MY TOP RESOURCES

NEW TECHNOLOGY IS DEVELOPING AT BREATHTAKING SPEED, BUT ARE WE UP-TO-DATE WITH ITS POTENTIAL USE IN THERAPY? TAYSIDE SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPISTS GILL CAMERON, JACLYN DALLAS, JUDY GOODFELLOW, LORRAINE HOPE, CAITRIONA HUTTON, GILLIAN NIXON, REBECCA RICHARDSON, KAREN RODGER AND LESLEY SMITH DISCUSS SOME OF THE DEVELOPMENTS THEY HAVE SEEN ACROSS PAEDIATRIC, ADULT LEARNING DISABILITY AND ADULT SERVICES. 1. BEBO / MYSPACE Social networking websites are used extensively by younger people from the computer generation to make friends, keep in touch with current friends and find old friends. They allow you to record information about yourself such as your interests, achievements and memories of particular events through profiles and blogs, and give you a level of control over who can view your information. Such sites are useful in therapy with individuals who have maintained a site prior to acquiring a communication disability, perhaps as a result of a brain injury. They enable therapists to find out more about the individuals past, replacing or enhancing information from carers. The site can help initiate and inspire conversation and may act as a potential forum for clients to contact others who are also members. The blogging tool can be used as an online diary to act as a memory aid. As time goes on we anticipate that more and more clients will have a presence on such sites, and we see huge potential for any client with internet access and an interest in computers. To find out if your client uses one of these sites, enter their name into a search engine or search on www.bebo.com or www.myspace.com. (If this feels like an invasion of privacy, remember that you will only be able to view what your client has decided they are happy to make publicly available.) 2. PRIORY WOODS SCHOOL WEBSITE The Priory Woods School website is useful for a wide range of paediatric and adolescent client groups. It has a ready-made cause and effect tool, which is set up for switch users, a touch screen or a mouse. Favourites range from Scooby Doo to Westlife! Therapists and parents can access these programmes online for free and can download and save them onto a CD-ROM or memory stick. Another use is for various stages of PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) users. It helps with Stage I motivation all the way through to sentence level, (I want, I see..., I hear). We also find it motivating for children as a reward activity. www.priorywoods.middlesbrough.sch.uk/ resources/videos.htm www.pecs.org.uk 3. FILMLESS RADIOLOGY Our department is shortly to get filmless radiology and we expect it to become a favourite resource. In the past videofluoroscopy sessions involved the use of a videotape recorder. Videotapes were used to store multiple patient videofluoroscopic images. Quality was often poor and images could easily be accidentally erased. Although DVDs provide better quality, there is still a storage issue and outlay required for supply of appropriate equipment. Filmless radiology will allow for direct PC access to stored images of greatly improved quality, and allow for comparison of old and new images. It will also negate the need for storage of videotapes or DVDs. See www.pacsgroup.org.uk for overviews and guidance on procurement and implementation. (PACS stands for Picture Archiving and Communication System.) 4. MOBILE PHONES AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO AAC Mobile phones can be used to supplement speech when intelligibility is reduced, or also as a contact method if the client finds it hard to use the telephone. The therapist could be involved in rehabilitation of previous mobile phone use, or teaching mobile phone use. A predictive text facility means a client with impaired spelling skills can be successful. Most mobile phones also have a bank of stored message templates which can be adapted to suit individuals needs and would save them having to type the whole message each time (for example, please pick up my prescription). Mobile phones allow people to summon help when they need it wherever they are. They also have diary and reminder functions, which may act as memory aids for medication and appointment times. Photo galleries can be used communicatively as a prompt for conversation. 5. DIGITAL CAMERA In the adult learning disabilities team we couldnt work without a digital camera now. It offers a good quality and size of pictures and, as we can see the shot on the screen, the photos are clear and uncluttered. Creating functional communication books with local shops, people, entertainment venues, cafs etc. is a much easier task. It also makes the finished article very personalised and clearer than was previously possible. Users of AAC devices such as Say-it! SAM can personalise cells with photographs of family, friends and places. While it certainly beats processing, cutting and glueing, we have had to learn how to import photos from the camera to the computer and how to format, insert and re-size them. Up-todate software and adequate memory capacity are also essential as photographs are huge files and it is important that we can incorporate them speedily into documents. 6. MEMORY STICK / PEN DRIVE A memory stick is very useful for transferring information such as photos taken on a digital camera from a computer in a resource centre or a clients home to the computer in the office or wherever you want to work on them. (Right click on the image, then Save As... Locate your memory stick as a removable drive and give your photo or document a name.) You can also use a memory stick to take your PowerPoint presentations with you when you are offering training. You just plug the stick into the laptop computer linked to the projector. If you wish to search for potential images, logos or photos for clients AAC devices, you can load them onto your memory stick then download to a computer once you are with the client. 7. STUCK FOR MINIMAL PAIRS? Having difficulty thinking of minimal pairs? Then this is the answer to your prayers! Whether its real or non-words, and whatever the sound substitution, this website will give you lists of whatever you need, saving you lots of time. Another fantastic use is for vowel distortions; you put in the substitutions and the site produces appropriate lists of contrasting words. (Watch out as it is for English RP and not all the words will work for local accents.) http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/wordscape/wordlist/ 8. BBC WEBSITE Facilities: News, Weather, Radio, TV, video clips, links to other sites etc. The BBC site can be used as a therapeutic tool with clients who previously enjoyed using the computer or as a novel way to access information. News articles are often short with bold headlines making them more accessible to people with aphasia. Including internet training and website navigation as part of therapy could open up some options to people at home. This site could also inspire further investigation into use of the internet as a way of finding information and as a recreational activity. www.bbc.co.uk 9. CBEEBIES WEBSITE Accessed by anyone for free, there is always something to interest any child on this particular area of the BBC website. You can use the online games or printouts of blank pictures as a reward or therapy tool; for example for early comprehension, Colour in Cliffords ears / Bobs nose / Pats hat. www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies 10. TEXTING Everyone has experience of parents and carers who are inclined to forget their speech and language therapy appointments. This can be a frustrating waste of time. Two of us in Dundee have undertaken to set up a project to combat missed appointments by sending text reminders through the new NHS net system. If a similar project has already been done, Rebecca and Gillian would love to hear from you (e-mail rebeccarichardson@nhs.net and gnixon@nhs. net). Otherwise, watch this space!

GILL CAMERON

JACLYN DALLAS

JUDY GOODFELLOW

KAREN RODGER AND CAITRIONA HUTTON

REBECCA RICHARDSON

LESLEY SMITH