivers as having decreased appetites or as having lost interest in meals. Many of these same patients will continue to eat sweets, snacks, or consume beverages, but will not sit for long enough to eat a meal, or will not eat with utensils. I observe all of my patients while eating, ...

Georgia Health Sciences University has created a wonderful free app for iPad called Upper Respiratory Virutal Lab (URVL). For medical SLPs and students, it is a very useful tool for those learning the anatomy involved in a FEES exam (flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing) without having to poke around too much inside the nose of a student, ...

In the SNF, therapists often get accustomed to choosing pureed, mechanical soft, or regular diet textures. At times, I request a mechanical soft meal with pureed meats, and some facilities ask us to specify mechanical soft with chopped meats or mechanical soft with ground meats. In some facilities, mechanical soft texture is by default softer ...

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 ...