Below are blogs and ASHA features from past international trips:
2015
Colombia and Ecuador
http://edblogs.columbia.edu/leadersproject/2015/05/18/an-unforgettable-experience
Ethiopia
https://slptcethiopia2015.wordpress.com
http://blog.asha.org/2015/01/
Today we had the opportunity to hear from a surgeon on how cleft lip and palate surgery are completed. We learned about pharyngeal flap surgery and how an orticochea is made. He also talked about how it can be beneficial to use a nasoendscopy to see the client’s velopharyngeal closure and to see if a primary or secondary surgery is needed. Afterwards, Dr. Crowley and the rest of our supervisors led a class on conducting initial evaluations on a patient with cleft palate. Key components to an evaluation include building rapport, incorporating an oral peripheral exam to identify the structures or pathology that may be affecting speech, and identifying the sounds that the client has difficulty producing. Then, each clinician had the chance to practice the technique that they had learned earlier in a case study scenario.
We arrived safely in Quito, Ecuador yesterday and spent the afternoon exploring artisan markets and “la mitad del mundo.” We were excited to arrive in Ecuador to share the knowledge we gained in Neiva, Colombia with speech pathologists from Ecuador and Peru.
Being in Colombia has given us the opportunity to witness the impact that parent training has on children with cleft palate speech. We have been providing parents with strategies and techniques to practice with their children at home. Within a few days, we have been able to see great improvements on many of our clients. Their motivation and commitment has been inspiring to us all.
Of all of the things that we have seen, love is by far the most prominent. From parents who travel 4-5 hours one way to come to therapy each day, to parents who are fostering children with extremely involved exceptionalities, to the kids sitting still for, at times, over an hour and working at home later for hours longer, there is the strongest sense of intense love. It would be an understatement to say we love what we do, or to say that it is an honor to be in this place at this time.
May 16, 2015
After working ten hours yesterday, including collaborating with doctors and other professionals to determine whether the clients needed secondary surgery, we were ready to get started on therapy today. We determined that some of the clients were better candidates for therapy to see if it would improve their speech and others were recommended for speech to improve tongue placement before surgery. We decided on preemptive therapy so the clients would be prepared after their surgery. We saw clients with Velocardialfacial Syndrome and Treacher Collins as well as various degrees clefts and repaired clefts.
Cate Crowley took a group of students and professionals to provide therapy and professional development with the Healing the Children cleft palate surgical mission in Neiva, Colombia. The Healing the Children mission differs from traditional cleft palate missions because the team returns every year to provide ongoing surgery, treatment and therapy to the same patients each year. During this last mission, 166 hours of therapy were provided in group and individual sessions to patients working with Healing the Children. This year Cate developed an idea to create books in Spanish that would help children with repaired cleft palates to improve their speech. Cate oversaw development and supported the books that were written by Angela Giraldo and illustrated by Tina Yeung. These books, in Spanish, focus on specific high pressure sounds that are at the same place of articulation. For example some books focus on t, d and n while others focus on p, b and m. These books were given to all the surgeons and fonoaudiologists (speech therapists) working with patients from the Healing the Children mission. In addition, small format versions of the books were given to all the patients so that they would have fun and interesting materials that they could use to practice their sounds.
The LEADERSproject by Dr. Catherine (Cate) Crowley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.leadersproject.org.
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