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People with dementia and their families want to see speech and language therapists!

Language and communication difficulties are common in Alzheimer’s disease and, of course, language-led dementia (primary progressive aphasia). Communication difficulties are highlighted as one of the biggest burdens for family members caring for loved ones with dementia. This is often associated...

How long is too long? Waiting times for speech and language therapy

Waiting lists are a reality of clinical practice, and many health and social care professionals become used to having to cope with this. The authors of this paper addressed this issue by examining written submissions to the 2014 Senate Inquiry...

Disrupting assumptions: how to teach queer concepts to speech and language therapists

Policy requiring speech and language therapy courses in America to include multicultural content in their courses was only formally introduced in 1994. Yet sexual orientation was still considered a controversial topic at this time, and it was only in the...

Relationship between early language delays and long-term outcomes

This epidemiological study from Australia, spanning 16 years, explores the influence of early language delays over time on outcomes in affected adults. Based on vocabulary skills at age five, the study population was classified into four groups: persistently good, persistently...

Quality of life measurement tools in children with speech and language difficulties

The authors of this paper reviewed various quality of life measurement tools which are used to assess the effects of speech and language difficulties in children and adolescents. Measuring quality of life outcomes in children with these difficulties is not...

How much does it cost to simulate speech and language therapy placements?

The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists report that 20% of speech and language therapy positions are unfilled in the UK. Consequently, there is an urgent need to offer as many training courses as possible to fill these gaps....

Team based learning in speech language pathology graduate courses

According to the author of this article, the role of a speech language pathologist involves clinical problem solving in both diagnostic and treatment processes. Problem solving involves cooperative collaboration with clients and their parents. Therefore, in this pilot study, the...

Verbal memory and chronic speech and language disorders following stroke

Stroke is often associated with chronic language disorders like aphasia and apraxia as well as memory impairments. Studies have found that memory problems in stroke are often verbal memory disorders. This review article discusses the association between language and short-term...

Four lessons: the development of speech and language therapy research for people with dementia care

Dementia has been described as the biggest expanded caseload for speech and language therapists. Everyone with dementia experiences communication difficulties. The late Prof Audrey Holland revolutionised the work of speech-language pathologists in this field through four key lessons. Lesson 1:...

Speech and language therapy is valuable for people at all stages of dementia

The number of people living with dementia is going to increase significantly over the coming 10-20 years. The authors of this article describe the breadth of the role of speech and language therapists (SLTs) working with people with dementia. They...