Articles & News
What is Constraint-Induced Language Therapy and Does it Work?
Constraint-induced language therapy has its underpinnings in physiotherapy and was initially developed for use with patients experiencing limb weakness. For example, the strong arm would be immobilized so that patients would be forced to...
Brain Injury Rehabilitation – Keep Persevering!
Read about an individual and his family who never gives up and keeps improving after a truly severe brain injury:...
Does the SpeechEasy Device Cure Stuttering?
Pollard et al published a research article (Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, April 2009) about SpeechEasy, an electronic device that you wear on your ear designed to assist people who stutter. Its appearance resembles a...
TV Inhibits Language Development
We’ve known for a long time that increased television exposure during infancy (ages 2 months to 4 years) is associated with language delays and attentional problems, but we really haven’t known why. In this study, they discovered that when...
Intensive Reading Therapy Can Rewire the Brain
In the August 2008 issue of Psychologia, researchers Meyler et al. discovered that poor readers in the 5thgrade who receive 100 hours of intensive reading therapy showed actual differences in their brain function on fMRI scans! These...
The Impact of Language Skill on Independence in Teenagers
Excerpts from a recent article by Conti-Ramsden & Durkin (Feb 2008): “The present study examined independent functioning in domains relevant to everyday living. These included self-care activities, traveling and meeting people, and...
Stroke Rehabilitation Standards in Canada
On April 30, 2007, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario published its “Consensus Panel on the Stroke Rehabilitation System.” This report was based on an extensive review of the research literature and included many references to the...
I hear a lot of people with a hoarse sounding voice – is this normal?
No! A hoarse or breathy voice means that the vocal cords are not moving properly and/or that there is something structurally wrong (e.g., nodules growing on the vocal cords). It is true that there seem to be a lot of people out there with...
How do I decide between a tutor and a speech-language pathologist when my child has a learning disability?
This is a difficult question! If the learning disability has a language basis (which many do), in the ideal world it would be optimal to have both a speech-language pathologist and a tutor working with your child. A tutor we have worked with...
Redesigning Canada’s Health Care System
In the fall of 2004, Justine appeared on CHML’s Roy Green show for a full hour to discuss her vision for health care in Canada. In March 2005, the Hamilton Spectator ran a full page article describing this new system. If you’d like to read...
What is “cluttering”?
Cluttering is a syndrome characterized by a speech delivery rate which is abnormally fast, irregular or both. In addition, the person’s speech is affected by 1) a failure to maintain normally expected sound, syllable, phrase, and pausing...
Interesting Facts About Swallowing
Swallowing is something we all take for granted. We eat and drink with little thought as to how food and fluids pass from our mouth to our stomach. In fact, swallowing is one of the most complex actions we perform, but the entire process...