Sourcebook for Adolescents through to Adults with Acquired Communication Disorders

This sourcebook has a range of material for both assessment and therapy, including for those individuals who have profound neurological impairments, resulting in limited motor control, or who can only communicate via eye pointing.

The sections are:

• Oromotor skills : an initial oromotor assessment: exercises in a clear format, with illustrations, to enable clients to work independently or with carers, with recording sheets.
• Voice and breathing: assessment and exercise sheets, including relaxation, voice, breathing, intonation, resonance and pitch, with illustrations and diagrams.
• Articulation sheets: Speech sounds, including consonant clusters, multi-syllabic words and tongue twisters.
• Assessment of communication skills: a range of language assessments and screens.
• Communication questionnaire and handouts: a personal communication history, handouts to raise client awareness of difficulties, together with a large number of handouts for both clients and carers in relation to a wide range of communication disorders, including strategies and tips.
• AAC: a screening tool; coloured and printable 'yes/no' cards and an extensive range of alphabet charts for both direct and indirect access.

"The range of the material is bang on. Typically, I have to look in several different locations to find speech, then voice, then language, but with this CD they are all in one place. The resource provides sheets that can be used from initial assessment and throughout the therapy process. The graded exercise sheets, including graphic aphasia friendly instructions for many of the exercises, allow for use with clients at all levels of recovery. The inclusion of recording sheets for the exercise sets is a huge time saver. The sheets go well with the exercise protocols, they are clear and concise which allows me to direct support staff and assistants to carry out daily exercise routines effectively. This is a great resource for Speech and Language Therapists who work with this diverse client group. I highly recommend purchasing a copy."
- Lesley Fidler, Neurorehabilitation Speech and Language Therapist, Brain Injury Trust, Ely, UK

"The materials are in an accessible, clear and reproducible format with guidance as to how the advice can be tailored to different contexts provided in an accompanying booklet. People in practice are always trying to avoid “reinventing the wheel” and this resource certainly supports this aim. However, the particular resource that Fiona Sugden-Best has created with this sourcebook provides something that has not yet been available and is an important and vital addition to any set of resources held by speech and language therapy departments working with adolescents and adults. This conversion of a book to a CD is a really welcome development by Speechmark, which will be very useful for colleagues in many different fields of speech and language therapy."
- Jane Stokes, Senior Lecturer, Speech and Language Therapy, University of Greenwich, UK