How A Spinal Muscular Atrophy Breakthrough Created a Greater Need for SLPs

SLPs share how mindfulness tools help people focus on the present moment and ease their communication with others.Michael Boyle (Montclair State University) is an SLP who uses these tools personally and professionally. He discusses what these tools offer people who stutter and addresses misconceptions about mindfulness. Plus, in an interactive element, Boyle guides listeners through a mindfulness exercise.Later in the episode, SLP Jean Neils-Strunjas (University of South Carolina) joins me for a conversation on mindfulness and aging. And, she speaks on the benefits she’s seen for people with aphasia and the research she’s doing related to mindful walking.Learn More:ASHA Convention Presentation: Cultivating Mindfulness to Enhance Communication Outcomes for Individuals With Communication DisordersASHA Voices: Stuttering and Stigma With SLP Derek DanielsJournal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research: Age-Related Hearing Loss, Cognitive Decline, and Social Interaction: Testing a FrameworkRead the Transcript

Audiologist Sarah Kingsbury, is asking big questions about what happens to our vestibular system in extreme environments, like when piloting an aircraft or even traveling through space.Kingsbury works as a senior research technologist and assistant professor of audiology at the Aerospace Medicine and Vestibular Research Laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. She's also pursuing a PhD in aerospace at the University of North Dakota.On the podcast, Kingsbury discusses opportunities for innovation and shares personal stories of inspiration. And she highlights the role of mentorship in her career and vestibular research.Kingsbury is one of 12 early-career professionals featured in the September/October ASHA Leader. Look for more profiles of early-career professionals online soon.Learn More:ASHA Voices: Career Origin Stories – Multilingual Service ProvidersDiagnosis and Management of Balance Vestibular DisorderASHA Practice Portal: Balance System DisordersTranscript

We catch up with researchers Jeff Holt and Karen Avraham about the state of gene therapy for addressing hearing loss and deafness. Both are part of the Research Symposium on Hearing at the 2024 ASHA Convention.Our guests explain what recent breakthroughs, including successful clinical trials, mean for the future of gene therapy. They comment on audiologists' potential role in treatment and assessment related to gene therapy.You can learn more about gene therapy and hearing loss at the Research Symposium on Hearing at the 2024 ASHA Convention in Seattle this December.Learn More:Research Symposium on HearingASHA Voices: Revisiting Conversations on Gene Therapy and Hearing LossFirst Deaf Gene Therapy Recipient in U.S. Gains Hearing

In its most severe forms, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) was once thought to be unavoidably terminal. But recent developments are allowing those with the disorder to live longer, healthier lives, and today’s guest says this means a greater need for speech-language pathologists' services.SLP Katlyn McGrattan (University of Minnesota; Masonic Children's Hospital) says advances in treating SMA essentially created a new condition. She explains the role SLPs play in treating feeding and swallowing issues, dysarthria, and other such conditions seen in this emerging patient population.Later in the episode, hear from the mother of a son with SMA. She shares her family’s experience.Learn More:ASHA Voices: Exploring Caregiver-Provider InteractionsDysphagia Phenotypes in Spinal Muscular Atrophy: The Past, Present, and Promise for the FutureASHA Evidence Map: Spinal Muscular AtrophyTranscript

How do you foster an environment that is conducive to retaining students with a diversity of experiences and backgrounds? In this second of two parts, a panel of faculty members from CSD programs discuss recruitment and retention of diverse and under-represented CSD professionals.Learn More:ASHAWire Special Collection: Culturally Responsive Teaching and LearningPerspectives Forum Highlights Holistic AdmissionsMinnesota CSD Program Formalizes Support for Students of ColorFrom My Perspective/Opinion: Advancing Justice, Equity in the Pipeline to the ProfessionsASHA Voices: HBCU Leaders Share Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Underrepresented Students in CSDTranscript

A panel of faculty members from CSD programs discuss recruitment and retention of diverse and under-represented CSD professionals. In this first of two parts, guests share personal experiences with and insights on holistic admissions.Learn More:Perspectives Forum Highlights Holistic AdmissionsASHAWire Special Collection: Culturally Responsive Teaching and LearningMinnesota CSD Program Formalizes Support for Students of ColorFrom My Perspective/Opinion: Advancing Justice, Equity in the Pipeline to the ProfessionsASHA Voices: HBCU Leaders Share Strategies for Recruiting and Retaining Underrepresented Students in CSDTranscript: A Conversation on Holistic Admissions

Hear career-origin stories from three CSD professionals. From a wooden boat crossing the South China Sea, to a mother’s unexpected suggestion, to a love of language … guests share the parts of their lives that inspired and shaped their careers.All of today’s guests are multilingual, and throughout each story, they discuss what it’s meant for them to incorporate multilingualism into their work.Learn More:ASHA Voices: A Personal and Professional Look at Multilingualism and CSDPractice Portal: Multilingual Service ProvidersPractice Portal: Multilingual Service DeliveryTranscript: Career Origin Stories - Multilingual Service Providers

Hear a conversation with SLP Tovah Feehan, who specializes in pediatric feeding disorders, and the hosts of the Caffeinated Caregivers podcast. Through their podcast and website, Alyssa Nutile and Erica Stearns create community around, advocate for, and highlight the identity of caregivers. Guests discuss provider and caregiver interactions. Hear stories from their lives and work.Learn More:Caffeinated Caregivers: What does it mean to be Disability-Informed? (And why does that matter?)ASHA Voices: The Critical But Unseen Social Determinants of HealthASHA Leader: Rethinking Pediatric Feeding ... LanguagePediatric Feeding Partners

What does it mean to have your voice heard as a part of the legislative process?We talk with a representative of the Kentucky Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and with a future SLP who spoke up this legislative session during a day for student advocacy at the Kentucky State Capitol.Guests discuss participation and highlight new legislation expanding insurance coverage for people who stutter—a bill that was championed by former University of Kentucky basketball star and past ASHA Voices guest Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.Learn More:ASHA Voices: Athlete and Advocate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist2024 Advocacy Wins: Keeping Pace: State Legislative and Regulatory Updates for Audiology and Speech-Language PathologyEpisode Transcript: ASHA Voices: Student Advocacy and a Win for People Who Stutter

An SLP encounters an increase in speech-language delays following the COVID-19 pandemic. What she finds next is a trend that is larger than she realized, and it may be something you’ve noticed as well.Later in the episode, go behind the scenes of ASHA’s newly revised developmental milestones to hear how they were developed and why they were updated.Learn More:“Elusive Words: Confronting the Post-Pandemic Skills Gap” by SLP Liza StahnkeASHA's Developmental Milestones: Birth to 5 YearsEpisode transcript: ASHA Voices: Conversations on Milestones and Speech-Language Delays