Aug '22 - AAC Tech & Effects in Speech Therapy Post Pandemic

🍉 There are a melon reasons to love speech therapy

🔥 During the last month, we explored AAC in our Noala Club, highlighting our key research papers and points from our free online session 

💻 Children & Young People writes, "Support from childminders and nurseries is 'even more important' in preparing children for school following the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Ofsted."

👇 If you want to read more about what's been happening with noala and get access to our 1 month free summer offering, scroll to the bottom 

💜 Little by little, our community grows, building stronger connections

During Noala Club we read more on the, "Interventions Using High-Technology Communication Devices: A State of the Art Review" by Susan B - full text and more available on our platform

Key points from our online session and paper review: 

• All behaviour is communication
• It's important that AAC is the voice of an individual, not a part-time device for therapy
• Setting outcomes, to include happiness and confidence as a goal 
• During the pandemic, progress was increased as parents sat in session, understanding how they can continue at home - post-pandemic, therapists find it harder to keep everyone on board; online vs in-person

We would love to hear from you! Feel free to share your experience working with AAC devices with the Noala community on our forum and join our next Noala Club free online session

Noala Club, 20 Sep

During the month of July, we interviewed Nia Johnson, EdD, CCC-SLP, over 20 years of speech therapy experience

Nia is based in South Carolina, with over 20 years of experience working with both adults and children with a wide range of communication challenges in various settings.

Starting off with how you decided to become an SLP? 
I was a nursing major in undergraduate school. My sophomore year I got accepted into the nursing program, but then the nursing program was no longer offered at my institution. I love my school and did not want to transfer. I met with my advisor and told her to help me find a major that will not make me stay in school longer. It turned out to be speech pathology and audiology. That was the best decision ever!

What's your typical day like as a SLP?
I am currently a full-time professor of speech pathology and audiology and see a couple of clients on the side. My typical is pretty busy. I teach undergraduate courses in the morning and attend departmental meeting. We have an on-campus speech clinic, supervising student clinicians while they conduct therapy sessions and provide feedback. At the end of most days, there is evening graduate school course planning, and the evenings there isn't graduate class, I am seeing clients via tele-therapy. 

What advice would you give to your younger self? 
I would tell my younger self that the places you are headed have already prepared for your presence. Stay persistent.

How the past 2 years / Covid has impacted your practice? 
There were noticeable changes that emerged as a response to the pandemic in the field of speech language pathology. Those with cognitive, communication, physical, social, or emotional developmental delays had to learn in an entirely new setting. Virtual therapy can be done from any location, and it gave therapists expanded access to reach a whole new pool of clients, especially hard-to-reach areas that may not have many options for speech-language services. The pandemic also impacted the way programs prepare future speech-language pathologists. Under ordinary circumstances, speech language pathology students in graduate programs make in-person visits to health care facilities, where they can observe and learn from experienced clinicians. But these types of immersive learning opportunities became impossible because of coronavirus-related restrictions on social interactions. Programs have incorporated evidence-based alternatives to traditional clinical education, including the use of standardised patients and simulated experiences. 

Other news we've been reading

👉 Children & Young People writes, "Support from childminders and nurseries is 'even more important' in preparing children for school following the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Ofsted."

🎙 The Wrap shares Top Gun actor, Val Kilmer's, recent collaboration with an AI software company after losing his speech to throat cancer in 2014 - able to continue his 'creative soul' 

👀 National Library of Medicine published a descriptive study on "Physician Time Spent Using the Electronic Health Record During Outpatient Encounters" 

💻 RCSLT shares the report by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee, noting that they recognise the shortage of SLTs and inadequate workforce planning, as well as across other health care professions

🎥 Amanda Mammana, who has a speech impediment took the stage at AGT - proving that music connect us all - “Music is such a powerful catalyst for positive change. When words fail, music speaks!” 

What's been happening at Noala 

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 During this month, we're thrilled to have launched Noala Hub, opening our online platform to families with children of speech and language difficulties

🌈 Within our community we published Johanna Pino Grisales' tips to, "Effective time management as a telehealth provider" and "Red flags to identify a bilingual child is at risk to develop a language disorder" to our noala blog

🎙 Our podcast with Stammer Stories & Rachael Iaquinto went live, focusing on stammering and exploring both their journeys from a personal and professional perspective 

🔥 Celebrating with our community and users currently managing 36 patients via noala, benchmarking our largest caseload per one SLP so far 

💌 Since launching, more than 400 therapy plans have been created by the Noala community on our platform

💸 In spirit of summer, we're delighted to offer 1 month free trial to our Noala Pro platform - make sure you utilise our content team to request new exercises

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