SPLP 635: Voice Disorders

Summary of Interpretation: Given the information provided in Interpretation A, the clinician diagnosed Kara-Lynn with a severe phonological disorder. This diagnosis was made based on evidence provided by testing results, clinician observations, and speech analyses. Kara-Lynn demonstrated phoneme collapses into /d/ in place of stops (/p/, /t/, /k/, /g/), fricatives (/s/, /z/, /θ/, /ð/), and some consonant clusters (/tr/, /gr/) across all word positions. For example, Kara-Lynn produced /diə/ for “seal,” /dædɚ/ for “treasure,” and /dədudɚ/ for “computer.” Kara-Lynn also presented with active phonological processes of final consonant deletion (/fɪ/ for “fish”), cluster reduction (/tul/ for “school”), vocalization (/ɛləkə/ for “helicopter”), and deaffrication (/ʃi/ for “cheese”). She also presented with inconsistent patterns of initial-consonant deletion (/ɑʊps/ for “house”, /ɪʒ/ for “bridge”). In most instances, Kara-Lynn presented with both final consonant deletion and another phonological process, which markedly impacted her speech intelligibility, as when she produced /lɑʊ/ for “clown,” demonstrating both final consonant deletion and cluster reduction. She also expressed a high percentage of CV (27%) and CVC (29%) syllable and word shapes, with little other variation. Analysis of Kara-Lynn’s speech sample revealed similar errors exhibited during formal assessment, including phoneme collapse into /d/, high occurrences of initial and final consonant deletion and cluster

During my interview with Speech Pathologist, Deborah Kirsch, I learned countless details about the Speech Pathology career field. When we first began talking, I learned that Mrs. Kirsch works out of a company called “Professional Therapy Services”, where she is contracted out to work for “Eunice Smith Nursing Home” which is located in Alton, Illinois. She has been working at this facility for about a year. She is a newly found graduate from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and she graduated in May 2011. Another thing that I learned about Mrs. Kirsch is that she originally did not go to school to become a speech pathologist, this was a career that she found later in life. After she had graduated from SIUE, the first time with a bachelors in Psychiatry, she started working at a nursing home around this area. She came to know a Speech Pathologist that worked there and she quickly found the field very fascinating. She had always been driven to help others, and she witnessed some of the exercises being done with individuals at the nursing home and decided to go back to school to get her masters in Speech Pathology.

During the first therapy session the most obvious behavior that I observed was the way the student would make noises whenever he was working on activities. The student would make a chirping sound with his mouth whenever he was working on activities with the speech pathologist. This student’s session was interrupted by lunch time, so I was only able to observe the second half of the class. In the ten minute

The opportunity to observe the work overview of a Speech Pathologist, has tremendously solidified my interest in this field. At the Diana Rogovin Speech Center at Brooklyn College, I observed clients of various ages with different speech language disorders including articulation, language, voice, fluency and accent modification. Observing clinicians at the speech center gave me the opportunity to learn how important client-clinician interaction is for the session and how essential it is to build a good relationship with the client. Although I learned the

Many people would like to make a difference, not only in their own life, but in others’ lives as well. Deepak Chopra once said, “Everyone has a purpose in life…a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals.” All of us, at one point in our lives, have to make the difficult decision of the goals we want to work towards. We all have certain goals, standards, and expectations of ourselves. Not everyone will figure out what they want to be right away, and some will know from the very beginning. My plan for my life is helping others through Speech Language

My intensive Speech Language Pathology coursework at California State University- Fresno has provided me with the skills to implement treatment plans, assist during speech and language assessments, and keep formal documentation of client’s progress in speech therapy. These are the necessary skills required to be an effective Speech Language Pathology Assistant and will make me as asset to have in the school speech setting.

The career of speech pathology offers many opportunities in a variety of different settings. For those who are willing to tackle the challenge of advanced education and have a passion for working with others, speech pathology could be a great career choice. Through my individual research and interaction with other Speech Pathologists,

Some of the duties of a speech pathologist are, but are not limited to, evaluate patients’ levels of speech, language, or swallowing difficulty, identify treatment options, teach patients how to make sounds and improve their voices, work with patients to develop and strengthen the muscles used to swallow, and counsel patients and families on how to cope with communication and swallowing disorders (Duties, www.bls.org, 2015). ‘If the speech-language pathologists work in medical facilities, they work with physicians and surgeons, social workers, psychologists, and other healthcare workers’ (Duties, www.bls.org, 2015).

The scope of practice of speech-language pathology describes the ethical and clinical responsibility of clinicians to implement therapy techniques, which contains efficacy that is supported by evidence. Non-speech oral-motor exercises (NSOMEs), in particular have raised controversy among speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and researchers when treating children with articulation and phonological disorders. The use of NSOMEs is a debated issue in the profession due to the lack of evidence based practice (EBP), poor clinical assumptions, and the avoidance of meeting the client’s needs.

While speech-sound errors may occur in a typically developing child, if these errors persist beyond the expected age, it becomes indicative of a speech disorder and requires treatment (Peña-Brooks & Hedge, 2015). Speech-sound disorders in children will not only affect intelligibility of the individual, but can also have pervasive effects on communication skills, social involvement, and future employment, leading to an overall reduced quality of life (Johnson, Beitchman, and Brownlie, 2010). However, if individuals with speech-sound disorders receive speech-language services in childhood, evidence supports these children are likely to become effective communicators (Johnson, Beitchman, and Brownlie, 2010). Speech-language pathologists

CSD 363 is a practicum course that gives students the opportunity to provide schools with free speech and hearing screenings. This class is mutually beneficial, seeing that students have an undergraduate opportunity to start practicing skills typically developed in graduate school, and that families receive valuable services for free. The screenings given are comprised of two parts: the Fluharty Speech and Language test, and an audiology pure tone screening including a look in the ears with an otoscope. Under the supervision of a licensed supervisor, students will be giving these screenings and making recommendations about further evaluations if necessary.

In the profession of speech-language pathology, there are a variety of settings and clients with diverse needs to work with. One is able to work with not only children, but people of all age groups. Throughout my undergraduate program, I was able to gain the necessary skills in order to write professional reports for both medical and educational settings. The principles of formulating goals, establishing effective communication skills, and being flexible with your clients were among the many important skills I

Determining the most beneficial augmentative and alternative communication device is a critical component in AAC because it takes time and dedication to teach a client how to use the device as well as teach others around them how to understand. Hypothetically if a SLP were to provide wasted effort the results could have the potential to be devastating because in some circumstances all the client has is little time. Lucky enough for speech language pathologists there are models for assessment that provide guided intervention tactics. Assessment models can be described as feature matching, the participation model, and or the universal design for learning. Typically, feature matching is a quick and easy way to guide assessment because essentially

I chose this topic because I’m interested in studying speech language pathology or audiology in college and I don’t know much about it, so I wanted to take this opportunity to learn as much as I could about this subject. “Speech Pathologists require significant formal education”. “..Sometimes called speech therapists, assess, diagnose, treat and help to prevent disorders related to speech”. I also chose this topic because my cousin is hard of hearing, which caused her to have learning disabilities and fall behind in school but she took speech therapy to help improve her interactions with people and to help her get further in her educational career. She also uses American Sign Language and she now attends The School for the Deaf

To prevent bias and confounding in treatment assignment, randomization was completed. 10 (5 men, 5 women) participants (see Table 1) were each evaluated in person at the Howard University Speech and Hearing Clinic. Each of which provided written informed consent for participation. Through the use of a computer-generated random number table, each participant was assigned their method of treatment, either via face-to-face or telepractice at another local university speech and hearing clinic. Each participant was 18 years or older and had been previously diagnosed with Primary Muscle Tension Dysphonia (PMTD) by an otolaryngologist. Participants who presented with head and neck cancer, organic lesions, spasmodic dysphonia or other neurological disorders, oropharyngeal dysphagia, respiratory disorders including asthma, or mild MTD were excluded from the study. Also, excluded, were any participants who previously utilized pharmacological treatment or received other voice therapy methods with regards to problems with their voice.