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www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au
ACQ
Volume 12, Number 3 2010
129
Kylie Farnsworth
This technology is now being used in a number of medical
and allied health fields. There are various examples in the
literature of speech pathology assessments and treatments
being conducted via telehealth with positive outcomes.
These include: the assessment of apraxia of speech in adults
(Hill, Theodoros, Russell, & Ward, 2008), the treatment of
hypokinetic dysarthria (Theodoros et al., 2006), and the
treatment of adults and children who stutter (Carey, et al,
2010; Lewis, Packman, Onslow, Simpson, & Jones, 2008).
In the current study, the Lidcombe Program of
Early Stuttering Intervention is being trialled using
videoconferencing. The Lidcombe Program is a behavioural
F
or large, sparsely populated countries like Australia,
providing speech pathology services to all who
need them is a challenge. Researchers are currently
striving to improve accessibility of such services using
information and communication technologies. These
technologies include the telephone, internet and desktop
videoconferencing. This form of service delivery not only
has the capacity to allow clients to be assessed and
treated in their own homes or communities, it also has the
potential to maximise functional outcomes by optimising
the timing, intensity and sequencing of interventions, as well
as facilitating generalisation of treatment effects within the
client’s everyday environment (Theodoros, 2008).
Webcam Lidcombe
Program treatment
Kylie Farnsworth
Research update