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Ask the Experts
Permission to Perform Standardized Testing on School Students
January 30, 2006
Can a speech/language pathologist do standardized testing on an individual student in a school setting at the direction of the school principal and without written parental permission? Read More
What Constitutes a Speech and Language Assessment?
January 23, 2006
I am a pediatrician in training. When a child is referred to a speech and language pathologist, what constitutes an assessment? Read More
Teen Male with High Pitched Voice
January 16, 2006
A 17 year old male student has been referred to me for a very high pitched voice. He has been home schooled until this year and has not received therapy in the past. He is able to achieve a lower pitc... Read More
Managing Hypernasality Following Cleft Palate Repair
January 9, 2006
I have a 4 year old hearing-impaired student with bilateral aural atresia and a repaired cleft palate. His cleft was repaired at 9 months of age and he has been receiving private and school-based spee... Read More
Voice Disorders Articulation, Phonology, and Speech Sound Disorders
Malaprops - Unmonitored Pragmatics Deficit
January 2, 2006
I have a 25 year-old master's in speech & language, although I never practiced. Today at lunch someone brought me a problem that challenges his colleague, and I didn't know where to send them for info... Read More
Therapy Suggestions for Epiglottic Dysfunction
December 19, 2005
Are there any specific techniques for epiglottic dysfunction? I do not have access to electrical stimulation at this time and would appreciate some functional exercises that a high functioning patient... Read More
Team Approach to Communication: A Child with Angelman Syndrome
December 12, 2005
I am a speech-language pathologist in the public school setting in Los Angeles, CA. I am working with a nine and a half year old student with Angelman Syndrome. He has no speech, has not been seen by... Read More
How Early Should Therapy Begin for Down Syndrome?
December 5, 2005
How soon can it be beneficial to start Speech therapy for a baby with Down Syndrome? Read More
Therapy Techniques for Drooling
November 21, 2005
What are some techniques to assist toddlers (around 20 months) who have an open mouth posture and drool? Are blowing bubbles and blowing horns effective? Read More
Articulation, Phonology, and Speech Sound Disorders
Stuttering and Reading Fluency in a 3rd Grader
November 14, 2005
I'm seeing a 3rd grader who displays mild dysfluencies. Until recently, stuttering didn't seem phase him. His teachers report that when he reads, he reads like he talks. He'll go back and repeat parts... Read More
Fluency, Atypical Disfluency, and Stuttering
Unintelligible Speech With a Pharyngeal Flap
November 7, 2005
I have a new student on my caseload. She is 5 years old and was born with a submucous cleft. The cleft has been repaired and she had a pharyngeal flap in November 2004. She did receive speech therapy... Read More
Articulation, Phonology, and Speech Sound Disorders Voice Disorders
Therapy for Early Vocal Nodules in Children
October 31, 2005
I'm a school speech pathologist working with a 4 year old boy who has been diagnosed with a thickening of the anterior one-third of his vocal chords which, according to his MD, is a prenodule state pr... Read More
Voice Disorders
Therapy References for Children with Cerebral Palsy
October 24, 2005
I am a speech and language therapist. I was wondering whether you could recommend any books about speech and language intervention in children with cerebral palsy. Read More
My Child Has a Unilateral Hearing Loss
October 17, 2005
My son is now one year old and was diagnosed with unilateral hearing loss when he was born. Now that he is starting to talk, I wonder is there anything I can do to help him with his speech. He does no... Read More
Palatal Lift Exercises for VPI
October 10, 2005
I am working with a six-year-old male with inconsistent velopharyngeal incompetency and motor speech disorder best characterized as dysarthria.Surgical intervention or a prosthetic appliance were not... Read More
Evaluation and Treatment Recommendations for a Child with Dyspraxia - a Complicated Case
October 3, 2005
I am presently working with a 6.4yr. old (semi) verbal male who attends a private Kindergarten three days a week. He has received private Sp. therapy for 2 yrs. and was labeled as dyspraxic. I have wo... Read More
Motor Speech Disorders (Adults) Developmental Language Disorders
Improving Cadence with Dyspraxia
September 26, 2005
What can be done to improve the cadence of a student with resolving dyspraxia... this student is a second grader with few remaining speech sound errors (distortion of /r/ and f/th substitution)...but... Read More
Motor Speech Disorders (Adults)
Reimbursement for Dysphagia Treatment
September 19, 2005
Is esophageal dysphagia therapy reimbursable for Medicare in a Skilled Nursing Facility? If a resident is having chewing difficulty only, does this warrant a dysphagia evaluation, and is it paid for b... Read More
Dysphagia (Adult)
Assessing Pragmatic Use of Language
September 12, 2005
I am searching for a useful checklist or assessment tool in determining a student's pragmatic use of language. I realize that this may not be a "qualifying" tool for services but we need to describe s... Read More
Developmental Language Disorders
Reducing Laryngeal Tension During Stuttering
September 5, 2005
I have three middle school students who are severe stutterers, whose greatest challenges appear at the laryngeal level. Two of them cannot get enough airflow during blocks to permit phonation and have... Read More
Fluency, Atypical Disfluency, and Stuttering