JCPSLP Vol 17 No 2 2015_web

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Aged care
JCPSLP Volume 17, Number 2 2015 111
• iPad applications specific to communication and
swallowing. Apps we have found most useful include:
• Swallowing Disorders by Blue Tree Publishing. This is
a useful resource to demonstrate to clients, families
and care workers what is potentially occurring due to
dysphagia. The series of detailed images provides lay
people with a visual representation of swallowing and
dysphagia and can also assist in their understanding
of the rationale behind recommendations for modified
diets and/or fluids. It is available as a bundle of four
apps for AUD$18.99 from the iTunes App Store.
• Speakit! 2: A text-to-speech app by Future Apps
Inc., which is available for AUD$2.49 on the iTunes
App Store. It is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch,
or iPad
• Language TherAppy by Tactus Therapy, which is
available for purchase through the iTunes App Store
– AUD$59.99 (which includes four modules) from:
• The Naming TherAppy module is also available on
Google Play – AUD$31.99 from: .
• Speech Sounds on Cue (Australian edition) by
Multimedia Speech Pathology which is available for
iPad only via the Apple App Store for AUD$28.99 or
• Online courses:
• Understanding Dementia MOOC – University of
Tasmania
• The University of Tasmania offers a Massive Open
Online Course (MOOC) that presents the latest
international research in dementia studies. It is a
free nine-week course that provides theoretical and
practical information about dementia. At the end
of the course, participants are presented with a
certificate of achievement. Website: .
• Hand Hygiene )
• Websites:
• My Aged Care at Up-to-
date information about the aged care sector is readily
available through this website
• Fight Dementia at
has many informative help sheets available for
downloading and printing.
Dr Jill Lesic & Associates Speech Pathology is a
national speech pathology company providing
speech pathology services to individuals in
their homes and residential care facilities. The speech
pathologists who contributed to this article were: Dr Jill
Lesic, Meredith Potts, Madeleine Dziubek, Laura Del
Medico, Lauren Woodbridge, Jane Villari, Sonia Pang,
Jody O’Connor, Kate McCullough, Dailan Evans, Jessica
Linke, Fiona Marzo, Carla Fraser, Daphna Eshel, and Kristie
Constance.
1 Dysarthria and dysphagia manuals
(SPAR, 1988; 2006)
These manuals, produced by Speech Pathologists in Adult
Rehabilitation (SPAR) in 1988 and updated in 2006 provide
a valuable source of drills, word lists and therapy ideas. Our
original set, purchased by Dr Jill Lesic in 1988, also
includes several additional manuals: Word Finding,
Language Comprehension, Problem Solving and Memory.
2 Therapy manuals: Workbooks of
activities for language and cognition
(WALC), the Source series, and
Handbook Of Exercises for Language
Processing (HELP)
We find the following manuals to be the most useful in our
practice: WALC 1 Aphasia Rehab (Tomlin, 2007); WALC 8
Word Finding (Tomlin, 2007); WALC 10 Memory (Tomlin,
2007); WALC 6 Functional Language (Bilik-Thompson,
2004); The Source for Oral-Facial Exercises (updated and
expanded, Gangale, 2001); The Source for Dysarthria,
second edition (Swigert, 2010); The Source for Alzheimer’s
and Dementia (Reese, 2000); The Source for Dysphagia,
third edition (Swigert, 2007); The Source for Voice Disorders
(Schwartz, 2004); and the Handbook of Exercises for
Language Processing, vols 1 & 2 (Lazzari & Peters, 1987).
These practical therapy manuals provide a wealth
of reproducible hard and soft copy work sheets and
information.
3 Technology
Access to the internet and handheld devices provides us
with many opportunities to source and/or develop therapy
and education tools for a diverse range of clients. Examples
of tools we find helpful for use in the aged care sector
include:
• printable AAC picture boards and therapy work sheets
Top ten resources in
aged care
Jill Lesic