Ezine November 2014 - SASLHA · SASLHA EZINE NOVEMBER 2014 EDITORIAL NOVEMBER REMEMBER NOVEMBER....

Ezine November 2014

SASLHA EZINE NOVEMBER 2014

WHAT IS IN THIS ISSUE:

LATEST LANGUAGE

DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH:

“LOST LANGUAGES”

HOPE FOR TINNITUS

PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS APP REVIEW

PAYING TRIBUTE TO DR MARION DOWNS

Ethics Q&A


EDITORIAL NOVEMBER

REMEMBER NOVEMBER. Most of us are well into the rush of the end of the year, with final Reports, hearing aid claims and organising year end functions. This month, however all should take a moment to breath and remember why we became therapists. We pay tribute to the great Marion Downs in this issue of the EZINE, truly the “mother of audiology” . The lives she changed by her life's work cannot be counted. This reminds us that each one of us has the potential to impact the world for the better. We forget at times the impact we have on our patients lives. Marion Downs is a reminder for us all that with passion and care we have the potential to truly give quality of life. Wishing you all a wonderful year end. Never forget your power! Nicole da Rocha SASLHA has recently released a survey wanting to find out more about you and what you think of our EZINE. Feedback will be greatly appreciated. email: [email protected]

News

SASLHA radio/TV awareness campaign

SASLHA will be LIVE TO THE PUBLIC this month on SAfm (104-107Fm): early hearing

intervention 8th November 21:00

Professor de Wet Swanepoel will be on eTV!!!!

He will be raising awareness on

Audiology as a Career. Etv Sunrise show 6am-8am 21st November 2014

SASLHA & Social media

Have you seen SASLHA’s Pinterest and Facebook pages?

Join the conversation today!


OPINION PIECE

Audiology Legend Marion Downs Passes Away Published on November 13, 2014 THE HEARING REVIEW Marion Downs—a legendary figure in audiology who is generally regarded as the “Mother of Paediatric Audiology”—has passed away at age 100. Downs is widely credited for helping establish the first infant hearing screening program in the United States, the forerunner of the current universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) program responsible for checking the hearing of some 4 million US newborns each year. She was an adamant proponent of UNHS and fierce advocate for paediatric hearing care in general. Downs began her audiology career in 1959 at the University of Colorado School of Medicine clinic and, with Doreen Pollack, started fitting hearing aids on infants who were as young as 6 months—a radical concept at a time when most children didn’t receive hearing aids until after age 3. By 1964, Downs was devising observational tests for newborns and had become a proponent of the idea that early hearing detection and intervention led to better outcomes in children with hearing loss. And more than one person found out that—although she had a very sweet demeanour—she was a fierce advocate for kids; Downs armed herself with the facts and the conviction to bring early detection and treatment of hearing loss into the spotlight. Downs was also a beloved and respected figure throughout the hearing industry. She was smart, funny, kind, and was well known for her encyclopaedic knowledge of audiology—along with her seemingly inexhaustible energy. She lived a wildly full and adventurous life. She started her career in audiology relatively late in life, and she certainly made up for the lost time with an energetic approach to everything she did. She was a wonderful speaker, and often put people in stitches with stories like how she chose the field of audiology partly because it was the shortest line at the admissions office. While traveling for our profession, she survived several brushes with death in Vietnam and even a plane crash near Denver. She was an exceptional athlete, tennis player, and skier (into her mid-90s), was blessed with a wonderful loving family, and has a legacy of being a mentor to many audiologists. Her lectures and papers are great testaments to her work, as well as her book, Hearing in Children (now in its 6th edition), written with her long-time friend and colleague, Jerry Northern, PhD, which is one of the most popular and authoritative books in the profession. She also co-authored Auditory Disorders in School Children with Ross Roeser, PhD, another staple in the paediatric audiology literature.


Downs, a professor emerita at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, received almost every honour conceivable in the hearing healthcare field, and then some: the Volta Award from AG Bell, the US Health and Human Services Secretary’s Highest Recognition Award, the American Academy of Audiology Foundation’s (AAAF) Legend Award, the International Audiology Society’s Aram Glorig Award, and she was the 1983 Carhart Memorial Lectureship Award Recipient—the highest honour of the American Auditory Society (AAS). The annual Marion Downs Lecture in Paediatric Audiology was established by Oticon in her name in 2004, and of course, the Marion Downs Hearing Center in Aurora, Colo, was named in her honour, as was its foundation. In January, Dr Northern served as master of ceremonies for her 100th birthday celebration at the Marion Downs Hearing Centre Foundation Gala in Denver, and this quote which aptly describes Marion appeared in a blog about the Gala at hearinghealthmatters.com: Describing himself as her “long-time working partner, co-conspirator, and personal friend,” [Dr Northern,] the former president of the American Academy of Audiology said, “I have been lucky enough to have enjoyed nearly four decades of her buoyant personality and admirable work ethic as well as her many zany antics. Marion, you have been a unique and colourful friend and a positive influence on so many of us. Your attitude toward life is nothing less than contagious.” Dr Northern concluded, “As she has often said to me, ‘Live for today…plan for tomorrow…but let’s party tonight!’’” Hers’ was certainly a life to celebrate. We thank Dr Northern for providing us with the news of Marion’s passing. - See more at: http://www.hearingreview.com/2014/11/blog-audiology-legend-marion-downs-passes-away/#sthash.uKsHeIb

OPINION PIECE CONTINUED…


Ethics Questions & Answers

SASLHA gets some great questions posed to the Ethics committee. Have a look below of some issues raised by you recently and the

responses.

Question: Good Day I work in a government (LSEN) school and would like to know about sharing of information and confidentiality within a school setting. As a therapy team we keep files for the learners and write reports regarding assessments done, therapeutic interventions and progress made. It is important to communicate with educators and work together with them. Can they have access to therapy reports? Can we give them updates on learners' progress orally and/or in written form? Thank you for your assistance. Regards, Wendy Answer: Dear Wendy Many schools have a situation where the parents have given written consent that the SOAP notes may be shared with the educators. It is important that for progress reports and other, the parents need to be informed and give formal consent that information may be shared. Once there is consent you may share the report with the educator. Furthermore it is most important that the parents are also regularly updated regarding academic progress thus, it is advisable to have regular team meetings including the parents to discuss matters. A paper trail is important as verbal information could be misinterpreted. Regards Ursula

Question: A remedial school in my area allows its therapists to use the rooms after school hours to do private therapy. Is it ethical for these therapists to offer extra private lessons to pupils from the remedial school? A further query I have is that, on more than one occasion, children from my practice who have applied for admission to the school have been advised by staff at the school to change to one of the school therapists as this will increase their chance of getting a place at the school. This also does not seem like an ethical practice to me? Answer: You have raised two very important questions. Firstly I would presume that these therapists have applied for additional work after hours when not in the employ of the school. Furthermore I would hope that the clients they see are not those seen during school hours as this may constitute over-serving. If using the school premises they probably are paying the school a reasonable "rent" for use of the rooms and this may be a means of extra income for the school. Regarding your second question advising the parents to change over to the school therapists to a large extent violates the rights of uses as well as the rights of parents to make their own free choices. You are correct this is unethical practice and can also be seen as touting or supersession.

Feel good article


Parents

Nyasha and Mary-Anne Mhizha

Profession:

Network Engineer and Facilities Administrator

Age of parents:

30 and 27

Child’s name:

Tyler

Age: 4 Years

Is this your only child?

Yes

Diagnosis of child:

Cerebral Palsy. Spastic Quadriplegic.

What are the biggest challenges facing your child on a daily basis?

Tyler is 4 and cant sit on his own yet. He gets very frustrated when he can’t do certain things. He is

completely dependent on us, for everything. His needs are of a small baby. We have developed our own

unique way of communicating, which is helping and making it a bit easier to understand his needs.

What are the happiest moments you have with your child on a daily basis

Seeing his big beautiful smile everyday when I come home from work, he gets so excited and wants to come

over and give me a big kiss. It melts my heart to see how much he loves us.

Has your special needs child had an effect on your marriage?

This has affected both of us but in different ways. My husband is more positive, I worry a lot, I worry about

what the future holds for us and for Tyler. I wonder if we are doing enough for him. Will we always be there to

take care of him?

My husband and I could use some more time together, just the two of us. Tyler is the focus at the moment

with all our time and energy going into him.

Tyler has also brought us together in unimaginable ways as well, we have been through so much together.

Through the highs and the lows, we support and love each other.

Are your family and friends supportive?

I have a very supportive family but they live thousands of kilometers away; this has really affected me at

times (the hardest part of living in a foreign country is the lack of support). It gets lonely at times. I don’t have

as much time or energy to nurture and maintain friendships here. I am not really a taker, when I’m stressed

or down. This keeps me from seeming weak to others but it also closes me off from making new friends.

What has your child taught you about yourself, both positively and negatively?

Positively:

Patience and how much love I’ve got in me to give. I appreciate the things in life that most people take for

granted. Tyler has also taught me that no matter how hard it is, put a smile on your face and trust that things

will get better.

Do you take time out, and if so, what do you do to relax?

Can’t remember the last time I had a few hours to myself.

What has made the biggest difference to your child’s quality of life?

His special chair has been a great help and it’s really improving his posture and head control.

What is your dream for your child?

I pray and hope Tyler grows up healthy and happy, that Tyler reaches his full potential and does as much as

he can with his life. I pray for the gift of life so that we can continue this journey together with him.


LASTEST LANGUAGE RESEARCH

An infant's mother tongue creates neural patterns that the unconscious brain retains years later even if the child totally stops using the language, (as can happen in cases of international adoption) according to a new joint study by scientists at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital -- The Neuro and McGill University's Department of Psychology. The study offers the first neural evidence that traces of the "lost" language remain in the brain. "The infant brain forms representations of language sounds, but we wanted to see whether the brain maintains these representations later in life even if the person is no longer exposed to the language," says Lara Pierce, a doctoral candidate at McGill University and first author on the paper. Her work is jointly supervised by Dr. Denise Klein at The Neuro and Dr. Fred Genesee in the Department of Psychology. The article, "Mapping the unconscious maintenance of a lost first language," is in the November 17 edition of scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The Neuro conducted and analysed functional MRI scans of 48 girls between nine and 17 years old who were recruited from the Montreal area through the Department of Psychology. One group was born and raised unilingual in a French-speaking family. The second group had Chinese-speaking children adopted as infants who later became unilingual French speaking with no conscious recollection of Chinese. The third group were fluently bilingual in Chinese and French. Scans were taken while the three groups listened to the same Chinese language sounds.

Finding 'lost' languages in the brain: Far-reaching implications for unconscious role of infant experiences


"It astounded us that the brain activation pattern of the adopted Chinese who 'lost' or totally discontinued the language matched the one for those who continued speaking Chinese since birth. The neural representations supporting this pattern could only have been acquired during the first months of life," says Ms. Pierce. "This pattern completely differed from the first group of unilingual French speakers.“ The study suggests that early-acquired information is not only maintained in the brain, but unconsciously influences brain processing for years, perhaps for life -- potentially indicating a special status for information acquired during optimal periods of development. This could counter arguments not only within the field of language acquisition, but across domains, that neural representations are overwritten or lost from the brain over time. The implications of this finding are far reaching, and open the door for questions relating both to the re-learning of an early acquired, but forgotten, language or skill, as well as the unconscious influence of early experiences on later developmental outcomes. The study was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture, the G.W. Stairs Foundation and the Centre for Research on Brain Language and Mind. Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by McGill University. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: Lara J. Pierce, Denise Klein, Jen-Kai Chen, Audrey Delcenserie, and Fred Genesee. Mapping the unconscious maintenance of a lost first language. PNAS, November 17, 2014 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1409411111

LASTEST RESEARCH CONTINUED


LATEST AUDIOLOGY RESEARCH

Patients with tinnitus hear phantom noise and are sometimes so bothered by the perceived ringing in their ears, they have difficulty concentrating. A new therapy does not lessen perception of the noise but appears to help patients cope better with it in their daily lives, according to new research. cancer A pilot study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis showed that patients participating in computer-based cognitive training and taking a drug called d-cycloserine reported greater improvements in the ability to go about their daily lives than patients who did the same cognitive training but took a placebo. The researchers note that the study was small, involving 30 patients. The study appears Oct. 30 in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. "We suspect that both the problems and the solutions concerning tinnitus are in the brain," said senior author Jay F. Piccirillo, MD, professor of otolaryngology. "We don't know what causes the ringing. Many people with tinnitus have had ear trauma or hearing loss but not all. And at the same time, a lot of people with ear injuries or hearing loss don't have tinnitus.“ Both groups performed the same cognitive training, which involved computer-based exercises focused on improving processing of sound, speech and memory. Piccirillo and his colleagues were interested in whether the drug could help patients experience the potential benefits of the cognitive training more quickly than a placebo. D-cycloserine has been shown to encourage neuroplasticity, a state in which the brain is more amenable to change, whether in resolving irrational fears or in improving concentration, attention and executive function, a set of mental processes that govern tasks like planning, organizing, problem solving and decision making. D-cycloserine originally was developed as an antibiotic and is still prescribed for drug-resistant tuberculosis. More recently, it has been used in psychiatric care to help treat phobias and as an anti-anxiety medication. The idea is that perhaps the drug can boost the effectiveness of brain training to help patients ignore tinnitus, even if the ringing or phantom noise persist. "In people unable to ignore tinnitus, there is evidence that some brain networks, including areas of attention, executive function and emotion, are not working properly," said Piccirillo. "We think the cognitive therapy helps our patients change the wiring in the brain, which may help them direct attention away from the tinnitus.“

Novel tinnitus therapy helps patients cope with phantom noise

http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/e/esophageal_cancer.htm


Piccirillo likens it to encouraging people to go to the gym. If patients notice a benefit from the training more quickly, they may be more likely to stick with exercising. In the new study, the researchers saw a greater improvement in self-reported measures of brain function in the group that got the drug. In questionnaires, patients who got the drug reported fewer instances of forgetfulness and attention difficulties, though they did not perform measurably better on tests of cognitive ability. While the results were modest, Piccirillo pointed out the small sample size and the fact that they only asked patients to do the brain training two days per week rather than five. The researchers were concerned that if patients did training five days a week, each patient's performance would improve so much that it would not be possible to see any differences between groups. "There is a lot of evidence that d-cycloserine can help people train their brains," Piccirillo said. "It facilitates neuroplasticity and is known to be effective in fear extinction, obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders. And now we have evidence that it has some benefit in tinnitus. "We would like to perform a larger study with the same brain-fitness program and d-cycloserine, to see if what we saw in this pilot study can be confirmed with more participants," he said. Story Source: The original article was written by Julia Evangelou Strait. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: James G. Krings, Andre Wineland, Dorina Kallogjeri, Thomas L. Rodebaugh, Joyce Nicklaus, Eric J. Lenze, Jay F. Piccirillo. A Novel Treatment for Tinnitus and Tinnitus-Related Cognitive Difficulties Using Computer-Based Cognitive Training and D-Cycloserine. JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, 2014; DOI: 10.1001/jamaoto.2014.2669

AUDIOLOGY RESEARCH CONTINUED…

http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2014.2669


APP REVIEW BY NIKKI HEYMAN

Phonological Awareness Lab: App Review

Phonological Awareness Lab, is a fun, multi-level game specifically designed to improve phonological awareness in children. The app is centered around the theme of a laboratory. Phonological Awareness Lab has four “labs” to target phonological awareness skills needed for reading. 1. The Sentence Experiment Lab The student is required to tap the dropper for each word they hear in the sentence This is also a great feature for addressing working memory and syntax. There is a limited number of drops in the dropper, and particularly with the longer sentences, the student tends to get the answer correct because they cannot add more to the beaker. It would be a great addition to this task if the sentence length and complexity could be increased. 2. The Decoding Room This has two ‘doors’ •Blending Syllables •Blending Sounds The Frankenstein monster adds a lovely touch to this task and gives a thumbs up when a student selects the correct answer. What I would like is the ability to increase the number of pictures in order to increase the difficulty level of the task. Blending sounds incorporates long and short vowel sounds as well blends. If the student makes an error, the incorrect item is removed and the student has the opportunity to try again. This task also address working memory because the student cannot respond until all the items have been heard

http://talkingtalk.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/IMG_3073.jpg





3. The Rhyming Compound This has 3 tasks •Rhyming Identification: Rhyming Identification requires the student to identify whether a sequence of words rhyme or do not rhyme. •Rhyming Selection: This task requires the student to match the target word with another rhyming word. •Rhyming Match: The student is required to match the 4 words that rhyme from 7 items. I really like the fact that there is no time constraint for any of these activities and this allows you to teach concepts if a student is having difficulty. It also allows you to prompt the student to the final level of rhyming – rhyme production. 4. The Syllable X-Ray The student must select the word with the same number of syllables displayed on the x-ray machine. If the student makes an error, the word is turned over and the correct number of syllables is displayed. Syllable X-Ray allows customization for the individual by choosing the number of syllables to choose (from one to five), as well as the number of pictures from which to choose (from 2 to 4).This task essentially requires the student to work out the number of syllables in all the words. Features •Like all the Smarty Ears Apps, Phonological Awareness Lab can be used with multiple players in each session. Phonological Awareness Lab allows up to 5 children at a time. The only constraint is that all players need to do the same task. •Data is gathered for each player throughout the session and a report is generated. Therapy Report Center •There is a great video tutorial on how to use the app. Phonological Awareness Lab targets many of the phonological awareness skills for early reading development. There is scope for increasing the depth of scope of this app by including things like phoneme identification. A reward game would also keep students more engaged.

APP REVIEW BY NIKKI HEYMAN CONTINUED

http://smartyearsapps.com/service/therapy-report-center/

http://smartyearsapps.com/service/therapy-report-center/


BEST PINTEREST ADDITION OF THE MONTH

In the A to Z Science series for toddlers and preschoolers, L is for Listening Skills. Since developing listening skills is such an important task, I wanted to gather more ways for us to practice listening through play. Check out these listening games from around the web. http://inspirationlaboratories.com/listening-games/


CONTACT SASLHA WORKING FOR YOU!

PORTFOLIO NAME EMAIL

ADMINISTRATION DUDU MOKOTO [email protected]

PRESIDENT ERIKA BOSTOCK [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT ALISON DENT [email protected]

TREASURER ANNALINE JACK [email protected]

PROFESSIONAL LIASION OFFICER

INGRID VON BENTHEIM

[email protected]

ETHICS AND STANDARDS CHAIRPERSON

URSULA ZSILAVECZ [email protected]

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

MICHAL HARTY [email protected]

RESEACH DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

MERSHEN PILLAY [email protected]

CODING CHARIPERSON ALISON DENT [email protected]

PR AND MARKETING CHAIRPERSON

NICOLE DA ROCHA [email protected]

ZONE1(Johannesburg/Southern Gauteng/ Free State/North West Province)

JULIA BOTHA [email protected]

ZONE 2 (Pretoria/Northern Gauteng/ Mpumalanga/ Limpopo)

KATHRYN GLENDINNING

[email protected]

ZONE 3 (Western Cape/ Northern Cape)

CARIANNE VERMEULEN

[email protected]

ZONE 4 (Kwa-Zulu Natal/ Eastern Cape)

DENISE KEMSLEY [email protected]


SEE YOU NEXT MONTH!

Ezine November 2014 - SASLHA · SASLHA EZINE NOVEMBER 2014 EDITORIAL NOVEMBER REMEMBER NOVEMBER....

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Transcript of Ezine November 2014 - SASLHA · SASLHA EZINE NOVEMBER 2014 EDITORIAL NOVEMBER REMEMBER NOVEMBER....