Wide World of Speech

It's time now for a broad - spectrum, quick but clear look at the world of communication sciences and disorders (CSD), in a post I wili call (obscure sports television reference) "PWC Wide World of Speech". It's both the thrill of a good therapy outcome, and the agony of forgetting to pack that new tool you were counting on for today!

Here are some recent clinical and research notes on events in the field, that many CSD professionals may have seen and noted.

COGNITION: Retired actor Bruce Willis appears "stable" to his ex - wife Demi Moore, as she commented recently about Willis' life with frontotemporal dementia for entertainment media. Moore stressed that not only does Willis enjoy moments of attention with family and friends, but he also benefits from all his supports living mindfully, or being in the moment when they're with him. Want to know more about frontotemporal dementia? See https://www.alzheimers.gov/alzheimers-dementias/frontotemporal-dementia, or Rene Utianski's PRIMARY PROGRESSIVE APHASIA AND OTHER FRONTOTEMPORAL DEMENTIAS (Plural, 2020).

FLUENCY: A July 2022 edition of the podcast "ASHA Voices" featured a discussion on how stuttering treatment might not focus upon achieving the highest level of fluency, but instead how the stuttering individual can learn to function in a chaotic world. To learn how stuttering might connect with neurodiversity, click https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/2022-0707-podcast-constantino-stuttering-neurodiversity/full/.

HEARING: Apple has received FDA approval for its software package that, when loaded onto their Air Pods Pro 2 listening devices will allow the wearer with diagnosed mild to moderate hearing loss to use them as hearing aids. It's been hinted at, that the vibrant market of "hearable" wearers might make wearing a visible device in your ears, free of stigma. If your consumer, family member, friend or neighbor has a mild degree of difficulty understanding speech, recommend they get tested and their doctor rule out a medical problem. For more information, see https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro/hearing-health/

LANGUAGE: What is the R.A.I.S.E. framework? An acronym for principles recommended in the evaluation of consumers with primary progressive aphasia: read it as client-clinician Relationship, Assessment choices, Including the client and care partners, providing Support, and Evolving procedures. These components should exist for any clinical assessment, right? Read about it in the paper by Jean Gallee' and colleagues, at https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2024_AJSLP-24-00085

SPEECH: Virginia Member of Congress Jennifer Wexton is not on the ballot this November, choosing to soon spend time with her family as she lives with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, called by some clinicians a "Parkinson Plus" impairment. She is closing out her term in the House, meeting her responsibilities, through use of AI - mediated synthetic speech she composes on a handheld computer. Her resilience can be seen at: https://youtu.be/UDwamEdbZk8?si=-AlANYcrpNP54aTX

SWALLOWING: Joanne Yee and colleagues report in the September 2024 issue of the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPEECH - LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY, on how standardizing exercise - based swallowing treatment might improve the swallowing therapist's ability to achieve the best outcomes. The paper is one of a series titled "Forum: Proposed Considerations for Fostering Rigor and Transparency in Dysphagia Research" in this journal issue. For more information, look at https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2024_AJSLP-22-00179

VOICE: Harper Steele commiserated with another trans woman about her voice, in the recent Netflix film "Will and Harper". Harper's acquaintance commented on her own thoughts following a trial of voice therapy, by saying - but this is my voice. See the forum "exploring Culturally Responsive Voice Care", prefaced at https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2024_PERSP-23-00126, for more information.

OTHER: Speech - language pathology (SLP) is challenged to assume responsibilities for a level of professional practice, above that for a individually - oriented, impairment - based discipline. "Communication Public Health", by Sarah Warren and colleagues, offers a road map for how the field might grow into a population - level science. In the tutorial, SLP clinicians are given directions to add prevention modalities and to labor for increased equity for serving the entire population. Remarkable in this paper, were citations of earlier papers which advocated a similar approach for their professions: "Occupational Therapy in the Promotion of Health and Well - Being" (AJOT, 2020), and "Promoting Health and Wellness: Implications for Physical Therapy Practice" (Physical Therapy, 2015). The Warren et al. paper can be found at https://pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/2024_JSLHR-23-00491.

Come explore the Wide World of Speech again sometime!