CAPCDS International Summit
Newport Beach, CA
April 19, 2012
International Online Services For
Aphasia: Clients, Clinicians,
Supervisors, and Students
• William Connors, The Aphasia Center of
Innovative Treatment, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA USA
• Pushpa Ramachandran, The Aphasia Center of
Innovative Treatment, Inc., Pune, India
• Katilyn Kunkle, Bloomsburg University, PA USA
• Paul Berger, Falls Church, VA USA
• Janet Ross, Slave Lake, Canada
will discuss online group and individual treatment and
consultation with people who have aphasia, and the
relevance of such work to global higher education in
CSD. Content will include observations and
interactions based on the presenters’ experiences
delivering online services to individuals and groups in
the US, Canada, India, and other countries.
Implications for online clinical supervision of and
participation by graduate students will also be
addressed.
Learning Outcomes:
• List benefits of online group and individual
treatment for aphasia.
• List two issues in online supervision of
graduate students in telepractice.
6 Big Questions for Today?
• What’s it like in the tele-trenches for clients,
students, clinicians, and supervisors?
• What does actual telespeech look, sound, feel
like?
• How do we ensure that the client’s goals and
values come first?
6 Big Questions for Today?
• What should graduate programs do about
telepractice in the student experience?
• What would be the most effective and
efficient ways to work with this first wave of
digitally native students?
• What are the best ways to exploit talents;
resources; technology?
Bill Connors, M.A., CCC-SLP
www.aphasiatoolbox.com
Pittsburgh, PA
724-494-2534; bill@aphasiatoolbox.com
skype- aphasiatoolbox; oovoo- aphasia
Session Plan
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
3:30 – 3:45 pm Introductions; groundwork
3:45 – 3:55 pm Treatment demo; Q&A Paul Berger
Disadvantages-advantages
4:00 – 4:15 pm The Grad Student experience; Q&A Kaitln
Kunkle
4:15 – 4:30 Treatment demos: group; text/chat; recording;
practice; software
4:30-4:50 pm The international perspective; Q&A Pushpa
Ramachandran
4:50 – 5:00 pm – Wrap up
5:00 pm
Miller TIme
Thanks
•
•
•
•
CAPCDS; Brooke Hallowell
To you guys
All my PWA and caregivers
My old mentors
“Traveling the Pathways of
Aphasia Recovery…”
“Life without passion is
unforgivable.” Sean John
Statement of the Problem:
• More than 1.2 million people in the United States
and Canada (Brody, 1992; NAA, 2011; the
Aphasia Institute, 2011) as well as millions more
throughout the world, continue to suffer with
hope-robbing, independence-depriving effects of
aphasia despite millions of dollars spent on
research, treatment, and public awareness of the
problem (Kelly, 2011). The great majority of PWA
and their caregivers find this state of affairs
unacceptable (Worrall, 2011).
Telepractice background
• ASHA convention-discouraging; limiting
• Encouraged; engendered determination
First crude effort
• Set up a corporation
• Created a basic, makeshift website with some self-help for
consumer and SLP protocols, materials and videos
• www.skype .com
• Rolled up sleeves went to work doing best I could with
treatment programs and techniques and tools as we
developed our own treatment philiophy, tools and treatment
protocols
What we quickly learned…
1. Traditional therapy is poorly suited to online
treatment:
What we quickly learned…
2. We need a treatment philosophy, tools and
protocols that exploits both technology and
neuroplasticity …
What we quickly learned…
3. We needed to, “Stop acting as our clients
frontal lobes.” Helm-Estabrooks
What we quickly learned…
4. Group interaction and engagement is critical.
5. The focus needs to be on conversation.
6. Clients must practice 2-3 hours a day with
additional work with coaches and tutors.
7. The use of formative assessment is a must.
8. Focus on reconnecting normal screen literacy,
keyboarding, and spelling.
What we quickly learned…
9. Say it, say it, type it, think it, say it.
10.To facilitate reconnection, thousands of
neural flows are needed.
11. We usually see PWA who have exhausted
much or most resources.
12.We needed to get remote access to their
computers. KISS it.
What we quickly learned…
• What PWA want and do not want…
What we have done…
• Created a new website that facilitates a
synergy of technology, client experience and
treatment philosophy and tools.
• Created a user-friendly interface and work
flow for PWA; practice coach; clinician and
student.
• Improved the art of online videoconferencing.
What we have done…
• Created the Brain Compatible Aphasia
Treatment Program.
• Created the Motor Reconnect Apraxia
Program.
• Creating a network of clinicians, independent
and within organizations, jumping in to
telepractice.
What we have done…
• Collaborating with institutions and
organizations.
• Perform ongoing continuous quality process
improvement.
• Start from normal, everyday technology:
computer; keyboard; emial; touchscreen; iPad;
iPhone; Droid; Facebook; Voxer; Pinterest;
email
This tele-stuff is coming fast….
• “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get
run over if you just sit there.” Will Rogers
Paul Berger video
Paul Berger consumer
Kaitlyn Kunkle student
Pushpa Ramachandran SLP
Disadvantages
Advantages
Obstacles
Costs
Practice
Apps, websites, blogs