I'm a speech-language pathologist & co-founder of Tactus. Tactus offers evidence-based apps for aphasia therapy and lots of free resources, articles, and education - like this newsletter. Sign up to get my updates 1-2 times a month.
Resource Round-Up: 🧠 Assessments, 🗣 Aphasia, 📄 Articles, & more
It's time for another "Resource Round-Up"! These were the most popular newsletters of 2020, so this year I'm planning to put out at least 6 collections throughout the year of the most exciting new resources that I've found in the medical speech pathology world that may be of interest to you.
1. 🧠 Cognitive Assessments: I found out about 3 cognitive assessment tools I'd never heard of, so I thought maybe some of you haven't heard of them either. Check out these FREE tests from around the world:
- Multifactorial Memory Questionnaire (MMQ) from Baycrest in Canada
- Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam (SAGE) from Ohio State University in the USA
- Free-Cog tool for cognition & executive functioning in dementia from the Greater Manchester NHS in the UK
2. 🤙 Gesture Assessment: We know that people with aphasia use gestures a lot, but how do we assess what they're doing? This open-access research article gives us the City Gesture Checklist to use.
3. 📊 Research Studies: Want to help advance research from the comfort of your home? Take part in one or both of these two research studies that close soon!
- Wanda Kellum of Pace University is looking for Stroke Survivors, Caregiver, and Speech-Language Pathologists to take a 5-minute survey about technology in speech rehab by Saturday, January 23 for her PhD research.
- Dr. Alyssa Lanzi is looking for ASHA-certified SLPs who work with adults with acquired cognitive-communication conditions to take this 30-minute survey by Thursday, January 21.
4. 💻 Getting Online with Aphasia: The Stroke Association in the UK has produced a wonderful aphasia-friendly guide to help people with aphasia get online. They also have a complete set of videos to go with it. An amazing resource!
5. 📺 Aphasia & SLP in the News: Do you remember Gabby Giffords' speech from the DNC last year? Get more inspiration from this aphasia warrior and her SLP Dr. Fabi Hirsch in this fabulous TV interview on the 10th anniversary of her shooting.
6. 😃 Aphasia-Friendly Design: Have you ever wanted to make some of your materials or information from your hospital or clinic more aphasia-friendly? Check out these guidelines from the Stroke Association on exactly what makes something aphasia-friendly, then use the FREE pictographic images from the Aphasia Institute's online ParticiPics portal to illustrate complex concepts.
7. 📄 Chemo Brain: Perhaps you've heard of "chemo brain," but do you know the science behind it? Learn what it is and how to treat it in this clinician-friendly article from The Informed SLP that offers Five Facts + Twelve Clinical Takeaways about Chemo Brain.
8. 💞 Connecting despite COVID: Arguably the most tragic part of the pandemic has been the isolation of people living in long-term care homes. Check out this beautiful guide that give families ideas on how they can connect meaningfully with loved ones in care homes. Get new ideas & share with others.
9. 🏥 Stroke Engine: This is a wonderful resource to learn about the various stroke assessments, and it's been recently revamped to be even better! The Interventions section is a little lacking for communication (to say the least), but you'll find a solid list of tests and other information here.
10. 📄 Scorned Scientist Vindicated: And while we're on the subject of stroke, I wanted to share this article about neuroscientist Anne Abbott who received recognition for her fight to challenge carotid stenting as a stroke-prevention surgery. This resonates with my own clinical experience that has seen many strokes caused by this supposedly preventative procedure. Keep fighting for sound science!
📱 ICYMI - The 5 Most Popular Resources from 2020:
- Setting Goals in Aphasia Therapy - ebook & podcast
- 15 Treatments for Verbal Expression - quick guide with evidence
- 50 Things to Help a Person with Aphasia - handy list of ideas
- Top 10 Word-Finding Strategies - article with handout & apps
- How-To: Semantic Feature Analysis - a guide to the classic treatment
I hope you found something of interest here! Have a great week and stay safe,
Megan
P.S. If you have something you would like me to consider adding to the next Resource Round-Up, please send it my way!
P.P.S. I'm going to be on a panel discussion about meaningful practice on Saturday, January 30. Sign up for this free educational opportunity entitled "Shaping Competence through Collaboration in a Healthcare Setting."
Megan @ Tactus Therapy
I'm a speech-language pathologist & co-founder of Tactus. Tactus offers evidence-based apps for aphasia therapy and lots of free resources, articles, and education - like this newsletter. Sign up to get my updates 1-2 times a month.
When someone talks to you 💬, whether to ask a question or share information, they expect you to understand. 👍 The same thing happens on the rehab unit. If you're a person with aphasia, you might not get the full message. 😕 And that could make it a lot harder for you to get the most out of your therapy sessions. It's not surprising that auditory comprehension plays a major role in rehab success and quality of life post-discharge (Wallace et al., 2022). Even our patients with the types of...
From listening to directions📍, to enjoying a podcast🎤️, to having a quick chat at the grocery store💬 ... spoken language is all around us. After a stroke or brain injury, understanding can be a real challenge in daily life. But you're not alone—and there are simple strategies that can make a big difference. 💬✨ Learn more about communication partner training here 👂How to Support Understanding Spouses, friends, and family of loved ones with aphasia or other neurological conditions can play a...
Hi Reader, You know you're an SLP when... …you collect take-out menus for functional therapy materials. 🍔 …you schedule lunch into your calendar, but you never seem to eat it. 📆 …you feel like a superhero if you actually finish documentation between sessions. 🦸♀️ Helping our patients make progress is incredibly rewarding. But being an SLP means juggling a lot: staying current, writing notes, planning relevant therapy, and yes—remembering to eat lunch. 🤹 That’s why we created the Tactus...