Conversations in Speech Pathology

Happy New Year everyone! Today, on this first podcast of the new year, I welcome noted ASHA fellow Dr. Brian Goldstein to talk about bilingualism. Brian is well known in our field for his work on bilingualism and in particular Spanish phonological development. He is the Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs at La Salle University and I'm told from first hand experience that he is an awesome teacher! Here are just a few of the things we cover: * When bilingualism became a focus of discussion * How we define bilingualism * The challenge of being a school-based SLP in a school with many spoken languages. Hope you enjoy it! Jeff    

We all strive to be better clinicians and adhere to using best practices whenever possible. This process requires us to keep up on the literature. But keeping up isn't easy. For one thing, there are too many journals and papers to sift through. What's more, consuming research can be expensive if you don't work at a university (or aren't a student at one). Meredith Harold can't allay all of our research anxieties, but she's here to help! The Informed SLP is a monthly newsletter that distills the most important/noteworthy studies likely to make an immediate impact on our practice. Clinicians can look over her summaries and then decide which papers to pursue further. What a concept! In today's episode we cover: * Meredith's unconventional career path * Why Meredith started The Informed SLP * The divide between clinicians and researchers * Language sampling, a crazy thought experiment, and more! Please check out The Informed SLP if you haven't already. Meredith also started a Facebook group and can be followed on Twitter here. Finally, if you aren't receiving occasional emails from me and remember signing up in the past, feel free to register again on my home page. I had some accidental purging of my email list. Thank you and happy holidays! Jeff  

Have you ever thought about starting your own private practice? Is now the time? If so, Scott Harmon can help. Scott is a successful occupational therapist running a brick and mortar practice in Arkansas. With over 10 years experience in private practice, he knows what works and what doesn't.  This guy is very good at keeping his eye on the bottom line and understands which metrics matter. On today's show Scott talks about his work history leading up to the opening of his own practice. We also cover: * How a gradual shift might be the best method to starting a practice for a majority of us * How important it is to diversify your referral sources * Why it’s important to have the “heart of the servant” in order to succeed * Scott’s early private practice pains * Scott’s Current billing and record system * The dilemma of billing as an "out of network" provider * What interested Scott in starting a podcast and developing and e-book & e-course * An incentive program to lower cancellation rates * Market Analyses * What a typical day looks like for Scott Links: Scott's Website (you can find both his e-book and Academy of Private Practice products at this site) Scott's Freebie (the survey results of current private practice owners) Feel free to hit Scott up for any questions about your own private practice. He'll be happy to hear from you! Note: If you are interested in the Academy of Private Practice, Scott is offering $100 off the price of the course. Enter the code CIS (Conversations in Speech) for your discount. In full disclosure, I do receive an affiliate commission if you use this link to sign up. Thanks as always for listening!

In this episode I’m asking an important question: Is it possible for a treatment methodology to be considered pseudoscience (at least today) and yet actually work for some individuals? Yes, I’m delving into the world of RPM (Rapid Prompting Method), a controversial approach to educating and opening up the possibility of authentic communication among individuals with autism. We’re talking letter boards, torn paper, the whole works! The centerpiece of my story is Benjamin, a teenager whose life has been changed by using RPM. Benjamin’s parents, Ashling and Jeff recount a story of frustration, misunderstandings, and ultimately hope. It’s the most powerful interview I’ve recorded in my podcast journey so far and I feel compelled to share it. This episode will no doubt stoke a great deal of strong feelings (to say the least) among some listeners. Please understand that I know there is a lack of solid research on RPM (hence the pseudoscience moniker). But I’m not here to pass judgement one way or the other on the method’s global efficacy. Good research will hopefully answer those bigger questions in the future. Right now, I’m just interested in talking about Benjamin and opening up some conversations. Finally, don’t forget to check out the show page for clickable links!  I’ll also be posting a couple of videos of Benjamin on my Facebook page! Random Notes: * This episode is over 2 hours long, but well worth the listen! * I want to be clear that when I use the term "non-verbal", it should not be used to infer one's desire or potential to communicate.  * I deliberately censored the names of Benjamin's therapists, schools, and towns of residence for obvious reasons. * I'm sure I'll add more to this list later :) Links: Benjamin’s Website: RPM’s Website Here is the video on Benjamin learning about the U.S. Constitution: Here is a link to the 60 Minutes video I referenced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfiap3a7Tuo A paper published on RPM referenced by the RPM website Some Interesting articles I’ve come across either on the topic of RPM and/or FC: * From The Atlantic. This is mostly on persistence of Facilitated Communication (FC), but also mentioning RPM (which many critics view as two peas in a pod) *  This video was sent to me in order to show how one might prove a facilitative effect in the use of a letter board. You be the judge… *  There are many papers out there comparing FC to RPM. Here is one of them. * A good summary of skeptics' concerns and a plea for research! http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/syracuse_apple_and_autism_pseudoscience      

I'm not sure what the profession looks like in the rest of the world, but here in the U.S. the field of speech pathology is getting harder to get into. There are currently more applicants than available spots in graduate school. What exactly are graduate programs looking for in candidates these days? Do grades and test scores still matter as much as other factors? Today's episode can't begin to answer these questions definitively (I'm sure there are a wide range of requirements depending on the program). But I am happy to welcome Heidi Verticchio, a speech-language pathologist and graduate program/clinic director at Illinois State University's Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders. In our conversation, Heidi talks about what ISU's program looks for in a candidate, how undergraduates are prepared for the future application process, newer methods for selecting applicants, and more. This episode was made possible in part by at least 2 listener requests. I hope they (and you) get something useful out of it. Go Redbirds!

Greetings podcast listener! I'm happy to welcome back Mr. Russell Cross of the Prentke Romich Company (PRC) to talk about keyword vocabulary, phrasal verbs, and of course...core vocabulary. Russell is the resident speech-language pathologist for PRC (Director of Clinical Applications). He was one of the original authors of Unity language found on all PRC devices and most recently worked with Paul Andres to bring us Realize Language (if you haven't already, please check out my previous conversation with Russell and Paul here). Enjoy the show! Links: Here is the blog post on Keywords courtesy of The Speech Dudes Davies, M. (2008-). The Corpus of Contemporary American English: 425 million words, 1990-present. Available from Brigham Young University The Corpus of Contemporary America English, from Brigham Young University http://corpus.byu.edu/coca Gardner, D., & Davies, M. (2007). Pointing Out Frequent Phrasal Verbs: A Corpus-Based Analysis. TESOL Quarterly, 41(2), 339-359. Garnier, M., & Schmitt, N. (2014). The PHaVE List: A pedagogical list of phrasal verbs and their most frequent meaning senses. Language Teaching Research, 1-22. Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary : a vocabulary research manual. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan. The software program Wordsmith  

If you've ever been interested in working in the area of accent modification, have I got an episode for you! Tom Shull (@MrShullsClass) is back to talk about this very topic. What makes Tom so impressive is that his  accent modification business is a part-time one. Like myself, Tom's full-time gig is in the public school system (please listen to our last talk about Donor's Choose if you haven't already). In today's episode we cover: * What sparked Tom's interest in accent modification. * The importance of phonetic transcription skills. * Having an ear for dialects. * Code switching. * And more! As always...links: Center for Interprofessional Studies and Innovation (MGH Institute of Health Professions) Speech-Language Pathology Prerequisites Online Tom's Facebook Page Tom's Professional Website Oh yes, that podcast about the guy who cleans up crime scenes was in fact featured on This American Life (not for the squeamish). Finally, the name of the famous dialect coach to the stars was Sam Chwat. If you like this show, please leave an honest review here. Thanks for listening!

Smita Joshi is a speech pathologist, colleague, and friend whom I've had the pleasure of knowing for about 15 years. She was also one of the first persons I asked to be on this show! Though I was politely declined at the time (for very valid reasons), she finally agreed to come on the show when I heard her tell me (for the first time) the full story of how she both decided to be an SLP and move the the U.S. from India. It's definitely a story worth hearing! Smita indeed picked up and left her home country for a foreign land where she had no friends, relatives, and an extremely limited working use of the English language. More than 20 years later, she is the proud owner of a multidisciplinary clinic, a wife, and mother of two. Enjoy the episode! Note: This is the first of 2 episodes featuring Smita. Look out for a follow-up where we talk about Smita's specific clinical interest- Feeding. Link: You can find Smita's professional practice website here  

Camp ALEC (AAC, Literacy, Education, Communication) is a weeklong summer camp designed for students with physical disabilities whose primary means of communication is through AAC. The camp is now in its third year under the direction of Drs. Karen Erickson and David Koppenhaver. As the name implies, literacy is a big part of this camp. But there’s also plenty of time for swimming, toasted marshmallows, and even a prank or two! Tina Moreno is one of the organizers of the camp, a speech-language pathologist specializing in AAC, and a mother of an AAC user. She joins me for a short conversation to talk about Camp ALEC as well as her path to becoming an SLP. Links: Camp ALEC: http://www.campalec.com Fundraiser page for Camp ALEC: http://www.firstgiving.com/397389 Tina Moreno’s blog (Voices For All): https://voices4all.wordpress.com Thanks as always for listening!

Forbrain is an auditory processing product designed to "use your voice to boost your brain". The combination of bone conduction for sound transmission and a dynamic filter (audio processing) make for an interesting auditory feedback loop. In this short episode, I'll talk a little about how I came across this device as well as my overall impressions using it over the past few months*. Do you own the Forbrain device? If so, what has your experience been like with it so far? I'd love to hear...   *Note: The company that manufactures Forbrain provided me with a complimentary device.

Lynn Medley is a speech-language pathologist with over 20 years of experience working with individuals with ASD. In this episode, we discuss how difficult it is to isolate what social cognitive skills should be taught, what goes into forming playgroups, the sometimes thorny topic of motivation, and more! You can check out Lynn's practice at: mmtaspeech.com. Here are some other links and resources Lynn and her staff have compiled for your viewing and reading pleasure: The Incredible Flexible You & You Are a Social Detective (Michelle Garcia Winner) Jill Kuzma's blog Pixar Shorts- just type in on YouTube "short animated video" Lindamood Bell's Visualize and Verbalize curriculum The book Social Language Training Elementary by Linda Bowers and Carolyn LoGiudice The book Practical Theory of Mind Games by Carol Krakower Of course, check out Lynn & MMTA on Facebook for updates on resources Thanks everyone!

For all of the advancements in dysphagia research and practice that's taken place over the last decade (it's been longer than that since I last saw an adult client), some things never seem to change. Today, the most important tool a swallowing clinician has for diagnosis and management of dysphagia is still between the ears. Indeed, that was one of the most important take aways I got from today's episode, which features Drs. Ianessa Humbert and Emily Plowman (both of the University of Florida). In today's episode, we cover how Drs. Humbert & Plowman became interested in dysphagia, their newly merged research laboratories (called  Swallowing Systems Core), some current research, and the recent launch of their course titled Critical Thinking in Dysphagia Management. Enjoy the episode! General Links: Swallowing Systems Core  Critical Thinking in Dysphagia Management Course (next offering in March 2016 at the time of this episode release) YouTube video of Dr. Plowman (discussing her current research involving patients with ALS) Research Articles Cited (PubMed links): Aspiration and swallowing in Parkinson disease and rehabilitation with EMST  (Troche, lead author) Transcranial non-invasive brain stimulation in swallowing rehabilitation following stroke--a review of the literature (Sebastian Doeltgen’s paper) Video-assisted swallowing therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease (Manor, lead author) The effects of feedback on volitional manipulation of airway protection during swallowing (Macrae, lead author)    

Sometimes it seems like app creation is beginning to get about as ubiquitous as the L.A. resident working on his/her screenplay! A lot of people are either making one, thinking about making one, or want to make one (but have no idea how to). Well today I talk about my own process of creating an app for the app store (iTunes only). It certainly wasn't easy and I wanted to rip my hair out more than once during the process. But I'm happy to say that I finally finished. In this episode I'll talk you through my journey. I'll go over my method for selecting freelancers, managing the workflow, and talk about the many lessons learned over the past 10 months. Thanks for listening! -Jeff The links: The Social Bunch Website Link to purchase The Social Bunch: Perspectives 99 Designs Upward (formerly Elance) Pop (for wireframing your app)  

Articulation Station is one of the best-known articulation apps on the iTunes store right now. I wanted to meet the developer behind this well designed app and she is none other than Heidi Hanks. Together with her husband Chris (a designer by trade), she created a small suite of  apps that cover articulation assessment and therapy. Originally, I wanted to make this a two-part episode that would document my own journey into creating an iPad app. Due to some setbacks, that episode will come shortly. In the meantime, please enjoy this conversation with Heidi! Credit: The track "Happyrock" was produced by Bensound.com Links: Little Bee Speech Mommyspeechtherapy.com (Heidi's blog) The Speech Dudes post about app pricing

Today I talk with Yvette McCoy, a private practice owner who is highly interested in dysphagia. Yvette tells me how she became interested in dysphagia and describes some of the resources and people who helped shape the clinician she is today. Links: ASHA's Special Interest Group (SIG) on dysphagia Northern Speech Services (for CEU's on dysphagia) Information about the MBSImP (The Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile) The American Board of Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders Blog post by Mary Huston about the SLP scope of practice (in the U.S. that is) (By the way- is the scope of practice in the U.S. the same as in other parts of the globe?) As always, let me know if I forgot something! -Jeff