In speech-language therapy, the evaluation of children with atypical speech embodies the practical expertise of the therapist and the therapeutic goal of facilitating rehabilitation by guiding these children toward more typical speech behaviors. This study aims to provide an interactional explanation of how positive evaluations given by speech therapists are sequentially formatted, constructed, and oriented in therapy practice and what interactional consequences they have on the interpretation and learning of children with hearing impairment. Adopting conversation analysis as a methodology, this empirical study delves into naturally occurring conversations between speech therapists and children with hearing impairment within the context of Chinese speech-language therapy, focusing specifically on instances of positive evaluations in the third-turn position. The analysis reveals a prevalent occurrence of positive evaluations during therapeutic interactions, showcasing a diverse range of formats employed, spanning from explicit to implicit expressions. A fine-grained conversation analysis demonstrates the delicate and intricate nature of therapists\' positive evaluations, in terms of their indexicality (the function of being referential), and sensitivity to local contingencies. Furthermore, these positive evaluations serve as a critical site for displaying the epistemic asymmetry and its negotiation in and through therapist-client interactions. By providing an empirical demonstration of the interactional skill involved in speech-language therapy and advocating for evaluations characterized by clear indexicality and recipient-orientedness, this study contributes to enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of rehabilitation practices while shedding new light on the atypical interactions involving people with communicative impairments.

UNASSIGNED: Non-invasive brain stimulation has been widely used as an adjunctive treatment for aphasia following stroke.
UNASSIGNED: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of non-invasive brain stimulation as an adjunctive treatment on naming function in aphasia following stroke.
UNASSIGNED: This review included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 5 databases (Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library, OVID and PubMed) that investigated the effects of electrical stimulation on stroke patients. The search included literature published up to November 2023.
UNASSIGNED: We identified 18 studies, and the standardized mean differences (SMDs) showed that the effect sizes of TMS and tDCS were small to medium. Moreover, the treatment effects persisted over time, indicating long-term efficacy.
UNASSIGNED: This study suggested that NIBS combined with speech and language therapy can effectively promote the recovery of naming function in patients with post-stroke aphasia (PSA) and that the effects are long lasting.

BACKGROUND: Training parents to implement language and communication intervention strategies is an effective approach to promote language development for children with language delay.
OBJECTIVE: This study introduces an online parent training program conducted in Hubei province, China, which was designed to help parents of language-delayed children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), developmental language disorder (DLD) or global developmental delay (GDD) apply language intervention strategies into daily interactions and promote their children\'s language development at home.
METHODS: The Bethel Hearing and Speaking Training Center Family Training for Early Communication & Language Development (Bethel Family Training Program, BFT) (Bethel HSTC, 2020) was designed to improve the language and communication skills for children with language delay in a naturalistic way. The caregivers (including parents, grandparents and other main caregivers) participated in an 8-h online program, including lectures on milestones in child language development, common misunderstandings of child language development, and three basic family language intervention strategies (\'Looking together, playing together, and talking together\') incorporating active learning through video analysis and discussion. Tongji Hospital in Hubei then continued with 3 months of online home intervention monitoring to all the caregivers via weekly online Q&As led by BFT certified speech therapists\' team. The Gesell Developmental Schedules (GDS) was carried out before the online parent training program and after the 3-month online home intervention monitoring.
RESULTS: 146 families whose children aged 12-68 months with language delay participated in the online training program. The results of the GDS assessments conducted before and after the program showed that not only did the developmental quotient (DQ) of language improve, but so did the DQ of social behaviour and adaptive behaviour (p < 0.001). There is no between-group difference in the application of three strategies between the ASD group and the DLD or GDD group (p > 0.05). Furthermore, both caregivers\' ability to apply \'looking together, playing together, talking together\' strategies and the effective interaction time played important roles in improving the child\'s language abilities.
CONCLUSIONS: The online parent training focusing on improving daily interaction with children through speech-language stimulation strategies promoted the development of language skills. It is an economic and practical approach for children with language delay who have limited access to local language intervention programs.
CONCLUSIONS: What is already known on the subject Parent-implemented language intervention is an effective approach at improving children\'s language development. Telepractice is an appropriate model of service delivery for audiologists and speech-language therapists and may be the primary mode of service delivery or may supplement in-person services. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge This paper explores the effectiveness of an online parent training program and provides new evidence that online training on language support strategies (looking together, playing together, talking together) followed by home intervention monitoring works for Mandarin-speaking children and it is equally effective for children with ASD and non-ASD diagnosis. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Developmental behavioural paediatricians and speech-language therapists in countries and areas that lack sufficient training resource for every child will have the option to deliver parent training and home intervention monitoring online, which will save time and cost considerably while offering convenience.

BACKGROUND: Caregiver-implemented language programmes are effective for alleviating early language difficulties. This study examined the efficacy of a self-directed video-based caregiver-implement language programme in Chinese families.
METHODS: This study consisted of two stages. In stage 1, 31 caregiver-child dyads (typically developing children) completed the training programme (group 1) in the form of six video-based training modules. In stage 2, 28 caregiver-child dyads (children with language difficulties) receiving active speech therapy were randomly assigned to the training (group 2) and control arms (group 3). Group 2 received the same training as group 1 in addition to their regular therapy while group 3 was kept as status quo. Caregivers completed a quiz on their knowledge of language facilitation techniques (LFTs) and submitted caregiver-child interaction videos at the start and end of the training. Outcome measures included programme completion rate, quiz scores, and use of LFTs and children\'s communication skills in the videos. A pre-post design and a between-group design were adopted in the stage 1 and 2 studies, respectively.
RESULTS: A completion rate of about 60% in both stages was noted. Significantly higher post-training knowledge scores were found in groups 1 and 2. General but nonsignificant growth in use of parallel talk and gesture, and significant gains in children\'s vocalization in the training arm were observed.
CONCLUSIONS: The self-directed video-based training programme would be useful in imparting information to caregivers. However, the modest improvements in the use of LFTs suggested direct coaching appeared to still play a significant role in enhancing the actual implementation of LFTs. Further investigation on a larger scale is required to evaluate the effectiveness of the training programme for promoting the wider use of this mode as a preventive measure.

BACKGROUND: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive neuromodulation tool for improving language performance in patients with aphasia after stroke. However, it remains unclear whether it has long-term effects. After consulting a large number of relevant studies, it was found that there are no definitive conclusions about the long-term effects of tDCS on post-stroke aphasia patients.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether tDCS has long-term effects on post-stroke aphasia patients (PAPs) and which type of tDCS has the most beneficial treatment effects on language performance (especially naming ability).
METHODS: A network meta-analysis was conducted by searching for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published until April 2023 in the following databases: Web of Science, Embase, Medline (from OVID and PubMed), PsycInfo and PsycARTICLES (from OVID). We only included RCTs published in English. PAPs treated by tDCS combined with speech-language therapy were selected. Sham tDCS was the control group. Naming ability or other language performance must be assessed at follow-up states. Two reviewers independently used checklists to assess the primary outcome (the long-term effects on naming ability) and the secondary outcome (other language performance, such as communication). Cochrane Collaboration guidelines were used to assess the risk of bias.
RESULTS: Seven studies with 249 patients were included for data synthesis. For primary outcomes (naming nous), there was no obvious evidence to show a difference between interventions (C-tDCS vs. S-tDCS SMD = 0.06, 95% CI = -1.01, 1.12; A-tDCS vs. S-tDCS SMD = 0.00, 95% CI = -0.66, 0.65; D-tDCS vs. S-tDCS SMD = 0.77, 95% CI = -0.71, 2.24; A-tDCS vs. C-tDCS SMD = -0.06, 95% CI = -1.31,1.19; D-tDCS vs. C-tDCS SMD = 0.71, 95% CI = -1.11,2.53; D-tDCS vs. A-tDCS SMD = 0.77, 95% CI = -0.84, 2.39). In addition, no evidence showed differences in communication ability (C-tDCS vs. S-tDCS SMD = 0.08 95% CI = -1.77, 1.92; A-tDCS vs. S-tDCS SMD = 1.23 95% CI = -1.89, 4.34; D-tDCS vs. S-tDCS SMD = 0.70; 95% CI = -1.93, 3.34; A-tDCS vs. C-tDCS SMD = 1.15 95% CI = -2.48, 4.77; D-tDCS vs. C-tDCS SMD = 0.62 95% CI = -2.59, 3.84; D-tDCS vs. A-tDCS SMD = -0.52 95% CI = -4.60, 3.56).
CONCLUSIONS: It seems that tDCS has no long-term effects on post-stroke aphasia patients in naming nouns and communication in terms of the results of our network meta-analysis. However, the results should be interpreted with caution. In the future, more RCTs with long follow-up times should be included in the research to conduct subgroup or meta-regression analyses to obtain a sufficient effect size.

Speech sound disorders (SSDs) are the most common form of communication disorders in children. SSD have an impact on children\'s abilities to make themselves understood to their listeners and can influence a child\'s social and emotional well-being as well as their academic achievements. Therefore, it is important to identify children with an SSD early, in order to provide appropriate intervention. A wealth of information on best practice in the assessment of children with SSD is available in countries where the speech and language therapy profession is well established. In Sri Lanka, there is a paucity of research evidence supporting assessment practices that are culturally and linguistically appropriate in SSDs. Therefore, clinicians rely on informal assessment methods. There is a need to understand more about how clinicians in Sri Lanka assess this caseload in order to get general agreement regarding comprehensive and consistent procedures for assessment of paediatric SSD in Sri Lanka. This would support speech and language therapists\' (SLTs\') clinical decision-making in relation to choice of appropriate goals and intervention for this caseload.
To develop and gain consensus on an assessment protocol for Sri Lankan children with SSD that is culturally appropriate and based on existing research.
A modified Delphi method was utilised to gather data from clinicians currently working in Sri Lanka. The research involved three rounds of data collection, exploring current assessment practices in Sri Lanka, ranking these in order of priority and establishing consensus on a proposed assessment protocol. The proposed assessment protocol was based on the results of the first and second rounds as well as previously published best practice guidelines.
The proposed assessment protocol achieved consensus in relation to content, format and cultural appropriateness. SLTs affirmed the usefulness of the protocol within the Sri Lankan context. Further research is required to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of this protocol in practice.
The assessment protocol supports practicing SLTs with a general guide to assessing children with suspected SSDs in Sri Lanka. The application of this protocol built upon consensus enables clinicians to improve their individual practice patterns based on best practice recommendations in the literature and the evidence on culturally and linguistically appropriate practices. This study has identified the need for further research in this area, including the development of culturally and linguistically specific assessment tools that would complement the use of this protocol.
What is already known on the subject The assessment of children with speech sound disorders (SSDs) requires a comprehensive and holistic approach due to their heterogeneous nature. Although there is evidence to support the assessment of paediatric SSDs in many countries where the profession of speech and language therapy is established, there is limited evidence to support the assessment of children with SSDs in Sri Lanka. What this study adds This study provides information about current assessment practices in Sri Lanka and consensus on a proposed culturally appropriate protocol for the assessment of children with SSDs in this country. What are the clinical implications of this work? The proposed assessment protocol provides speech and language therapists in Sri Lanka with a guide for assessment of paediatric SSDs to support more consistent practice in this area. Future evaluation of this preliminary protocol is required; however, the methodology used in this research could be applied to the development of assessment protocols for other range of practice areas in this country.

Language difficulties exert profound negative effects on the cognitive and social development of autistic children. Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is a promising intervention for improving social communication in autistic children, but there is a lack of a comprehensive examination of language functions. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of PRT in promoting the primary language functions (requesting, labeling, repeating, responding) defined by (Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. Martino Publishing.) theory of verbal behavior in autistic children. Thirty autistic children were randomly divided into the PRT group (Mage = 6.20, SDage = 1.21) and control group (Mage = 6.07, SDage = 1.49). The PRT group were provided with an 8-week training of the PRT motivation component in addition to treatment as usual (TAU) in their schools, whereas the control group only received TAU. Parents of the PRT group were also trained to practice the PRT motivation procedures at home. The PRT group demonstrated greater improvements in all four measured language functions compared to the control group. The improvement in language functions in the PRT group was generalized and maintained at the follow-up assessment. In addition, the PRT intervention enhanced untargeted social and communicative functioning, cognition, motor skills, imitation, and adaptive behaviors in the autistic children. In conclusion, language intervention using the motivation component of PRT is effective in promoting language functions as well as widespread untargeted cognitive and social functions in autistic children.

With a rapidly aging population in mainland China, dysphagia has become one of the common geriatric disorders which creates a huge demand on speech and language therapists (SLTs). The major challenge is the shortage of SLTs in China. In addition, frontline practitioners in mainland China may not be well equipped with the knowledge and practical skills in dysphagia management due to lack of systematic training and the work nature.
This study evaluates the self-perceived effectiveness and feasibility of an online training program that aims to enhance the self-assessed knowledge and skills of SLTs providing dysphagia care in residential aged care homes.
Sixteen SLTs working in a residential aged care homes in mainland China attended a three-hour pilot online training program which consists of didactic lecture and practical skills activity components. A total of 10 participants completed an online questionnaire one month after the training to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of this online training program.
The preliminary results demonstrated participants\' self-perception of high training effectiveness in theoretical knowledge and practical skills. A majority of the participants perceived that the training enhanced their theoretical knowledge and all of them perceived that they acquired practical skills. All respondents were satisfied with the online training approach. They also highlighted the advantage and challenges of the online training approach.
Online training is an effective and feasible approach for theoretical knowledge and practical skills transfer in SLT training and could ultimately benefit the delivery of services for individuals with dysphagia in mainland China.
What is already known on the subject Previous studies have shown that online training approach is as effective as face-to-face training in increasing professional knowledge. Online training programs may be more cost efficient and time efficient when compared with face-to-face training. What this study adds The present study provided preliminary evidence to support the feasibility and effectiveness of using online training on dysphagia for speech and language therapists working in residential aged care homes in mainland China. What are the clinical implications of this work? From the participants\' perception, online training approach is effective and feasible in delivering theoretical knowledge and practical skills. It may be a better training approach for mainland China considering the lack of expertise and accessibility to training.

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