Objective measures of lingual and jaw function in healthy adults and persons with Parkinson's disease: Implications for swallowing.

The study examines the effects of age and Parkinson's disease on lingual and jaw function in neurotypical adults, as well as persons with Parkinson's Disease. Preliminary results provide reference measures in these populations and support the systematic collection of objective data regarding lingual strength, lingual range of motion, and jaw range of motion in clinical populations. The application of this clinically meaningful protocol also provides a means to track physiological changes over time in order to maximize the results of rehabilitative efforts to restore swallow function.

Simultaneous natural speech and AAC interventions for children with childhood apraxia of speech: lessons from a speech-language pathologist focus group.

In childhood apraxia of speech (CAS), children exhibit varying levels of speech intelligibility depending on the nature of errors in articulation and prosody. Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) strategies are beneficial, and commonly adopted with children with CAS. This study focused on the decision-making process and strategies adopted by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) when simultaneously implementing interventions that focused on natural speech and AAC.

Stage transition and laryngeal closure in poststroke patients with dysphagia.

Timely hyolaryngeal excursion and laryngeal closure are essential for safe transfer of the bolus during the pharyngeal swallow. The temporal measures stage transition duration (STD) and laryngeal closure duration (LCD) represent these physiological events. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether small changes in bolus consistency and volume affect these temporal measures in poststroke patients who aspirate, poststroke patients who do not aspirate, and nonneurologically impaired control subjects.