Current issue
SPRING 2010 CONTENTS
SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY IN PRACTICE MAGAZINE
(publication date 28 February 2010)
COVER STORY: ADDUCTOR SPASMODIC DYSPHONIA - A CASE FOR SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY
"Had I based my therapy purely on what Matt told me at initial interviews, I would not have addressed the emotional side of Matt's adductor spasmodic dysphonia. It was only when I began combining direct voice therapy with psychological therapy that a successful outcome was achieved."
Sue Addlestone presents a robust response to Focht and Leslie’s conclusion in our Spring 09 issue that speech and language therapists should offer Botox to clients with adductor spasmodic dysphonia.
GOAL SETTING
“Our priorities were to create aims that would both demonstrate the range of our involvement with people and allow the client to set their goals and work towards them with any member of staff involved. We didn’t want to create aims for each profession.”
Margaret Metcalfe argues that the special features of the East Kent Outcome System (EKOS) make it an invaluable tool.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Avril Nicoll's selection from journals covers challenging behaviour in Fragile X Syndrome, the loneliness experience of young adults with cerebral palsy using AAC and phonological development in children with obstructive sleep-disordered breathing.
HERE’S ONE I MADE EARLIER
Alison Roberts with two low cost therapy suggestions with a dating theme – Snakes and Ladders, and Plenty more fish in the sea.
TRANSDISCIPLINARY ASSESSMENT
“Greg’s mother spontaneously commented on two separate occasions that she felt the Talking Mat was an easier way for her son to express his thoughts and feelings around a difficult area.”
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) therapist Yvonne Macleman uses Talking Mats with a young man with Asperger’s Syndrome to facilitate an accurate mental state assessment.
WINNING WAYS
“How often I’ve longed to shout in a restaurant, ‘Switch off the wallpaper music! I’m trying to talk!’”
Clifford Hughes had a laryngectomy in 2001. His personal story of rediscovering his voice is introduced by life coach Jo Middlemiss.
IN BRIEF
Three readers get on their soapbox. Dysfluency specialist Winifred Ashmore reminds us of the powerful effect our choice of words can have on the therapy process, Sian Owens makes a plea for information to be truly accessible and Sheina Stockton defends the place of direct therapy.
DOES THIS HOUSE BELIEVE IN COGNITIVE THERAPY?
“...answering a seemingly simple question was difficult because: the literature and use of terminology is so unclear; clinical practice with people with dementia varies across different countries; there is a lack of consensus about the role of speech and language therapists and the boundaries with occupational therapists, which further blurs attempts to define what we do.”
Vanetta John and Paula Leslie attempt to untangle the case for cognitive therapy with people with dementia.
BOUNDARY ISSUES
“You are a member of Facebook. It is obviously open to you to search for clients or their parents on this social networking site, and to look at any information they have chosen to make publicly available. But are there implications about what you do with this if, for example, it makes it clear they are unhappy with the service they are receiving?”
Jois Stansfield and Frances McAleer respond to the first scenario of our new ethics series.
REVIEWS
Voice, literacy, signing, professional writing, emotional intelligence, behaviour, dysphagia, Asperger’s syndrome, dementia, listening skills, early intervention, professional issues, dyspraxia, autism, speech development.
HOW I MAKE THE MOST OF EARLY YEARS:
(1) EVERYDAY TALK
“One of our teachers said in her feedback to us: ‘For the first time I actually know what to look for in a child’s communication and can give parents specific and accurate reports.’”
Cynthia Pelman finds 'Every Child a Talker' a mine of practical resources for therapists working with the universal child in collaboration with early years practitioners.
(2) LISTEN WITH LUCY
“...the group leader presents many of the activities we are so familiar with, aimed at teaching the children the basics of good listening, such as to ‘look at who is talking’, ‘think about the words’, ‘be quiet’, and ‘sit still’.”
Sharon Garforth on how training for early years practitioners is impacting on attention and listening skills in children under four.
READER OFFERS
Win Feeding and Nutrition in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disability and Elklan’s Early Years Based Information Carrying Word Pack.
MY TOP RESOURCES
“Each page of each of these books contains a new and exciting idea. For those of you who are struggling to make universal work effective in schools and nurseries, and to share their work with teachers, this is a wonderful way to start.”
In her second article for this issue, Cynthia Pelman recommends books from Lawrence Educational which she uses when working with small groups of children in education settings.
