Lessons learned about development and assessment of feasibility of tools for health and rehabilitation services.

Background: Given the dire need for health and rehabilitation services internationally, exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a critical need to develop tools to support service delivery. This need is palpable in the Global South where tools developed in Eurocentric contexts are not always adaptable, applicable, or relevant. It is for this reason that the researchers present three case studies of tool development using pilot and feasibility studies in South Africa and share the lessons learned from these studies.

Decoloniality and healthcare higher education: Critical conversations.

Background: We explore the theoretical and methodological aspects of decolonising speech and language therapy (SLT) higher education in the United Kingdom. We begin by providing the background of the Rhodes Must Fall decolonisation movement and the engagement of South African SLTs in the decoloniality agenda. We then discuss the evolution of decoloniality in SLT, highlighting its focus on reimagining the relationships between participants, students, patients and the broader world.

Emerging professional practices focusing on reducing inequity in speech-language therapy and audiology: a scoping review.

Background: For the professions of audiology and speech-language therapy (A/SLT), there continues be a dire need for more equitable services. Therefore there is a need to develop emerging practices which have a specific focus on equity as a driving force in shifting practices. This scoping review aimed to synthesise the characteristics of emerging practices in A/SLT clinical practice in relation to equity with an emphasis on communication professions.

Questions of suitability: The Sustainable Development Goals.

Purpose: To stimulate critical thought, to challenge how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in supporting people with swallowing/communication disabilities, using a critical, political conscientisation approach.

Result: We generate data from our professional and personal experiences interpreted through a decolonial lens to demonstrate how Eurocentric attitudes and practices are at the core of SLPs' knowledge base. We highlight risks associated with SLPs' uncritical use of human rights, the bases of the SDGs.

Stitching a new garment: Considering the future of the speech-language therapy profession globally.

Providing equitable support for people experiencing communication disability (CD) globally is a historical and contemporary challenge for the speech-language therapy profession. A group of speech-language therapists (SLTs) with ongoing and sustained experiences in Majority and Minority World contexts participated in five virtual meetings in 2021. The aim of these meetings was to develop provocative statements that might spur a global discussion among individuals and organisations that support people experiencing CD.

A survey of communication supports in Grade R classrooms in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Background:  Early classroom communication supports are critical in influencing oral language development and emergent literacy skills. It is both support from peers and adults, as well as the environment that impacts the quality and efficacy of language learning. Schools in particular play a key role in communication development, which will be further explored in this article.

The matrix of linguistic exclusions impeding career construction for D/deaf learners.

Background: The purpose of this research study was to explore how D/deaf learners in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa constructed their careers and what types of support were available for them to do so. The study found that among the support required, support for their linguistic development, particularly Sign Language acquisition, was critical in home, school and community settings.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to highlight the multiple linguistic exclusions faced by D/deaf learners in the Eastern Cape, which negatively impacted their career construction.

Emerging professional practices focusing on reducing inequity in speech-language therapy and audiology: a scoping review protocol.

Background: Human communication is essential for socialising, learning and working. Disabilities and social disadvantage have serious negative consequences on communication which can impact development from early life into adulthood. While speech-language therapists and audiologists (SLT/As) have an important role to play in addressing communication disability and disadvantage, services continue to be inaccessible, unaffordable and unattainable for the majority population.

Creating inclusive Performing Arts practices for development of youth with disabilities: A critical ethnographic study.

Background: Youth with disabilities are a marginalised group in society. This marginalisation traps them and prevents their full participation in social and economic development.

Objective: This study sought to understand how exposure to the Performing Arts facilitates the inclusion of youth with disabilities.

The validity of an isiZulu speech reception threshold test for use with adult isiZulu speakers.

Background: This study continued the development of an isiZulu speech reception threshold (zSRT) test for use with first language, adult speakers of isiZulu.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the convergent and concurrent validity of the zSRT test.

Methods: One hundred adult isiZulu first-language speakers with normal hearing and 76 first-language, adult isiZulu speakers with conductive or sensorineural hearing losses ranging from mild to severe were assessed on pure tone audiometry and a newly developed isiZulu SRT test.

Sustainable workforce: South African Audiologists and Speech Therapists.

Background: Audiologists and Speech Therapists play a vital role in addressing sustainable development goals by supporting people who are marginalised due to communication challenges. The global burden of disease and poor social living conditions impact negatively on the development of healthy communication, therefore requiring the services of Audiologist and Speech therapists. Against this background, we examined the demographic profile and the supply, need and shortfall of Audiologists and Speech Therapists in South Africa.

Debate: Why should gender-affirming health care be included in health science curricula?

Background: Every person who seeks health care should be affirmed, respected, understood, and not judged. However, trans and gender diverse people have experienced significant marginalization and discrimination in health care settings. Health professionals are generally not adequately prepared by current curricula to provide appropriate healthcare to trans and gender diverse people.

Sensitivity of methods for analyzing continuous outcome from stratified cluster randomized trials - an empirical comparison study.

Unlabelled: The assessment of the sensitivity of statistical methods has received little attention in cluster randomized trials (CRTs), especially for stratified CRT when the outcome of interest is continuous. We empirically examined the sensitivity of five methods for analyzing the continuous outcome from a stratified CRT - aimed to investigate the efficacy of the Classroom Communication Resource (CCR) compared to usual care to improve the peer attitude towards children who stutter among grade 7 students. Schools - the clusters, were divided into quintile based on their socio-political resources, and then stratified by quintile.

A cluster randomised trial of a classroom communication resource program to change peer attitudes towards children who stutter among grade 7 students.

Background: Classroom-based stuttering intervention addressing negative peer attitudes, perceptions, teasing and bullying of children who stutter (CWS) is required as part of holistic stuttering management because of its occurrence in primary school. This study was conducted in 2017, in 10 primary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa within lower (second and third) and higher (fourth and fifth) quintiles.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to determine treatment effect at six months after intervention of grade 7 participants (Classroom Communication Resource [CCR] intervention versus no CCR) using global Stuttering Resource Outcomes Measure (SROM) scores in school clusters.

The internal and external consistency of a speech reception threshold test for isiZulu speakers with normal hearing sensitivity.

 This study investigated reliability, particularly the internal and external consistency, of a new isiZulu speech reception threshold (SRT) test. Methods: To examine internal consistency, 21 adult isiZulu speakers with normal hearing sensitivity completed the SRT test using the first and second halves of the SRT wordlist in the same test session. To examine external consistency, a separate 23 adult isiZulu speakers with normal hearing sensitivity completed the SRT test, using the whole word list on two occasions 4 weeks apart.

Towards the preferred stimulus parameters for distortion product otoacoustic emissions in adults: A preliminary study.

 Although distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) are useful in evaluating cochlear outer hair cell function, determining the optimal stimulus parameters could result in a more reliable, sensitive and specific diagnostic tool across the range of DPOAE applications. Objectives: To identify which stimulus parameters warrant further investigation for eliciting the largest and most reliable DPOAEs in adult humans. Method: A single group, repeated measures design involving a convenience sample of 20 normal-hearing participants between 19 and 24 years of age.

A pilot study to determine the feasibility of a cluster randomised controlled trial of an intervention to change peer attitudes towards children who stutter.

 While randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard of research, prior study is needed to determine the feasibility of a future large-scale RCT study. Objectives: This pilot study, therefore, aimed to determine feasibility of an RCT by exploring: (1) procedural issues and (2) treatment effect of the Classroom Communication Resource (CCR), an intervention for changing peer attitudes towards children who stutter. Method: A pilot cluster stratified RCT design was employed whereby the recruitment took place first at school-level and then at individual level.

First-language raters' opinions when validating word recordings for a newly developed speech reception threshold test.

 The purpose of this study was to consider the value of adding first-language speaker ratings to the process of validating word recordings for use in a new speech reception threshold (SRT) test in audiology. Previous studies had identified 28 word recordings as being suitable for use in a new SRT test. These word recordings had been shown to satisfy the linguistic criteria of familiarity, phonetic dissimilarity and tone, and the psychometric criterion of homogeneity of audibility.

The Classroom Communication Resource (CCR) intervention to change peer's attitudes towards children who stutter (CWS): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Children who stutter (CWS) are at a high-risk of being teased and bullied in primary school because of negative peer attitudes and perceptions towards stuttering. There is little evidence to determine if classroom-based interventions are effective in changing peer attitudes towards stuttering. The primary objective is to determine the effect of the Classroom Communication Resource (CCR) intervention versus usual practice, measured using the Stuttering Resource Outcomes Measure (SROM) 6-months post-intervention among grade 7 students.

Clinical educators' experiences of facilitating learning when speaking a different language from both the student and client.

Background: Worldwide there is an increasing responsibility for clinical educators to help students from different language backgrounds to develop the necessary skills to provide health care services to a linguistically diverse client base. This study describes the experiences of clinical educators who facilitate learning in contexts where they are not familiar with the language spoken between students and their clients. A part of the qualitative component of a larger mixed methods study is the focus of this paper.

A systematic review of stimulus parameters for eliciting distortion product otoacoustic emissions from adult humans.

Objective: The objective of this study is to review the scientific literature to determine if a set of stimulus parameters can be described to elicit distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) of higher absolute level and/or greater reliability in healthy adult humans and higher sensitivity and specificity in adults with cochlear lesions.

Design: Systematic review.

Study Sample: Searches of four electronic databases yielded 47 studies that had used different parameters to elicit DPOAEs from within or between-groups of adult humans.

Primary school teachers' opinions and attitudes towards stuttering in two South African urban education districts.

Background: As teachers form an important part of the intervention process with childrenwho stutter in primary school, the primary aim was to describe primary school teachers'attitudes in South Africa. The secondary aim was to compare teachers' attitudes towardsstuttering in South Africa with those from a pooled group of respondents in the Public OpinionSurvey of Human Attributes-Stuttering (POSHA-S) database from different countries collectedin 2009-2014.

Method: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey research design was used.

To be or not to be: Stuttering and the human costs of being "un-disabled".

Purpose: The centrality of communicating in human life means that communication difficulties are experienced at a deeply personal level and have significant implications for identity. Intervention methods may interact positively or negatively with these experiences.

Method: This paper explores this intersection in the case of stuttering, suggesting that some intervention styles may dovetail unhelpfully with the "mainstream" prizing of normalcy.