International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology最新文献

Purpose: Children and families choose eating and drinking with acknowledged risk, often while receiving support from professionals, such as paediatricians and speech-language pathologists. These decisions may fall inside the zone of parental discretion, where decisions are deemed to be 'good enough' for a child and may not prioritise physical health but would not cause significant harm. Often a contentious space, health professionals may feel uncertain of their ethical or legal obligations when supporting these families and children. Further complicated when children attend education and are fed by school staff, school-based speech-language pathologists may feel unsure how to support these children and families. Much of the literature surrounding paediatric feeding disorders comes from the US; however, these studies do not consider the legal context of New Zealand.

Result: This article attempts to outline laws, legal principles, and ethical principles applicable to this topic, in the hopes of highlighting health professionals' obligations and options when supporting these families.

Purpose: Late radiation-associated dysphagia is a rare side effect of radiation treatment for head and neck cancer. Arising over five years after treatment, it may profoundly impact survivors' health and quality of life. This study sought to gain insight into the lived experience of late radiation associated dysphagia.

Method: This qualitative study utilised semi-structured phone interviews. Research assistants completed transcription using a consensus process with the first author for unclear speech segments. A patient partner was consulted at all study stages. Participants were purposively sampled from a single Canadian province, and an inductive thematic analysis was employed.

Result: Twelve participants were enrolled between 9-33 years post cancer diagnosis. Four main themes were identified: a) Glad to be alive, but…, b) eating isn't the same, c) it changes everything, and d) a lot of gaps.

Conclusion: We identified impacts beyond physiological changes. Social connection, daily logistics and eating related quality of life challenges were prevalent. Results highlight gaps in person-centred decision making and access to health care professionals who understand and recognise this complex condition. We recommend improved patient education, provider awareness, as well as monitoring and treatment for late effects.

Purpose: This feasibility study explored literacy instruction for children with autism in an area of socioeconomic disadvantage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method: Fifty-nine autistic children (5-12 years) participated in a baseline assessment before being assigned to one of two instruction conditions or a control group. The first instruction group participants received a total of 13 weeks of literacy instruction using ABRACADABRA (a free online web application), delivered by a speech-language pathologist. The second instruction condition also received a total 13 weeks of ABRACADABRA literacy instruction, supplemented with shared book reading. The control group continued their business-as-usual school and other activities over the 13 weeks.

Result: Children who participated in instruction made statistically significant gains in their nonword reading skills from pre- to post-instruction with a large effect size. There were no other statistically significant results at the conservative alpha level utilised. However, effect sizes for all reading outcome measures were similar to previous research using ABRACADABRA with autistic children (with medium to large effect sizes observed across various reading accuracy and reading comprehension skills).

Conclusion: Further research on literacy instruction delivered via via in person sessions and telepractice for children with autism is greatly needed. These findings contribute to the scarce knowledge base of literacy instruction for children with autism and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this group.

Purpose: Prior reviews have identified that US speech-language pathologists receive minimal university training in augmentative and alternative communication. This scoping review sought to identify and synthesise current research on training experiences, needs, and outcomes of clinicians in augmentative and alternative communication, globally.

Method: A scoping review was conducted identifying literature within four databases in addition to citation chaining. Two authors reviewed 30% of abstracts with the final 70% reviewed by the first author. Review of full texts followed the same method. Data were extracted and analysed according to participant profile, training experiences, needs, and outcomes.

Result: Thirty-one studies were included. Clinicians reported limited university training in augmentative and alternative communication; many reported accessing post-graduate training. Training needs varied, however, the need for training in augmentative and alternative communication was commonly reported (options, high-tech, assessment, and intervention).

Conclusion: We found there is substantial variability in how augmentative and alternative communication training is provided at university level both within and between countries. Clinicians reported accessing post-qualification training and indicated training needs in a range content areas. The outcomes of training in augmentative and alternative communication appears positive for student-clinicians. Further research focussed on qualified-clinicians is required using comprehensive evaluation procedures.

Purpose: Many mealtime interventions have been developed over the past ten years. The effective implementation of such interventions into clinical practice is crucial to improve the swallowing safety and/or mealtime-related quality of life for people living with dysphagia or at risk of malnutrition. This systematic review summarises and critically appraises the literature on implementation of mealtime interventions in inpatient and aged care settings.

Method: A systematic database search was conducted using CINAHL, Embase, and MEDLINE. In total, 4475 records were identified and 25 studies met the inclusion criteria. Data were extracted relating to country, healthcare setting and characteristics, number of participants, target population, research method and designi intervention implemented, framework used, implementation strategies, facilitators and barriers to implementation, intervention outcomes, and implementation outcomes.

Result: Findings highlighted gaps in the literature regarding implementation of evidence-based mealtime interventions and their associated outcomes. Staff training and engaging key stakeholders were the most used implementation strategies. Inconsistencies in the reporting of implementation processes and outcomes were identified.

Conclusion: Further research is required to evaluate the most effective strategies for implementing mealtime interventions and the successful integration of evidence-based practices, thus enhancing the quality of care and the well-being of individuals experiencing dysphagia.

Purpose: This study compared performance of multilingual and monolingual children on the OZI-Short Form (a parent-report checklist for early communication from 12-30 months) with reference to receptive and expressive vocabulary, gestures, and communicative games/routines. Scores for three semantic subcategories (animals, clothing, food and drink) were compared between cohorts to assess for any evidence of cultural bias.

Method: Parents of children (n = 552) aged 10.5 to 31.5 months completed the OZI-SF. Total concept scores were calculated. Regression analyses were performed to compare performance between cohorts.

Result: No differences between cohorts for three summary scores: Receptive vocabulary, gestures, and games/routines. Differences were found in expressive vocabulary, with multilingual children scoring lower than monolingual children. For semantic categories, there were differences receptively for 'food and drink', and expressively for 'food and drink' and 'clothing', with multilingual children scoring lower. No differences were found for 'animals'.

Conclusion: The use of total concept scores on the OZI-SF revealed consistent performance between cohorts on receptive and non-verbal scores suggesting clinical confidence in these aspects of the OZI-SF. Differences in performance on expressive measures encourage clinical caution. Further research is needed on the clinical utility of vocabulary screening tools acknowledging the cultural sensitivity of semantic categories.

Purpose: As part of a collaborative academic-based service-learning experience, graduate students collaborated with individuals with aphasia to develop an educational training for community members. This study aimed to examine the impact of a collaborative academic-based service-learning experience on application of course content through community, academic, and interpersonal engagement.

Method: Participants included 36 graduate students in an aphasia course. In groups, they met twice and presented the training to the selected community members with the person with aphasia. After each meeting and the presentation, students wrote a reflective essay. Following the presentation, students completed the Three Aspects of Engagement Survey.

Result: Survey responses revealed increased community, academic, and interpersonal engagement. Thematic analysis of reflective essays (108 total) revealed five main themes: a) Evolving perceptions of aphasia, b) diverse characteristics of aphasia, c) communication strategies, d) collaboration, and e) outcomes of academic-based service-learning experience.

Conclusion: Findings revealed that students applied course content and gained insight into the impact of aphasia on life participation. They felt empathy for individuals with aphasia and plan to implement holistic, individualised care as well as spread awareness in the community. This collaborative academic-based service-learning experience is linked to the framework for teaching the life participation approach to aphasia.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore the experience of adolescents who stutter in Iran by translating and adapting the Overall Assessment of the Speaker's Experience of Stuttering-Teens protocol for Farsi-speaking adolescents and compare the impact of stuttering on their lives with that of adolescents from other countries.

Method: A rigorous translation and cross-cultural adaptation process-comprising forward and backward translation, expert committee review, and pilot testing-produced the OASES-T-F. The questionnaire was administered to 102 adolescents (51 males, 51 females) aged 12-17 years. Internal consistency was assessed via Cronbach's alpha, test-retest reliability via intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), and impact scores were compared with published data from the USA, Australia, Sweden, and Poland.

Result: The OASES-T-F demonstrated strong internal reliability (α = .82-.95) and test-retest stability (ICC = .90-.93). Domain scores for general information, reactions to stuttering, and communication difficulties were moderate and aligned with other countries' data. Notably, the quality-of-life domain yielded significantly higher impact among Iranian adolescents.

Conclusion: The OASES-T-F is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing stuttering in Farsi-speaking teens. Findings suggest that Iran's cultural context amplifies stuttering's social and emotional effects. Clinicians should integrate cultural considerations into assessment and intervention plans.

Purpose: Speech-language pathologists support children with paediatric feeding disorder and their families. However, international research highlights challenges, including inadequate training. While some Australian parents perceive speech-language pathologists as having limited knowledge and interest in paediatric feeding disorder, no studies have explored speech-language pathologists' experiences in this context.

Method: This study examined the perspectives of 11 experienced speech-language pathologists working in a community setting in one Australian city. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and data were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach to explore factors that support or hinder service delivery.

Result: Participants emphasised the importance of collaboration with families and multidisciplinary teams to ensure holistic care. They identified a lack of awareness of paediatric feeding disorder among referring professionals and reported feeling underprepared due to insufficient training and the absence of competency guidelines. Systemic barriers including policies and funding constraints and limited families' access to support, contributed to the perception that speech-language pathologists lack expertise in paediatric feeding disorder.

Conclusion: These findings align with international research, emphasising the need for improved training and systemic changes. In the Australian context, addressing funding limitations and developing competency guidelines are critical to enhancing service delivery for children with paediatric feeding disorder.

Purpose: Speech-language pathologists need culturally and linguistically appropriate assessment tools to accurately identify speech and language disorders. Ghanaian speech-language pathologists currently lack appropriate assessment tools to identify both speech and language disorders in children. The aim of this study was to gather the views and perspectives of Ghanaian speech-language pathologists about a prototype of the first Ghanaian-English speech and language assessment tool for school-aged children.

Method: Data were collected via artefact-mediated face-to-face focus groups utilising a prototype Ghanaian-English assessment tool to evoke comments from eleven Ghanaian speech-language pathologists. The tool consists of a caregiver's questionnaire and six subtests that assess the speech and language of children aged 5 to 10 years. Participants were recruited from a range of contexts in Ghana and were all involved in the assessment of children. The data were analysed using inductive content analysis.

Result: Speech-language pathologists identified strengths of the tool and recommendations for change. Participants viewed the tool as comprehensive, innovative, and simple to administer. Participants emphasised the need for the test administration, caregiver's questionnaire, pictures, and test items or stimuli to be culturally appropriate and made suggestions for change.

Conclusion: This study contributes to the development of a culturally appropriate assessment tool for the Ghanaian context. This adds to the growing body of research on the need and process for the development of culturally appropriate assessment tools for children in multilingual contexts.