ACQ Vol 12 No 3 2010

controversial topics presented without reference to the literature. In the surgical management of speech the authors advocate pharyngeal flap as the surgical procedure to address velopharyngeal dysfunction. There is no mention of pharyngoplasty which is another surgical option frequently used successfully in many cleft centres. In the section on speech disorder the authors discount the presence of verbal dyspraxia in VCFS, while more recent research confirms that dyspraxia can be part of the speech disorder. In the final section on feeding and growth the authors suggest too many children with VCFS are unnecessarily tube fed. While this might be the case for some children with VCFS, there are children with VCFS who require tube-feeding because of unsafe swallowing. There is a concern that clinicians reading this section might put children at risk if they were to avoid introducing tube-feeding or stop tube-feeding when it may be unsafe for the child to swallow food and doing so may risk aspiration. These areas of controversy will hopefully promote further research and thus encourage clinicians to provide better treatment. Another limitation was the poor quality of some of the video clips on the DVD, in particular poor sound quality. On balance this book is an excellent text and will be read by clinicians and scientists across many disciplines, including speech pathologists. The authors have succeeded in providing a wealth of information in a concise readable format. It will also serve as a reference book with a good index and many useful figures, including photos, which may aid the clinician in the recognition and diagnosis of VCFS. Velo-cardio-facial syndrome , Vol, 2: Treatment of communication disorders , by the same authors, is due for publication and will hopefully prove to be a good follow- up and another useful text in this Genetic Syndromes and Communication Disorders series. lingWAVES Voice Clinic Suite Pro. Germany: WEVOSYS, www.wevosys.com. Available in Australia through Multimedia Speech Pathology, 14A Miami Shore Parade, Miami, Qld 4220, phone: 0407 293579, fax: 07 5578 6373, email: mmsp@tpg.com.au, or go to www.mmsp. com.au. Available at A$4,950 plus GST. Other lingWAVES speech pathology clinic sets for voice and speech are available from $1,100 plus GST. Jennifer M. Oates and Cameron Grant

undertake all aspects of voice and speech analysis from the basic tasks of voice and speech recording, editing of the recordings, managing client data and producing client reports, through to a wide range of basic and more advanced voice and speech analyses. The software also includes a highly motivating visual biofeedback module for use in therapy with both children and adults (TheraVox). The software modules are accompanied by a high-quality sound level meter microphone and tripod. A comprehensive manual is provided, both in hard copy and via the WEVOSYS website. The key components of the manual are also available on-screen when the suite is in use. Additional user support is available via email from the product manager, Ingolf Franke, and remote support direct to the user’s computer can also be obtained. For Australian users, the distributors, Multimedia Speech Pathology, provide a knowledgeable and efficient source of additional support.

The lingWAVES Voice Clinic Suite Pro is a comprehensive digital system for speech and voice evaluation, visual biofeedback and client documentation developed in Forchheim, Germany. The overall lingWAVES system comprises different modules that can be combined and added to at any time. The lingWAVES Voice Clinic Suite Pro is a specialist suite at the high end of the lingWAVES

The range of voice and speech analyses available within lingWAVES Voice Clinic Suite Pro is comprehensive and, as far as the reviewers are aware, not matched by any other commercial product. The following measures are available within this suite: • standard acoustic measures such as fundamental frequency, intensity, jitter, shimmer and glottal noise energy (GNE) analyses – the latter is related to the harmonic-to-noise ratio measure familiar to Australian clinicians, although Wevosys claims that GNE is a more robust measure; • basic spectrograms along with a more advanced formant tracking capability; • aggregate acoustic measures of voice quality (irregularity, noise and overall severity) that have been shown to correlate well with the perceptual features of roughness, breathiness and hoarseness;

system and comprises all of the available modules with the exception of electroglottography software and hardware. The software included in this suite allows a wide range of speech and voice evaluation functions. Unlike many alternative programs, lingWAVES Voice Clinic Suite Pro provides the user with the software tools required to

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ACQ Volume 12, Number 3 2010

ACQ uiring knowledge in speech, language and hearing