The goal of this book is to fill a gap that currently exists between the theoretical learning that takes place in the university setting, and practical management of clients in the workplace.
This type of task requi.
Dysphagia requires you, the clinician, to multi-task your anatomy and physiology university knowledge with the individual needs of the person sitting in front of you.
This book uses a series of case studies to help demonstrate how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.
It has been our experience that students learn about different aspects of Dysphagia and its management in the university setting, then arrive for clinical practicum with no idea of how the pieces of the puzzle fit together: for example, WHY a facial nerve weakness will mean that the person with Dysphagia is likely to struggle to drink without anterior spillage, or the need for strategies to manage drooling.
We hope it will encourage new clinicians to learn to ask the questions that will assist them in individualizing assessment and treatment for their patients.
This book reflects an evidence-based approach to management of clients with dysphagia, while providing tips that reflect our extensive experience in managing feeding and swallowing problems in adult and pediatric populations.
We are practising clinicians who are also involved in research.
With some help interpreting the other instruments that give that symphony its rich texture, we can start to relax and appreciate the individuality of each piece.
We can feel overwhelmed by other sounds and it can feel like they are drowning out the one or two instruments that we have learned.
In clinical practice it can feel like there is a cacophony of noise that we have to make sense of.
At university or college we are taught about one or two instruments in the symphony.
Each patient is like a unique symphony.
Let\'s use an analogy.
Dysphagia management is definitely no cookbook recipe field, and whilst this is part of its attraction, it can also cause sheer terror in new graduates.
We wanted to provide a resource that helps to bridge the gaps between theoretical learning and hands-on practice and provide a resource that unpacks clinical reasoning and helps new clinicians think about how and why recommendations about managing clients with Dysphagia are made.
Dysphagia is becoming an increasingly large part of the work done by Speech Language Pathologists but seems to be very confronting for a lot of students and beginning clinicians.
The goal of this book is to fill a gap that currently exists between the theoretical learning that takes place in the university setting, and practical management of clients in the workplace
