title: Telepractice for pediatric Dysphagia: a case study.
abstract: A closed-ended intensive pediatric swallowing telepractice program was developed and piloted in one pediatric patient with Opitz BBB/G and Asperger's Syndromes, oropharyngeal dysphagia and aerophagia. The present study is a case report. Outcome variables included behavioral, swallowing and quality of life variables, and were assessed at baseline and at the end of the four-week program. Selective variables were also assessed at a follow-up family interview four weeks post program completion. Over the four-week intervention period, the patient demonstrated substantial improvements in: oral acceptance of eating-related objects and a variety of foods (behavioral variable), timing of voluntary saliva swallows and aerophagia levels (swallowing variables) and quality of life. Follow-up interview analysis showed that most skills were retained or improved one-month post intervention. This intensive telepractice program proved to be feasible and effective for this pediatric patient with dysphagia.
authors.affiliation: Department Of Biobehavioral Sciences, Program of Speech and Language Pathology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA ; Dysphagia Research Clinic, Edward D. Mysak Clinic for Communication Disorders, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Georgia A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Malandraki
authors.affiliation: Department Of Biobehavioral Sciences, Program of Speech and Language Pathology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.affiliation: Department Of Biobehavioral Sciences, Program of Speech and Language Pathology, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA ; Dysphagia Research Clinic, Edward D. Mysak Clinic for Communication Disorders, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Justine Joan
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Sheppard
keywords: Dysphagia; telemedicine; telepractice