This article describes an experiential learning activity designed to integrate classroom knowledge and a clinical swallowing assessment. Twenty master’s-level graduate students in a dysphagia course conducted a clinical swallowing assessment with a resident of an independent retirement community. The exercise was designed to allow students an opportunity to obtain a case history and assess the oral motor and swallowing abilities of older adults without clinical dysphagia. The students’ favorable responses from evaluating the experience suggested that it is a beneficial activity to bridge academic knowledge and emerging clinical skills. The areas the students considered most beneficial were the following: asking questions during the case history interview, providing clear explanations and directions during tasks, practicing the clinical task and observing a normal swallow, and increased confidence and competence to perform a clinical swallowing assessment. This activity could be used in academic training programs regardless of location and availability of clients.

Understanding the clinical relationship of otolaryngology and speech-language pathology is important in optimizing care for people with voice and swallowing disorders. Previous surveys of otolaryngologists addressed such areas as treatment of benign vocal fold lesions, acute and chronic vocal nodules in both children and adults, and diagnostic use of videostroboscopy. There have been no such surveys investigating dysphagia. A 20-item questionnaire was mailed to 498 otolaryngologists within five states in the southeastern United States regarding clinical practice and perceptions. A 20.8% response rate was obtained. Descriptive data are presented with regard to both their preferred methods of managing dysphonia and dysphagia and their perceptions of speech-language pathology services for these disorders. Specific suggestions are offered to speech-language pathologists (SLPs) based on the survey data collected.

In this article, the authors describe 14 strategies that may be incorporated into clinical education programs in speech-language pathology in order to help students make a smooth transition from the classroom to on- and off-campus clinical practicum. The strategies are divided into three categories: strategies for the classroom; strategies for the clinic; and strategies to facilitate coordination among academic faculty, clinical faculty, and external preceptors. The suggestions are drawn from the authors’ experience as well as from existing clinical literature.

Survey data were collected from internists and family medicine physicians in Alabama regarding their perceptions of and their working relationship with speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in medical settings. Of the 500 randomly selected physicians within the state of Alabama, 145 (29%) responded. This encouraging response rate illustrated that, overall, the results were positive in the physicians understanding and view of medical SLPs.

Purpose In this article, the authors report a case of acquired stuttering associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) that was responsive to unilateral subthalamic nucleus deep-brain stimulation (STN DBS) in the language-dominant hemisphere. Method A single-subject, masked, multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the effects of unilateral left STN DBS on stuttering associated with PD. The patient underwent 3 formal speech assessments of spontaneous speech and the reading of passages with DBS off and on. Speech samples were videotaped and placed in random order, and 2 independent speech-language pathologists calculated the percentage of stuttered syllables and classified individual stuttering events. Results Stuttering improved significantly in the DBS-on condition. In total, 10% of syllables were affected by stuttering events with DBS off, and less than 1% of syllables were affected by stuttering events with DBS on (n = 2,281 syllables, p < .00001, in a χ2 test). The effect of unilateral STN DBS on stuttering was relatively independent of whether the patient was on or off dopaminergic medications. Conclusion This article emphasizes the important role of the subthalamic region in the motor control of speech and language.