Speech Therapy Telepractice

Over the past 10 years or so, speech and language therapists have become involved in the assessment and management of acquired dysphagia, prompting much discussion about this new role. Surveys have indicated the growing number of dysphagia referrals (RCSLT, 1992) and the importance of the contribution of the speech and language therapist (Kennedy, 1992). The Dysphagia Forum held in July 1992 (RCSLT, 1992) highlighted some of the concerns of practising clinicians regarding this new role and one of the 10 recommendations following this Forum was for more specific statements to be made about the training of speech and language therapists to work with such clients. Whilst professionally, with the support of the College of Speech and Language Therapists, there is now consensus that speech and language therapists have a role with acquired dysphagia, there remains discussion and uncertainty about the necessary training and competency levels required by therapists to fulfil this role. The current political and academic climate focuses strongly upon competency and being able to prove professional worth and quality of service delivery. It is therefore essential that speech and language therapists have evidence of their competency with dysphagia. Given these issues, the topic of training and competency of the speech and language therapist with acquired dysphagia was chosen for an MSc dissertation carried out at the University of Portsmouth between June‐December 1994

The massive growth of data consumption and the variety of wireless technology emergence has made the handover (HO) an attractive research topic nowadays, mainly due to the popularity of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), which allow users to reach high-speed data communication while they are in movement. Moreover, mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones have also become increasingly popular due to their low cost and ease of use, and an increase in mobile device use is expected to accelerate in the coming years, along with the availability and use of applications such as real-time services and online gaming. The traditional HO methods will likely not meet the requirements of mobile devices for modern applications due to the lack of intelligence, lack of awareness Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) requirements of mobile users. We, therefore, introduce a novel architecture that supports horizontal HO in homogenous networks. This architecture is based on the Software-Defined Wireless Networking (SDWN) concept, where the wireless network is controlled centrally and the wireless Access Points (APs) are programmable. In this architecture, HO algorithms will assist wireless users to find the network that could best support the application requirements through Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) management policies. The first HO algorithm proposed in this thesis is called Quality of Experience Oriented Handover Algorithm. This algorithm will guarantee the best possible connectivity to the users in terms of their QoE and QoS requirements and outperforms the traditional methods in a sparse network environment. The second contribution is called Optimised Handover Algorithm for Dense WLAN Environments. This algorithm has been designed to address dense network environments via taking into consideration the Adaptive Hysteresis Value (AHV). The AHV will help the Optimised Handover Algorithm via reducing the so-called ping-pong effect. This contribution shows promising performance results by selecting the best candidate AP, decreasing the number of redundant HO and avoiding the ping-pong effect. The final contribution is called Priority Based Handover Algorithm. We extended our proposed SDWN architecture in order to include the concept of prioritising users and make a smart decision during the process of HO. This algorithm will prioritise a certain class of users to avoid the effect of the over-congestion. The results show that the approach based on priority outperforms the state of the art and provides better QoE to the high priority users despite the over-congestion situation.

In order to ensure the optimization of teaching quality and enhance students' professional quality, this paper puts forward a new way of assessment system in the course of advertising design. The innovation of this system is to break the traditional single assessment method, combining TOPCARES-CDIO talent training mode with the characteristics of advertising design course, further subdivided the traditional assessment methods examination's capabilities. The system stat from eight comprehensive ability index T, O, P, C, A, R, E, S, and divided into C, D, I, O four stages to investigate the teachers' teaching and students learning effect. It has the dual function of guidance and feedback, which makes the relationship between teaching and examination more closely. After three years of teaching practice, it is proved that this is a successful and meaningful teaching reform, and it can provide reference for the construction of the assessment system of most design courses. 1. The Significance of Improving the Assessment System of the Advertising Design Course Most of the advertising design courses and the textbooks used just focus on the forms of expression, components, page layout and other formal aspects. Admittedly, an excellent designer should not go without beauty; however, he or she should not neglect the prerequisites of existence and the environment of survival of advertisements, misled into turning out nothing. The ultimate purpose of advertising is to get across information to the public for recognition through informing and persuading or to enhance a brand's perception for the public to purchase. Merely learning something that is formally beautiful far falls short of that goal. It also requires the designer to fulfill a series of tasks involving pre-project research, discussion of proposal, strategy-making, creative expression, making and implementation, system integration and operation and redevelopment. To successfully go through the flow, the designers are expected to have acquired solid professional expertise, along with other essential abilities involving innovation, teamwork, communication and market adoption. However, most advertisement design courses suffer deviations and limitations in fostering students' abilities, which has contributed to the gap between the students trained by universities and colleges and the talents really needed by the market. A number of educators have come to realize the problem and are seeking to introduce reforms. Yet the

The article discusses the types of strokes, general statistics and prevalence of strokes in the world and in Ukraine. The survey and tendencies to occurrence in younger people were carried out; the factors of stroke occurrence in young people have been studied. Statistics on the uneven distribution of strokes by gender were analyzed. It has been determined that women are at higher risk of suffering a severe or fatal stroke than men. The main reasons for such statistics are indicated. The main types of speech and language impairments that can occur after cerebral circulatory disorders are analyzed. The leading signs of aphasia, apraxia and dysarthria in adults have been identified. The definition of progressive apraxia of speech is revealed. It is established that these disorders occur due to damage to the language areas of the brain. The advantages of using electronic means of communication in speech-language therapy during quarantine restrictions and martial law in Ukraine are revealed. Software and messengers were characterised, such as Google Meet, Zoom, Teams, and Skype, that are used during distance and/or face-to-face sessions with a speech language pathologist. The main advantages of using these programs and the requirements for a speech language pathologist in the use of electronic means of communication are described. The concept of "social networks" and their impact on the rehabilitation of adult patients is revealed. The positive aspects of using social networks with adults during speech-language therapy, in particular Instagram and Facebook, are highlighted. Mobile applications are described as an additional means of restoring various aspects of speech, language and higher mental functions. It is noted that the current situation in the country, taking into account quarantine restrictions and martial law, can not provide full, continuous and quality speech language therapy in these cases, which leads to the conclusion that the lack of effectiveness of using exclusively traditional methods and techniques to compensate speech and language disorders caused by stroke, and encourages further search for ways to improve it by electronic means of communication. The author sees the need for a research aimed at studying the use of electronic means of communication in speech language therapy for people who have suffered a stroke.

Musical activities stress nonverbal forms of communication and often surpass physical, cultural, intellectual, and emotional limitations. Actively using music in learning experiences involves the whole child through incorporation of rhythm, movement, and speech. Within the public school setting, traditional communication training methods can be supplemented with musical activities. General application and specific uses of music within speech-language therapy will be described.

10 Tips For Testing Hearing in Children With Autism

Speech intelligibility is an essential though complex construct in speech pathology. In this paper, we investigated the interrater reliability and validity of two types of intelligibility measures: a rating-based measure, through Visual Analogue Scales (VAS), and a transcription-based measure called Accuracy of Words (AcW), through two forms of orthographic transcriptions, one containing only existing words (EWTrans) and one allowing all sorts of words, including both existing words and pseudowords (AWTrans). Both VAS and AcW scores were collected from five expert raters. We selected speakers with various severity levels of dysarthria (SevL) and employed two types of speech materials, i.e. meaningful sentences and word lists. To measure reliability, we applied Generalizability Theory, which is relatively unknown in the field of pathological speech and language research but enables more comprehensive analyses than traditional methods, e.g., the intraclass correlation coefficient. The results convincingly indicate that five expert raters were sufficient to provide reliable rating-based (VAS) and transcription-based (AcW) measures, and that reliability increased as the number of raters or utterances increased. Generalizability Theory has proved effective in systematically dealing with reliability issues in our experimental design. We also investigated construct and concurrent validity. Construct validity was addressed by exploring the correlations between VAS and AcW within and across speech materials. Concurrent validity was addressed by exploring the correlations between our measures, i.e. VAS and AcW, and two external measures, i.e. phoneme intelligibility and SevL. The correlations corroborate the validity of VAS and AcW to assess speech intelligibility, both in sentences and word lists.

The publication studies the relevance and importance of information and communication technologies studying for future speech therapy teachers in the professional activities, as well as the future prospects for this work area development. The article considers and analyzes a study that was conducted in the brands of conversations using Google forms with students of the first (36.7%), second (8.2%) and third (55.1%) courses of study of the State Budget Educational Institution of Higher Education of the Republic of Crimea Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University the name of Fevzi Yakubov studying in the specialty Speech Therapy. The topic of the conversation is “The Prospects for Studying Information and Communication Technologies for the Future Speech Therapy Teachers”. A quantitative and qualitative conversation analysis was carried out, on the basis of which the prospects for studying information and communication technologies for the future speech therapy teachers in their professional activities were determined. The study results showed that the future speech therapy teacher majority considers this area of work promising. As well as many students believe that for effective speech therapy activities it is necessary to introduce new innovative information and communication technologies, some students claim that they will take part in the research work in this direction. Accordingly, the conversation analysis showed an increased demand among future speech therapy teachers to the study and use of information and communication technologies in their professional activities, which suggests further research in this direction, and also determines trends in the field of education and speech therapy.KeywordsSpeech therapist teacherInformation and communication technologiesProfessional activityQuestionnaire surveyConversation

Cleft lip and palate (CLP) is a prevalent congenital anomaly associated with persistent speech disorders, including articulation errors, resonance imbalances, and nasal emission, despite surgical repair. Access to specialized speech-language pathologist care remains limited, particularly in remote and underserved regions. Telehealth has emerged as a scalable solution, yet systematic evidence on its efficacy, technological reliability, and implementation in CLP-specific speech therapy is lacking. This systematic review critically evaluates the effectiveness of telehealth-based speech interventions in improving articulation, resonance, nasal emission, and intelligibility in children with repaired CLP, while examining technological modalities, feasibility, data security, and barriers to adoption. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar from inception to 30 December 2025 using structured Boolean terms combining CLP, speech therapy, and telepractice. Interventional studies in English reporting paediatric speech outcomes were included. Data were extracted on study design, sample characteristics, intervention delivery, outcomes, and risk of bias using RoB 2.0, ROBINS-I, and SCED tools. Narrative synthesis was applied due to heterogeneity. Eleven studies demonstrated consistent improvements in articulation accuracy (e.g., PCC increases of 15%-30%), resonance, and intelligibility via synchronous (Zoom, WhatsApp) and hybrid platforms. AI-assisted feedback and acoustic optimization enhanced fidelity. High caregiver satisfaction, reduced costs, and continuity during restrictions were key resilience factors. Connectivity issues, audio distortion, and small sample sizes were common limitations. Risk of bias was moderate overall. Telehealth is a clinically effective, feasible, and secure modality for CLP speech rehabilitation, comparable to in-person therapy when technologically optimized. Hybrid models and caregiver integration are recommended. Large-scale RCTs are needed to confirm long-term efficacy and cost-effectiveness WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject Telehealth has been used for speech therapy in various paediatric populations, with evidence of comparable outcomes to in-person care during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, prior to this review, no systematic synthesis existed specifically evaluating telepractice for speech disorders in children with repaired cleft lip and/or palate, despite their unique needs for targeted articulation and resonance intervention. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This review demonstrates that telehealth-based speech therapy consistently improves articulation accuracy, resonance, and intelligibility in children with repaired cleft lip and palate, with gains equivalent to in-person therapy across synchronous and hybrid models. It identifies platform-specific acoustic fidelity (e.g., Google Meet, optimized hardware) and caregiver engagement as critical enablers, while highlighting connectivity and audio distortion as manageable barriers. These findings establish telepractice as a viable, scalable standard for cleft-related speech rehabilitation. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this study? Clinicians can confidently implement hybrid telepractice models with encrypted platforms and external microphones to maintain treatment continuity, especially in underserved areas. Routine integration of caregiver training and AI-assisted feedback is recommended to enhance adherence and outcomes. Health systems should prioritize low-bandwidth protocols and standardized acoustic calibration to ensure equitable access.

The authentication via accelerometer-based biometric gait recognition offers a user-friendly alternative to common authentication methods on smartphones. It has the great advantage that the authentication can be performed without user interaction. When the user is walking, his walk-pattern can be extracted from the accelerations measured using the integrated sensors of the smartphone. This pattern can be used for authentication. A study showed that users often deactivate the authentication methods of their mobile devices because they consume too much time. Because all steps necessary to perform biometric gait recognition can be executed in the background, no user interaction is necessary for the presented technique. Performing a continuous authentication while the user is walking, an up-to-date authentication result is available at any point in time. During log-in, no calculations are necessary anymore, hence there is no delay. Only in cases where the user is not walking, an alternative authentication method has to be used. This is a great benefit for the user because he has the advantages of a phone which is protected by authentication but without the disadvantages common methods impose. This high user-friendliness is likely to increase the number of smartphones for which the screen-lock is linked with an authentication. Therefore, a higher security of the data stored in smartphones can be achieved. A misuse of the stored information by an unauthorized user can be prevented. Due to the growing distribution of powerful smartphones, the number of available applications is increasing as well. These applications result in a growing amount of data stored on the devices, which make the protection of the device necessary. These data comprise e.g. addresses, appointments or GPS-information. Additionally, some applications, e.g. of e-mail-providers or social networks, require the user to authenticate himself. Often these credentials are stored by the user on the phone, such that it is not necessary to enter them each time. In case an unauthorized person has access to such a phone he can use these services without restrictions and therefore substantially harm the user. The objective of this thesis was to develop methods for accelerometer-based biometric gait recognition which achieve sufficient low error rates, as well as to demonstrate that their computational effort is low and allows for an execution on current smartphones. Because the basis of existing methods is the extraction of gait cycles (i.e. two steps) from the accelerometer data, a cycle-based method was developed and evaluated in a scenario test. This method uses raw data of the gait cycles as feature vectors and accomplishes the classification using distance functions. In addition, a further approach was selected, which does not need the time-costly and error-prone gait cycle extraction. Instead, it is using overlapping segments of a fixed time length. Several features are extracted from these segments and combined to feature vectors. Machine learning algorithms are used for classification. A benchmark of the approaches on a challenging database showed that these methods yield low equal error rates between 6% and 7% and are outperforming the cycle-based methods. These error rates were achieved under the realistic conditions that training and probe data are not collected on the same day. It was shown that five minutes of gait data are sufficient to thoroughly train the models. It should be regarded that the training data contain the different walking velocities at which the user should be recognized later on. To obtain low false rejection rates, the classification should be based on around three minutes walk data. Two of the developed methods were implemented on a smartphone. It was shown that both methods are able to perform the classification fast enough to allow for an authentication without delay for the user.

Introduction: Oral diseases being a preventable oral condition and a non-communicable disease could be of little concern but about 3 billion people suffer from these conditions worldwide. This study seeks to evaluate the means and methods of oral hygiene and disease prevention in the city of Douala by adults. The population of Douala is chosen due to the fact Douala is a metropolitan city and most representative of the Cameroonian population in which similar studies have not been carried out. Methodology: A cross-sectional questionnaire study was carried out with random sampling of 498 participants. Data was collected using a questionnaire based on the objectives which included identifying the means and methods used, the behaviors of the population in relation to oral disease prevention, the reasons for the behaviors and the methods and used as well as determining their satisfaction in oral disease prevention using the latter means, methods and behaviors. The data inputted, organized and analyzed using Microsoft excel 2016 and SPSS version 26. In addition to percentages, chi square and regression analyses were carried out and represented for various variables in the questionnaire. Results: It was found out that the population of Douala generally had an above average satisfaction in oral disease prevention due to the use of more conventional means and methods like toothbrushes (94.78%) and bicarbonate mouthwash (27.4%) while the main traditional substance was the neem extract (18.75%), and green tea extracts (16.67%). Their main reasons for using these methods were effectiveness (38.55%), low cost (20.88) and availability (20.08%) with a significant relationship between traditional methods and low cost. Majority of the population used both conventional and traditional methods (55.16%). The studied population show better oral hygiene and disease prevention with a higher level of education and greater monthly allowance. Conclusion: After this evaluation, proper oral healthcare in disease prevention produces satisfaction with oral hygiene at least twice a day with toothbrush and bicarbonate mouthwash, carrying out routine dental visits, participating in sensitization which are directly related to education and finances. In the same light, traditional methods include chew stick, extracts like green tea and neem.

Background Teachers are professional voice users. Long‐term and intensive voice use, noisy environments, personal factors and occupational stress experienced by these professional voice users may negatively affect vocal health, along with psycho‐emotional factors such as depression. Aim This cross‐sectional and comparative study aimed to compare depressive symptoms between teachers at risk for voice disorders and those without such risk and to examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and voice‐related disability levels among teachers at risk for voice disorders. Methods and Procedures A total of 130 teachers were included in this study, comprising 64 participants in the study group and 66 in the control group. The Screening Index for Voice Disorder (SIVD‐TR) was used to identify teachers at risk for voice disorders. Based on the SIVD‐TR cutoff score, participants were divided into two groups: the study group (SIVD‐TR ≥ 4; at risk for voice disorders) and the control group (SIVD‐TR < 4; without risk). The Voice Handicap Index (VHI‐10) was used to assess voice‐related disability, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES‐D) was employed to evaluate depressive symptoms and compare them between groups. Outcomes and Results The mean years of professional experience and the average class size of the study group were higher than those of the control group, and this difference was found to be statistically significant ( p < 0.05). The mean VHI‐10 and CES‐D scores of the study group were significantly higher compared to the control group ( p < 0.001). Among the study group participants, there was a moderate and statistically significant positive correlation between SIVD‐TR and VHI‐10 scores ( r = 0.429, p < 0.001), as well as between VHI‐10 and CES‐D scores ( r = 0.413, p = 0.001). In addition, a weak but statistically significant positive correlation was observed between SIVD‐TR and CES‐D scores ( r = 0.261, p = 0.037). Conclusions and Implications It was observed that teachers at risk for voice disorders had longer professional experience and taught in more crowded classrooms. Teachers at risk for voice disorders were found to have significantly higher levels of voice problems and depression symptoms compared to those not at risk. A relationship was identified between the level of voice‐related disability and depression symptoms in this population. Early intervention through screening programs may support teachers’ vocal health and psychological well‐being. Therefore, it is essential to consider the psycho‐emotional state of teachers at risk for voice disorders during the assessment and intervention processes. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS What is already known on the subject Teachers are more likely to experience voice problems compared to the general population due to high vocal demands, large class sizes, number of students, classroom noise, insufficient humidity levels and occupational stress. Voice problems can negatively affect teachers’ professional performance and quality of life. Additionally, it is known that psycho‐emotional conditions such as depression are associated with voice and voice disorders. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge This study compared depressive symptoms among teachers at risk for voice disorders and those without, and explored the relationship between depressive symptoms and levels of voice‐related disability among teachers at risk for voice disorders. Teachers at risk for voice disorders were found to have significantly higher levels of voice problems and depression symptoms compared to those not at risk. A relationship was identified between the level of voice‐related disability and depression symptoms in this population. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? The findings of this study indicate that clinical approaches to teachers’ vocal health should not be limited to vocal function alone. Professionals working in the field of voice should consider the psychological state of teachers presenting with voice complaints alongside their vocal functioning during assessment and intervention processes. This research provides an evidence‐based foundation to support multidisciplinary collaboration among speech and language therapists, psychological counsellors, psychiatrists, laryngologists and school administrators.

Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter Facebook Reddit LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Reprints and Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation A. D. Sharma, A. K. Sharma, N. Thakur; Explosively generated shock wave processing of metal powders by instrumented detonics. AIP Conf. Proc. 3 June 2013; 1536 (1): 1169–1170. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4810654 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAIP Publishing PortfolioAIP Conference Proceedings Search Advanced Search |Citation Search

The Cochlear implant or ‘Bionic ear’ is a device that enables people who do not get sufficient benefit from a hearing aid to communicate with the hearing world. The Cochlear implant is not an amplifier, but a device that electrically stimulates the auditory nerve in a way that crudely mimics normal hearing, thus providing a hearing percept. Many recipients are able to understand running speech without the help of lipreading. Cochlear implants have reached a stage of maturity where there are now 170 000 recipients implanted worldwide. The commercial development of these devices has occurred over the last 30 years. This development has been multidisciplinary, including audiologists, engineers, both mechanical and electrical, histologists, materials scientists, physiologists, surgeons and speech pathologists. This paper will trace the development of the device we have today, from the engineering perspective. The special challenges of designing an active device that will work in the human body for a lifetime will be outlined. These challenges include biocompatibility, extreme reliability, safety, patient fitting and surgical issues. It is emphasized that the successful development of a neural prosthesis requires the partnership of academia and industry.

This contribution deals with a comparison of two traditional approaches and one AI-based data mining tool to collect and interpret data for prospect generation. Traditional prospect generation methods like manual web search or using purchased data from external providers may create high costs and efforts and are subject to failures and waste coverage through outdated and untargeted data. In contrast, AI-based methods claim to provide better results at lower costs. Based on a real case, the authors compare effects of these three prospect generation methods. AI-based data mining tools compensate for some weaknesses of other methods, especially because they do not need pre-defined selection criteria which might bias the results. In addition, they involve less effort from the researcher. However, the results in generating concrete prospects may be still weaker than with traditional methods if web crawling activities are influenced by underlying databases. For academic research in the field of prospect generation, this study provides a fact-based comparison of approaches. Implications for businesses include the advice to combine methods rather than to rely on a single approach. The time available for research and the complexity of the target market have an influence on the selection of the prospect generation approach.KeywordsProspectingSystematic manual web researchCommercial dataData miningMethod comparison