Continuing Education Workshop

November 4, 2011 (8:30am – 4:30pm)

An Evidence-Based Speech Sound Disorders Update

Presenter:

Gregory L. Lof, Ph.D., CCC-SLP

Gregory L. Lof, Ph.D., CCC-SLP is a Professor and the Chair of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, a graduate school founded by the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1994 and his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Minnesota State University-Moorhead. 

His research, teaching and clinical interests primarily are with children who have speech sound disorders.  Dr. Lof was the 2004 and 2009 topic coordinator for speech sound disorders for the ASHA conventions and has served on the 1995, 1998, 2002, 2007 and 2008 ASHA Convention Program Committees. He is or has been an editorial consultant for the journals Journal of Speech, Language, Hearing Research, American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Contemporary Issues in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools.  He was a member on ASHA’s Center for Evidence-Based Practice in Communication Disorders that conducted evidence-based systematic reviews of oral motor exercises.  He is also on the communications committee of the Council on Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders.  Dr. Lof was recently elected to a three year term to be the Massachusetts representative on the ASHA Speech-Language Pathology Advisory Board.

Dr. Lof has published numerous articles, primarily on childhood speech sound disorders. He has presented over 40 peer-reviewed and 36 invited presentations/ workshops at ASHA conventions, universities, school districts, and state and international association conventions.  He was recently the keynote speaker at the annual convention of Speech Pathology Australia (2010) and the Velo-Cardio-Facial Syndrome international conference (2011).

Program Description:                                               

Working clinicians may find it difficult to keep current with the latest information on speech sound disorders.  This presentation is an update on some old themes, with information from the contemporary literature interpreted, summarized, and explained as it relates to clinical practice.  The topics addressed will be:

1.    Evidence-base practice;

2.    The uses and misuses of developmental speech sound norms;

3.    Moving beyond phonological processes to describe speech-sound problems;

4.    Questioning the use of oral-motor exercises to change speech-sound problems;

5.    The controversies surrounding childhood apraxia of speech (CAS); 

6.    Issues in treatment efficacy;

7.    Selection of treatment targets

8.    Articulation vs. phonological treatment approaches;

9.    What works in therapy.

This will be a clinical presentation, using the current research literature to support evidence-based clinical practice.  The format is a lecture on the topic followed by time allotted for audience questions, comments, and discovery.

Learner Outcomes:

At the end of this workshop, participants will demonstrate the ability to:

1.    interpret and use developmental speech sound normative data;

2.    discover phonological patterns and how this information can be used for treatment;

3.    critically examine the efficacy of nonspeech oral-motor exercises;

4.    examine the many controversies surrounding Childhood Apraxia of Speech;

5.    discuss treatment efficacy issues;

6.    list alternative ways to determine treatment targets;

effectively use articulation and phonological approaches to remediation

0.6 CEU's available!

For more information or to register for this program, please contact Kathy Cole, Department Administrative Assistant, (508) 929-8055 or katherine.cole@worcester.edu.