Analysis of Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Students\u27 Experience with Thickened Liquids

Purpose: Thickened liquids are frequently recommended for patients with dysphagia to minimize aspiration. When discussing the use of thickened liquids with graduate students in Communication Sciences & Disorders (CSD), it is beneficial to discuss the potential effect(s) of this dietary recommendation. Graduate level preparation involving first-hand experience with thickened liquids may help future speech-language pathologists (SLPs) develop a more complete understanding of the effects of diet modification. The purpose of the current study was to examine the reactions of graduate students in CSD to a brief period of thickened liquid use as an experiential learning activity. Methods: Sixty-eight graduate students enrolled in an accredited CSD program completed the study. As part of a class assignment, students were instructed to consume only thickened liquids for 24 hours. No further restrictions on food intake were made. Each student wrote a brief summary detailing his/her experience at the conclusion of the thickened liquid intake session. The narratives were examined for key terms that seemed to define the participants’ experiences. Results: Experiential terms were divided into physical symptoms, emotional responses, and behavioral changes. Common symptoms included persistent thirst, dryness, fatigue, perception of the experience as being unpleasant, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. Conclusion: Many of the symptoms were associated with dehydration secondary to reduced fluid intake, per the students’ reports. Specific symptoms included craving water, fatigue, and headache. All participants reported a greater understanding of thickened liquid use upon completion

Assessing and Teaching Critical Thinking in Communication Science and Disorders

Critical thinking is considered to be an important aspect in the training of communication science and disorders students. This paper provides information on the definition, assessment, and teaching of critical thinking. Important critical thinking skills and dispositions include challenging assumptions underlying statements, recognizing the effect of context on perceptions, understandings, and interpretations of the world, developing alternative explanations for observed data they observe, and exhibiting reflective skepticism. Increasing these skills and dispositions help a student develop into a skilled clinician. Assessing students’ clinical thinking skills can be done with tests of general skills, but these often lack validity and reliability. Assessments also can test content or discipline specific thinking skills. Teaching critical skills and dispositions has been done in stand-alone courses and as material embedded within other courses. Within the courses, techniques such as problem-based learning, team-based learning, and case presentations have been effective with mind and concept mapping as tools to visualize how the students think about the material

Auditory Feedback Control of Vocal Pitch during Sustained Vocalization: A Cross-Sectional Study of Adult Aging

Background: Auditory feedback has been demonstrated to play an important role in the control of voice fundamental frequency (F0), but the mechanisms underlying the processing of auditory feedback remain poorly understood. It has been well documented that young adults can use auditory feedback to stabilize their voice F0 by making compensatory responses to perturbations they hear in their vocal pitch feedback. However, little is known about the effects of aging on the processing of audio-vocal feedback during vocalization. Methodology/Principal Findings: In the present study, we recruited adults who were between 19 and 75 years of age and divided them into five age groups. Using a pitch-shift paradigm, the pitch of their vocal feedback was unexpectedly shifted 650 or 6100 cents during sustained vocalization of the vowel sound/u/. Compensatory vocal F0 response magnitudes and latencies to pitch feedback perturbations were examined. A significant effect of age was found such that response magnitudes increased with increasing age until maximal values were reached for adults 51–60 years of age and then decreased for adults 61–75 years of age. Adults 51–60 years of age were also more sensitive to the direction and magnitude of the pitch feedback perturbations compared to younger adults. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that the pitch-shift reflex systematically changes across the adult lifespan. Understanding aging-related changes to the role of auditory feedback is critically important for our theoretica