Reethee Antony, PhD, CCC-SLP, Misericordia University
Unicorn Hybrid Black is a relatively new brain computer interface (BCI) that has been used in a number of disciplines. I examine brain responses to speech sounds using electroencephalography (EEG) and as a speech-language pathologist (SLP), I have been looking for avenues to integrate EEG into clinics. There is a dearth of literature and technology in this area. However, with the arrival on recent BCI and related products, the vision to see EEG being used in clinics is possible. The low cost of the equipment and the reduced number of channels help towards using this device as an objective tool for evidence-based practice. The Suite by itself can be useful for clients with stroke and auditory processing disorder. The speller feature can be used for literacy clients and for clients with articulation disorders. It can also be used for young pediatric clients including clients with autism, attention deficit hyperactive deficit and cerebral palsy. It can be used primarily for two purposes: first, to provide online biofeedback at neurophysiologic level; second, to examine whether behavioral changes post-intervention is reflected at a neurophysiologic level or not. Unicorn Hybrid Black could potentially be used to plan and monitor intervention for clients. This technical session will include a brief introduction to Unicorn Hybrid Suite, how it can be used in clinics by SLPs, and it will include some information on other relevant BCI software that is available.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Advanced | Multi-Interest
David S. Ford, PhD, CCC-SLP, Thiel College
Kelly Farquharson, PhD, CCC-SLP, Florida State University
This session will discuss the importance of in-depth and evidence-based assessment approaches to determine educational relevance for children with speech sound disorders. In particular, this session will focus on improving clinicians’ ability to identify risk factors for literacy disorders in children who have speech sound production difficulties. Discussion will include appropriate assessment tools to consider and how to consider a variety of treatment and service delivery options. The benefit of this overall course is to help clinicians see the overlap between speech sound production and literacy and to identify appropriate roles for assessment and treatment.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Intermediate | Pediatric SLP
Vijayachandra Ramachandra, PhD; Hannah Longacre, from Marywood University
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people around the world have been wearing masks. This has negatively affected the reading of facial emotions which is the key for social communication. In the current study, the ability of participants’ emotional recognition of faces and the eye region alone (similar to viewing masked faces) was analyzed in conjunction with their capacity to empathize, systemize and the degree of autistic traits. Data from 403 healthy adults between 18-40 years revealed a reduction in the capacity to recognize emotions and experience the emotion intensities of people wearing masks. As expected, people who were more empathetic were better at recognizing both ‘facial’ and ‘eyes-only’ emotions. There was a negative correlation between degree of autistic traits and emotion recognition in both faces and eyes-only conditions. This indicates that individuals with higher levels of autistic traits would have greater difficulty recognizing both faces with and without masks. None of the psychological measures (systemizing, empathizing or degree of autistic traits) had a significant relationship with emotion intensity ratings. Finally, systemizing tendencies had no correlation with either emotion recognition or emotion intensity ratings.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Intermediate | Multi-Interest
Chantal Whiteduck, MS, CCC-SLP; Cari Tellis, PhD, CCC-SLP; Glen Tellis, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-F, from Misericordia University; Kathleen Scaler-Scott, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-F, from Monmouth University; Megan Florio; Molly Clemson; Jacob Thomas; Stephanie Maines, from Misericordia University
Paradoxical Vocal Fold Motion Disorder (PVFMD) has gained attention in speech-language pathology and laryngology over the past 10 years. Referred to by a variety of names (e.g., irritable larynx, vocal cord dysfunction), PVFMD has been described as a disorder that occurs due to adduction of the vocal folds during respiration (Zalvan, Yuen, Geliebter, & Tiwari, 2019). Common symptoms include shortness of breath, stridor, cough, chest and throat tightening, and panic attacks. Because of the common co-occurring anxiety response to respiratory distress, this disorder was once thought to have a psychiatric etiology. More recently, there is agreement among clinicians and researchers that the etiology is likely a combination of an inflammatory and neurologic response with associated anxiety (Zalvan et al, 2019).
Due to the varied symptomology and suspected etiologies, individuals with PVFMD are often evaluated by several medical professionals, resulting in delayed or misdiagnosis, frequent doctor visits, high medical bills, overly prescribed medications, as well as frustration (Zalvan et al., 2019). Unfortunately, once diagnosed, there is also a lack of agreement in a standardized treatment protocol. The purpose of this study was to investigate what different professionals know about PVFMD, how professionals implement treatment strategies and how they determine clinical success of existing intervention strategies. Seventy-five participants in the fields of speech-language pathology, otolaryngology, laryngology, pulmonology and psychology completed the survey. Results of this survey show increasing need for further research in the assessment and treatment of PVFMD.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Introductory | Adult SLP
Eric Sanders, PhD, CCC-SLP; Louise Keegan, PhD, CCC-SLP; Mary Culshaw, PhD; Colin Tomes, PT, DPT, from Moravian University
The Flipped Classroom Model (FCM) has received recent attention as an innovative andragogical approach for education in a variety of health sciences. In the FCM, the classroom is “flipped” from the traditional approach in which the instructor lectures in-class and may assign homework outside of class. Here, the instructor provides information for students to review outside of class and spends time in class working on activities to bolster understanding of the content. The first author used the FCM to teach a graduate level augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) course to 24 first-year graduate students. In this course, brief online lectures were recorded weekly for the students to watch before class. Additionally, students completed a quiz based on the assigned readings and the video lecture prior to each class. In class, a variety of collaborative activities utilizing technology were designed for the students that aligned with the learning objectives of that particular class. In this presentation, the authors will describe the methods and tools used to implement the FCM. Additionally, the process of ensuring alignment of lecture and activity objectives will be presented. We will also present the results of a qualitative study designed to explore student perspectives taken from interviews on the experiences of seven students who were enrolled in the course. Themes derived from an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the interviews will allow for the development of an interpretive model of students’ perspectives. Implications will be discussed relative to teaching graduate speech-language pathology students through this approach.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Intermediate | Multi-Interest
Anne Marie Kubat, MS, CCC-SLP, Penn State University
The incidence of voice disorders in adults is estimated to be 7.6 percent, or 17.9 million US adults ages 18 or older, who report having had a problem with their voice in the past 12 months (Bhattacharyya, 2014 and Moris et al, 2016). Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have a key role in the evaluation and treatment of voice disorders. In addition, SLPs also have a responsibility to provide prevention information to individuals and groups known to be at risk for voice disorders. The author developed a meaningful clinical rotation for graduate student clinicians which simultaneously provides a valuable university community service. The screening program originally involved a partnership between the School of Theater and Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). Over the past two years, the program has evolved to include students in CSD146 Introduction to Communication Disorders. Students who have self-identified high vocal demands, history of voice loss or concerns about their voice are encouraged to sign up for a screening. Graduate students in CSD learn and practice clinical skills such as: collecting case history information, collecting objective data using the Visi-pitch, analyzing the data and comparing to norms, providing results/feedback and writing a brief report of screening results. CSD graduate clinicians gain experience providing client education using various educational tools to instruct clients regarding vocal health.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Intermediate | Adult SLP
Tamara Miller-Leeper, SLPD, CCC-SLP, Indiana University of PA; Nancy Creaghead, PhD, CCC-SLP, University of Cincinnati; Klarie Brumbaugh, SLPD, CCC-SLP, Fontbonne University
The results of a single-subject A-B design study that examined the effects of short (burst), intense treatment sessions provided at a frequency of three times per week for two five-year-old children with mild-moderate speech sound disorders will be presented. The participants entered the study with different levels of stimulability for their target sounds and had different responses to intervention over the six-week course of treatment. Various aspects of burst treatment will be discussed as they relate to treatment dose, motor learning, sound acquisition and least restrictive environment.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Introductory | Pediatric SLP
Eric Sanders, PhD, CCC-SLP; Monica Kaniamattam, PhD, CCC-SLP, from Moravian University; Thomas Page, PhD, CCC-SLP, University of North Carolina – Greensboro
More than half of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) report working with a student who requires augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) (ASHA, 2018). These SLPs often have different levels of experience and expertise with AAC. For these reasons, SLPs in schools often work with a colleague who is considered to be a specialist as part of their educational team.
Currently, there is no uniformity of the roles of AAC specialists across school districts. In a recent study, 94 school-based SLPs who self-identified as specialists wrote that they considered themselves to be specialists for reasons such as specialized training, their experience with AAC and the percentage of students on their caseload who were specialists (Sanders et al., 2019). It is surprising that there has not been more research designed to identify similarities or differences in characteristics between these professionals across school districts. Therefore, our research questions include: What roles and responsibilities do SLPs who self-identify as school-based AAC specialists perform? What qualities are considered to be important by SLPs who self-identify as school-based AAC specialists? Qualitative methodology will be utilized to explore these research questions. School-based AAC specialists will be identified through a variety of online forums. Applied Thematic Analysis (Guest, McQueen, & Namey, 2011) will be employed to analyze interview transcripts in order to identify themes. These themes will be used to inform issues around professional roles in schools, service provision for students who use AAC and potential professional development to support those who want to be potential school-based specialists.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Intermediate | Pediatric SLP
Akila Rajappa, PhD, CCC-SLP, BCS-S; LuAnn Batson-Magnuson, PhD, CCC-SLP, from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania; Nia Lombardo, MS, Young Talkers LLC
Dysphagia is a serious medical condition that can affect people of all ages resulting in devastating health and socio-economic consequences. While numerous dysphagia screenings, assessments and treatments have been developed and validated, currently there are no standardized approaches that focus exclusively on dysphagia education and prevention for community dwelling older population. Anecdotal evidence presents that older adults have a generalized anxiety and fear about swallowing disorders that prevent them from seeking help. Community education can be a powerful tool for dysphagia prevention among aging seniors whose numbers are expected to rise significantly. This can be accomplished by training students of speech-language pathology to educate the seniors about dysphagia through a service-learning approach. Dysphagia training in graduate school requires extensive coursework, case study discussions, hands-on labs for skill learning, exposure to variety of clients during clinical practicum and interprofessional collaborations. Opportunities for clinical and fieldwork experiences are limited particularly with regard to prevention and patient education. To address the academic, clinical and community service gap, we developed, piloted and implemented a novel outreach educational model: Dysphagia Warriors Program (DWP). DWP focused on provision of clinical education about dysphagia and its complications to the senior community by the faculty and graduate students of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania’s communication sciences and disorders program. This seminar will highlight the components of DWP outreach model, processes that were completed to execute the DWP and present data on the educational, clinical and community impact of the DWP on students and community dwelling seniors.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Intermediate | Adult SLP
Rebecca Bawayan, PhD, CCC-SLP, Moravian University; Jennifer Brown, PhD, CCC-SLP, University of Georgia
Currently, there is limited information on clinical diagnostic decision-making specifically within informal assessments. Exploring clinical decision making is important in order to give insights into the knowledge and skills of school-based SLPs. The current study explored clinical decision-making skills of school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) using narrative and expository discourse information from three sources: perception of language through listening alone, standardized criterion-referenced narrative assessment data and word and morpheme level language sample analysis data. During this study, 28 school-based SLP participants used data from informal language assessment measures to rate language quality and made decisions on the provision of language services. The results indicated SLPs rated language quality and complexity differently across the narrative and expository samples. There was also a lack of consistency in the ratings within each narrative and expository sample in the areas of clarity, sample complexity, language complexity and vocabulary across all of the SLPs. The participants did not recommend the need for services after listening to the samples alone. After being provided criterion referenced assessment scores and word and morpheme level language sample data, more of the participants indicated the need for services. The study results emphasize the need for using data from objective language measure to make diagnostic decisions and highlight the need for SLPs to continue to depend on multiple data sources. SLPs should continue to use systematic methods to reduce the variability of perceptions when making diagnostic decisions.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Introductory | Pediatric SLP
Samantha Dalessio, CScD, CCC-SLP; Amanda Smith, EdD, CCC-SLP; Kelsey Mandak, PhD, CCC-SLP, from Carlow University
The number of new speech-language pathology graduate programs has sharply increased over the past 10 years. Our scope continues to evolve amidst calls to reexamine the effectiveness of the current graduate education model. The purpose of this session is to reexamine graduate level curricular design and discuss innovative methodologies for explicitly bridging a student’s knowledge and skill development. The session will include a review of the literature regarding current trends and gaps in graduate education; factors to consider when designing or redesigning graduate level curricula; and an example of an innovative curricular design from a newly developed speech-language pathology graduate program.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Intermediate | Multi-Interest
Louise Keegan, PhD, CCC-SLP; Claudia Krautkremer, BS; Kaelyn Carr, BS, from Moravian University
Approximately five million people are living with a traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related disability (CDC, 2015), which indicates a need for effective and efficient forms of treatment for TBI. Recent international recommendations for communication directed treatment indicate that current optimal approaches include person-centered group treatment (Togher et al., 2014). Additionally, there has recently been an uptick in research on group intervention for communication (Behn et al., 2021; Keegan et al., 2020), and such studies have documented positive outcomes. The program Improving Natural Social Interaction: Group reHabilitation After Traumatic Brain Injury (INSIGHT) has been described by Keegan and colleagues (Keegan et al., 2020; Keegan & Togher, 2018) and is a group-based communication intervention that enables clinicians to facilitate a client-centered and socially-oriented communication treatment. The tenants of this approach are to provide a contextualized and natural environment for group interactions; preserve the authenticity and value of the interactions; avoid a focus on controlling the environment or emphasizing disabilities; and enhance opportunities for identity expression. This presentation illustrates adaptation of this approach to a virtual environment that maintains INSIGHT characteristics and examines the outcomes of this virtual group intervention. Six participants with TBI, and cognitive communication difficulties, participated in an eight-week pilot program of virtual INSIGHT over Zoom. Pre- and post- treatment assessment, as well as goal attainment scaling progress will be presented. The conclusions and implications of this group are discussed in reference to the literature with a focus on future directions and the potential for expanding this virtual delivery option.
Learner Outcomes: At the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:
Instructional Level: Intermediate | Adult SLP
Melissa Brydon, PhD, CCC-SLP; Sheri Lake, EdD, CCC-SLP, from the California University of Pennsylvania
