This is an evaluation report I wrote during my externship at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula. I administered the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment-2 (Enderby & Palmer, 2008) for a patient with a cerebellar CVA. I also had the opportunity to educate this individual on simple compensatory strategies to support her overall speech intelligibility. This experience was beneficial to my learning in motor speech evaluations. It helped trained my ear to the presentation of mild dysarthria by highlighting important factors like breath support, hypernasality, and speech rate. 

Enderby, P. & Palmer, R. (2008). Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment–Second edition (FDA‐2). Austin, TX: Pro‐Ed.

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This is a presentation I created in collaboration with Patricia Padilla and Tatiana Salazar for my Motor Speech Disorders course. Ataxic dysarthria is caused by damage to the cerebellar control circuit, which can result in impaired motor control and coordination of the respiratory, phonatory, resonatory, and articulatory systems required for speech (Duffy, 2020). This project reviews the presentation of ataxic dysarthria and potential treatment approaches. This assignment aided in my understanding of motor speech disorders and helped distinguish the differences between dysarthria types. It also highlighted how treatment methods can be utilized for more than one communication disorder. 

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Bislick, L., McNeil, M., Spencer, K. A., Yorkston, K., & Kendall, D. L. (2017). The Nature of Error Consistency in Individuals With Acquired Apraxia of Speech and Aphasia. American Journal of Speech-language Pathology, 26(2S), 611–630. https://doi.org/10.1044/2017_ajslp-16-0080

Sapir, S., Spielman, J., Ramig, L. O., Hinds, S. L., Countryman, S., Fox, C., & Story, B. (2004). Effects of Intensive Voice Treatment (the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment [LSVT]) on Ataxic Dysarthria: A Case Study. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 13(1), 93–93. https://doi.org/10.1044/1058-0360(2004/010)

This is a continuing education course I completed after working with a client at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula who had acquired apraxia of speech (AOS), dysphagia, and cognitive-communication impairments. I completed this course to increase my knowledge of AOS presentation when combined with other disorders. AOS is a neurological condition affecting motor planning and often coincides with dysarthria or aphasia. AOS can be difficult to diagnose, so clinicians must be systemic in their differential diagnostic process. A patient interview, speech and language sample, and formal assessment measures like the Apraxia Battery for Adults-2 (Dabul, 2000) can be helpful in making a differential diagnosis. This educational module was beneficial to my learning of AOS.  

Dabul, B. (2000), Apraxia Battery for Adults-2, Austin, TX: Pro-Ed

Haley, K. (2020). 20Q: Criteria for Diagnosing Apraxia of Speech (AOS) in Adults. SpeechPathology.com, Article 20404. Available from www.speechpathology.com

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