Stay informed as a
speech–language
pathologist

Recently I asked my client how her language therapy homework was going. Imagine my face when she excitedly told me… “My son bought me a tDCS device on Amazon, so he puts electrodes on my head while I’m doing my homework!”  Begin distressing thought spiral: "Ack! He’s going to kill her with that thing, she’ll have another stroke!”“Her progress has been so slow—maybe it’ll help a little?”“But it’s not approved by the FDA! GASP!” “Can it really do that much harm?”“Why can’t people just follow the science?!” “Wait, what does the science even say? I seriously do not have time for this.” Unless you’re at a major research hospital, you’re probably not using tDCS just yet. But here’s a run-down of what we do and don’t know so you’re ready to guide families that hear about this newly accessible technology…

If you’ve tried to taste-test feeding therapy and found yourself overwhelmed by the buffet of ‘approaches,’ ‘philosophies,’ and ‘beliefs,’ you aren’t alone. Feeding is one of those areas where there are a lot of opinions and theories, but not much hard evidence—too many cooks, perhaps. For you as a clinician, this makes it hard to figure out where to start in building your skills and finding the right therapy approach for your clients. And this matters, because feeding is important, and when it goes wrong, It can affect nutrition, health, and the caregiver-child relationship. One particularly hot topic in the world of feeding therapy is learning theory. There’s a good chance that you are using learning theory in your clinical practice and didn’t even know it. Can’t remember what learning theory is?  Learning theory captures a whole variety of hypotheses and philosophies, but a really well-known method of learning is operant conditioning. This term might be sitting in the back corner of your brain, covered in dust, filed under ‘Psych 101 memories,’ so let’s dust it off and revisit it…

We’ve talked about the role of the SLP as it relates to cultural competence, cultural humility, and white supremacy. So what’s next? How do you take action? JNBASLH recently published a series of papers for a special issue titled “Removing the Stranglehold of Racism in CSD.” The title itself might leave you speechless.  But you if you are uncomfortable, you need to get comfortable being uncomfortable.  “The professionals that serve these populations must change to meet the needs of their clients. This change is achieved primarily through education. – Toliver-Smith & Robinson, 2020 So, what can you do? 

Language samples are a great way to get data on a bunch of language skills at once. They can be tricky to analyze, but at least collecting them is straightforward—just get out a copy of “Frog, Where Are You?” (or whatever visual aid you prefer) and elicit a narrative.  BUT WAIT—what about our adolescent clients in middle school or high school? Are narrative language samples still appropriate for them? Will they give you an accurate idea of those students’ language abilities across contexts? Spoiler: According to this study, yes they are, but no, they will not. Also, Frog ran away on purpose because frogs are not good pets. The good news is that Frog is happy living in the woods, and you are about to be happy with an expanded repertoire of (free) language sample prompts!

Imagine this: you hear about a new test of an Important Swallow Measure and check out the article for its normative data. You see this table:The next day, you try out the test and your 25-year-old patient scores 1.57 seconds.Is their Important Swallow Measure within normal limits? Hold that thought while we consider what within normal limits even means.

Imagine this: you hear about a new test of an Important Swallow Measure and check out the article for its normative data. You see this table:The next day, you try out the test and your 25-year-old patient scores 1.57 seconds.Is their Important Swallow Measure within normal limits? Hold that thought while we consider what within normal limits even means.