Stay informed as a
speech–language
pathologist

If you’re in the cognitive screening business, you’ve heard of the MOCA. And if you’ve heard of the MOCA, you know it used to be free to administer, but now requires a $125.00 certification fee. This has caused quite a bit of confusion for SLPs, as it seems our training should exempt us from this requirement (which was put in place to ensure quality administration).  Some SLPs still use the MOCA without certification while others work in facilities that require them to become certified, sometimes even having to pay out of pocket...

Ableism is the belief or assumption disabled people are inferior to able-bodied people. While there has been much discussion about fighting ableism within autistic and Deaf communities, SLPs have a responsibility to consider how ableism impacts all clients, including those who stutter. (Side note: stuttering, like autism, is a form of neurodiversity.) In this tutorial, Gerlach-Houck & Constantino challenge the one-sided narrative that stuttering is solely a negative experience…

You’re seeing a patient with Parkinson’s disease (PD) for dysphagia therapy. Based on her VFSS results and the fact that these patients often have reduced tongue strength, you’re considering lingual strength training as part of her therapy program. But is it as effective for people with PD as it is in other populations? How much of a difference does it make to use a biofeedback device like the IOPI rather than just doing tongue presses against the hard palate? And how many reps and sets should you be recommending, anyway?

Gestalt language processing (GLP): it is *everywhere* right now, and everyone is talking about it.  Why’s it so hot? We’ll get to that. What even is this? We’ll get to that too, no worries. But the big question that’s been blowing up our email, DMs, and search engine— Is there research behind GLP? Is it EBP?  Quick answer—yes, partly…it’s complicated! So while we wish we could pull this off in a quick soundbite, you’re going to need to grab a chair or an earbud and settle in for the ride. Let’s go!

The CDC rolled out revamped milestone checklists this month, and they’ve caused a lot of stir in the early intervention world. The goal of their project was to reduce the “wait and see” method of surveillance that rules the day in pediatricians’ offices by providing clearer guidance for when further screening and evaluation should be conducted. We can get behind the goals of the project and like many of the changes; however, some of the updated language milestones don’t align with current evidence—in a way that could undermine those goals.

Every time I do any teaching about pediatric feeding, I inevitably get the question, “So… what do you think about baby-led weaning?” Seriously, every time! And rightly so—baby-led weaning (BLW) is gaining popularity across social media and mothers’ group circles everywhere. If you’re not familiar with solids introduction, from about six months of age, infants start to make the transition from being fully milk-fed…