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Cognitive impairment is acknowledged as a feature of Parkinson’s disease (PD), and the most common cognitive declines are in executive function (EF) and memory. Cognitive reserve (CR) may offer some protection against cognitive dysfunction in PD. The present study used two proxies of CR (years of education, premorbid IQ) to examine the relationship between CR and (i) EF (ii) memory in a large PD sample (n = 334). Two aspects of EF were examined, including verbal fluency and planning skills. Two aspects of verbal memory were examined, including immediate recall and delayed recall. For EF, both CR proxies significantly predicted verbal fluency, but only years of education predicted planning skills. Years of education significantly predicted immediate recall, but premorbid IQ did not. Neither CR proxy predicted delayed recall. These findings suggest that CR, in particular years of education, may contribute to EF and memory function in those with PD. A key finding of this study is the varying contribution of CR proxies to different aspects of the same cognitive domain. The findings indicate that using only one proxy has the potential to be misleading and suggest that when testing the relationship between CR and cognition, studies should include tasks that measure different aspects of the cognitive domain(s) of interest.

Purpose: This is a scoping review of the methods used in published research to assess conversations and the interventions used to treat conversations between people with Parkinson’s disease and their partners. Communication partners were defined as significant others or next-of-kin. The aims were to describe the assessment methods and interventions used, and to identify gaps in the literature. Method: Four online databases were used to identify peer reviewed journal articles in English, which assess and/or treat conversations in this population. The titles and abstracts of the obtained articles were screened and irrelevant articles were excluded. The full texts of the remaining articles were read to determine which studies met the inclusion/exclusion criteria of this review. The methods used, conversational aspects assessed, the treatments conducted and outcome measures used, and the speech and language domains targeted were charted in order to examine the extent of the evidence to inform future research directions. Result: Eight studies met inclusion criteria. “Conversation analysis” was the most widely used method to assess conversations. These studies assessed conversational aspects relating to the domains of pragmatics, fluency, prosody and semantics. They highlighted the role of communication partners to support conversational interactions by using repair strategies during a communication breakdown. Only one study treated conversations by implementing communication partner training. Conclusion: The findings of this review emphasise gaps in the literature. It highlights the need for future research implementing communication partner training. There is also a need to assess conversation skills of partners in order to determine which strategies would be most effective to support their interaction. It highlights the importance of incorporating a participation-based approach to assessment and intervention involving all communication partners. This may lead to enhanc

Background: Speech pathologists have a pivotal role in palliative care, assisting patients with swallowing and communication disorders, yet very little is known about the preparedness of speech pathologists to work in this field. Aims: To investigate the preparedness of speech pathologists for working in palliative care. The term ‘palliative care’ was viewed as an encompassing umbrella term incorporating the management/reduction of symptoms and improvement in a person's quality of life at any point of the disease progression. Methods & Procedures: Participants were Australian-trained speech pathologists who provided adult palliative care services. An online questionnaire was used to gather both quantitative and qualitative data from practising speech pathologists. Qualitative data were analysed and interpreted using conventional content analysis. Descriptive statistics were analysed via the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows Version 22. Non-parametric tests (chi-square and Mann–Whitney U-test) were used for further analysis. Outcomes & Results: The majority (70%) of participants indicated that their university training did not prepare them to practice in palliative care. Participants who received palliative care education at the tertiary level were significantly more prepared to work with palliative patients than those who had not; however, only a minority (27%) had received such training. Just over half (57%) reported having completed post-university professional development in palliative care. The speech pathologist's role in palliative care was also highlighted, with speech pathologists outlining their contribution to the assessment of patients’ communication and swallowing abilities. In addition, recommendations for palliative care content to be incorporated into university curriculum were suggested. Conclusions & Implications: Speech pathologists can make important contributions to end-of-life care, but there is much scope for improv

© 2018 The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Purpose: This study explored the predictors of the outcomes of turnover and occupation attrition intentions for speech-language pathologists. The researchers examined the mediating effects of job satisfaction and strain on the relationship between stress and the latter outcomes. Additionally, the researchers examined the importance of embeddedness in predicting turnover intentions after accounting for stress, strain and job satisfaction. Method: An online questionnaire was used to explore turnover and attrition intentions in 293 Australian speech–language pathologists. Result: Job satisfaction contributed to a significant indirect effect on the stress and turnover intention relationship, however strain did not. There was a significant direct effect between stress and turnover intention after accounting for covariates. Embeddedness and the perceived availability of alternative jobs were also found to be significant predictors of turnover intentions. The mediating model used to predict turnover intentions also predicted occupation attrition intentions. The effect of stress on occupation attrition intentions was indirect in nature, the direct effect negated by mediating variables. Qualitative data provided complementary evidence to the quantitative model. Conclusion: The findings indicate that the proposed parsimonious model adequately captures predictors of speech–language pathologists’ turnover and occupation attrition intentions. Workplaces and the profession may wish to consider these retention factors.

Background The WHO definition of trachomatous trichiasis (TT) is "at least one eyelash touching the globe, or evidence of recent epilation of in-turned eyelashes ", reflecting the fact that epilation is used as a self-management tool for TT. In Fiji's Western Division, a high TT prevalence (8.7% in those aged >= 15 years) was reported in a 2012 survey, yet a 2013 survey found no TT and Fijian ophthalmologists rarely see TT cases. Local anecdote suggests that eyelash epilation is a common behaviour, even in the absence of trichiasis. Epilators may have been identified as TT cases in previous surveys. Methods We used a preliminary focus group to design an interview questionnaire, and subsequently conducted a population-based prevalence survey to estimate the prevalence of epilation in the absence of trichiasis, and factors associated with this behaviour, in the Western Division of Fiji. Results We sampled 695 individuals aged >= 15 years from a total of 457 households in 23 villages. 125 participants (18%) reported epilating their eyelashes at least once within the past year. Photographs were obtained of the eyes of 121/125 (97%) individuals who epilated, and subsequent analysis by an experienced trachoma grader found no cases of trachomatous conjunctival scarring or trichiasis. The age-and sex-adjusted prevalence of epilation in those aged >= 15 years was 8.6% ( 95% Cl 5.7-11.3%). iTaukei ethnicity, female gender, and a higher frequency of drinking kava root were independently associated with epilation. Conclusion Epilation occurs in this population in the absence of trichiasis, with sufficient frequency to have markedly inflated previous estimates of local TT prevalence. Individuals with epilated eyelashes should be confirmed as having epilated in-turned eyelashes in an eye with scarring of the conjunctiva before being counted as cases of TT.

BACKGROUND: Social perception is an important skill. One assessment that is commonly used to assess social perception abilities is The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT). The only normative data available for this test are for Australian younger adults. Despite no normative data being available for British adults, the test is widely used in the UK with older and younger adults. There is a growing body of research that suggests that older adults have difficulty with skills associated with social perception. There is therefore a need to determine whether British adults, and more specifically British older adults, perform similarly to the Australian normative TASIT scores available in the manual. AIMS: To explore the differences between older and younger British adults' performance on TASIT, and to determine whether younger and older British adults perform similarly to the data from Australian adults in TASIT manual. METHODS & PROCEDURES: TASIT was administered to a total of 42 native British English speaking participants. The participants were split into two age groups 18-45 and 60-90 years. Comparisons were made between the two groups and the Australian data in TASIT manual. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The younger British and Australian adults obtained similar scores on all parts of TASIT. The older British adults though, obtained significantly lower scores than the Australian younger adults on all parts of TASIT and when education was controlled for they obtained significantly lower scores than the British younger adults. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The findings are discussed in the light of previous research that has found that older adults are worse than younger adults at social inferences. The findings of the current study suggest that caution should be used when using TASIT with older British adults to assess social perception abilities.

© 2016 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.Primary objective: To further examine the proposed relationship between executive impairments in inhibitory control and social communication difficulties reflecting poor inhibition following TBI. Method: Inhibitory control was assessed in 14 adults with TBI on the Hayling Sentence Completion Test (HSCT). Errors on Part B (failed inhibition) and Part B-Part A response latencies (delayed inhibition) were examined. A relative, friend or frequent communication partner of each participant with TBI completed the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire (LCQ) on the communication difficulties of the person with TBI. The Inhibitory Control Factor (ICF) score of the LCQ based on seven items relating to poor inhibition was specifically analysed against performance on the HSCT. Results: Multiple regression analysis indicated that 58% (51% adjusted) of the variance in LCQ ICF scores was accounted for by measures on the HSCT. Only B–A response latencies on the HSCT explained a significant proportion of the variability in LCQ ICF scores. Conclusions: Reduced inhibition speed may more strongly contribute to disinhibited communication behaviours than failures in inhibition. These findings contribute to understanding of the cognitive processes underlying social communication and have the potential to support and inform the use and development of management practices for individuals following TBI.

Background: No previously published research has investigated public awareness and knowledge of Right Hemisphere Communication Disorders (RHCD). In comparison, there are a handful of published studies that have investigated public awareness and knowledge of aphasia. The results of these studies indicate that awareness and knowledge is low but has marginally increased in recent years, due to international efforts to raise the public profile of the disorder. Aims: The current study investigated public awareness and knowledge of RHCD and compared it to that of aphasia. Information regarding awareness and knowledge of stroke was also determined for those participants who did not have awareness of RHCD or aphasia. Methods & Procedures: A face-to-face survey of 87 members of the public was undertaken in North West London, United Kingdom. Outcomes and Results: Of the 87 survey respondents, only 9.2% reported having heard of RHCD and 4.6% met the criteria for having basic knowledge of this disorder. In comparison, 32.2% of participants had heard of aphasia and 24% had basic knowledge about it. While the results show that fewer people were aware and had knowledge of RHCD compared to aphasia, this difference was not significant. Of those participants who had heard of neither disorder, all had heard of and the majority had knowledge of stroke. Conclusions: The findings suggested that awareness of RHCD amongst members of the public is low. It is suggested that in order to improve quality of services, funding and social re-integration following a right hemisphere stroke, raising public awareness and knowledge is necessary.

A significant body of evidence from cross-linguistic and developmental studies converges to suggest that co-speech iconic gesture mirrors language. This paper aims to identify whether gesture reflects impaired spoken language in a similar way. Twenty-nine people with aphasia (PWA) and 29 neurologically healthy control participants (NHPs) produced a narrative discourse, retelling the story of a cartoon video. Gesture and language were analysed in terms of semantic content and structure for two key motion events. The aphasic data showed an influence on gesture from lexical choices but no corresponding clausal influence. Both the groups produced gesture that matched the semantics of the spoken language and gesture that did not, although there was one particular gesture–language mismatch (semantically “light” verbs paired with semantically richer gesture) that typified the PWA narratives. These results indicate that gesture is both closely related to spoken language impairment and compensatory.

Providing quality palliative care services is a national priority, and speech pathologists play an integral role in this area managing communication and swallowing difficulties. However, very little is known about the type and amount of palliative care education currently incorporated into Australian speech pathology curricula and the preparedness of graduates to work in this field. This discussion paper summarises the role of the speech pathologist in palliative care and the preparedness of graduates to work in this field. Further research is required to develop a picture of the current educational practices in Australian speech pathology curricula.

Purpose: The current study aimed to investigate what Australian speech-language pathologists frequently include in their bedside assessments in adult dysphagia, what factors influence these bedside assessments and whether they are consistent with the current evidence base. Method: These aims were achieved via an online questionnaire and a series of semi-structured interviews. In the questionnaire, respondents were asked to rate how frequently they utilized bedside assessment components on a scale of five ranging from never to always. Result: One hundred and forty practicing speech-language pathologists completed the online questionnaire in full. Eight interviews were then conducted. Respondents reported utilizing predominantly motor elements of their oro-motor examination with very few sensory elements being frequently utilized. Five main themes arose from the interviews including the influence of the individual patient and participant, the current evidence base, the participants’ clinical practice and the participants’ workplace. Conclusion: The findings from this research have implications for current clinical and education practices, in particular the impact of education and training and caseload demands on current practice.

Background: Conveying instructions is an everyday use of language, and gestures are likely to be a key feature of this. Although co-speech iconic gestures are tightly integrated with language, and people with aphasia (PWA) produce procedural discourses impaired at a linguistic level, no previous studies have investigated how PWA use co-speech iconic gestures in these contexts.Aims: This study investigated how PWA communicated meaning using gesture and language in procedural discourses, compared with neurologically healthy people (NHP). We aimed to identify the relative relationship of gesture and speech, in the context of impaired language, both overall and in individual events.Methods & Procedures: Twenty-nine PWA and 29 NHP produced two procedural discourses. The structure and semantic content of language of the whole discourses were analysed through predicate argument structure and spatial motor terms, and gestures were analysed for frequency and semantic form. Gesture and language were analysed in two key events, to determine the relative information presented in each modality.Outcomes & Results: PWA and NHP used similar frequencies and forms of gestures, although PWA used syntactically simpler language and fewer spatial words. This meant, overall, relatively more information was present in PWA gesture. This finding was also reflected in the key events, where PWA used gestures conveying rich semantic information alongside semantically impoverished language more often than NHP.Conclusions: PWA gestures, containing semantic information omitted from the concurrent speech, may help listeners with meaning when language is impaired. This finding indicates gesture should be included in clinical assessments of meaning-making.

Finding practical dysphagia opportunities for students pre-qualifi cation is challenging. Discussions with clinicians led to the development of a new placement model. The placement was just five days and had an accompanying workbook. The current study aimed to evaluate the benefits of the placement. Data were analysed from 40 students who attended an adult dysphagia placement and 13 who attended a paediatric dysphagia placement. Measures included a pre and post self-rating questionnaire, qualitative feedback from clinical educators and students and a pre and post measure of knowledge using concept maps. Student self-rating data indicated gains in experience, awareness, knowledge, clinical skills, competence, confidence and interest in dysphagia. Clinical educators and students also reported a range of benefits from this placement. Students who undertook a placement that focused on adult dysphagia significantly increased their knowledge of adult dysphagia, but this did not generalize to paediatric dysphagia. Despite reporting that they felt they had gained in knowledge of dysphagia, the students who did a paediatric dysphagia placement did not significantly increase their knowledge of dysphagia. The study raises a number of important considerations when designing placements including length, timing, intensity, how best to encourage generalization of knowledge, and how best to measure learning.

This study investigated the effectiveness of a 1-day dysphagia training package delivered to support workers who work with adults with a learning disability. Thirty-eight support staff took part in this study. Twenty-five support staff received training, and 13 did not receive training and therefore acted as a control group. Three questionnaires were completed by each participant: immediately before, immediately after and a month after the training delivery. Questionnaires measured both confidence and knowledge. Findings indicated that there was a significant increase in knowledge and confidence scores in the trained group. These increases were largely maintained over a 1-month period. There was no significant change in confidence or knowledge scores in the untrained group.

Background: Using gesture as a compensatory communication strategy may be challenging for people with severe aphasia. Therapy can improve skills with gesture, at least in elicitation tasks, but gains ar often modest. Raising the treatment dose with technology might improve outcomes. Aims: This feasibility study developed a computer gesture therapy tool (GeST), and piloted it with nine people who have severe aphasia. It aimed to determine whether practice with GeST would improve gesture production and/or spoken naming. It also explored whether GeST encouraged independent practice and was easy to use. Methods & Procedures: Pilot participants had 6 weeks practice with GeST, flanked by pre- and post-therapy tests of gesture and word production. Usability was explored through interviews and structured observations, and the amount of time spent in the programme was monitored. Outcomes & Results: Scores on the gesture test were evaluated by 36 independent raters. Recognition scores for gestures practised with the tool improved significantly after therapy and the gain was maintained. However, gains were small and only occurred on items that were practised with regular therapist support. There was no generalisation to unpractised gestures and no effect on spoken naming. Usability results were positive. Participants undertook an average of 64.4 practice sessions with GeST, and the average session length was just under 14 minutes. Conclusions: GeST was proved to be easy and enjoyable to use and had some effect on participants’ gesturing skills. Increasing the magnitude of gains would be desirable. The effect on everyday communication needs to be explored.

In the global society in which we live the graduate speech-language pathologist needs to be prepared for working with a culturally diverse client group and for the possibility that they may work in a country other than the one in which they trained. International clinical placement opportunities are a common method for many Australian speech language pathology programs to prepare students for an international career and for working with a culturally diverse client group. There have been many reported benefits for students taking part in these placements. But what are the benefits for overseas students who participate in a placement in Australia? This clinical insights article asked five clinicians who had trained in the UK and who had completed a placement in Australia during their training to reflect on this experience. They reported many benefits both personally and professionally. They felt that their Australian placement experience prepared them to work with a culturally diverse client group and shaped who they areas clinicians. There were also additional benefits for the service in which they now worked.

Although there is a substantive body of research about the language used by individuals with aphasia, relatively little is known about their spontaneous iconic gesture. A single case study of LT, an individual with conduction aphasia indicated qualitative differences between the spontaneous iconic gestures produced alongside fluent speech and in tip of the tongue states. The current study examined the iconic gestures produced by another individual with conduction aphasia, WT, and a group of 11 control participants. Comparisons were made between iconic gestures produced alongside normal language and those produced alongside word-searching behaviour. Participants recounted the Tweety and Sylvester cartoon Canary Row. All gesture produced was analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. WT produced more iconic gestures than controls accompanying word searching behaviour, whereas he produced a similar frequency of iconic gestures to control participants alongside normal language. The iconic gestures produced in the two language contexts also differed qualitatively. Frequency of iconic gesture production was not affected by limb apraxia. This study suggests that there are differences between iconic gestures that are produced alongside normal language and those produced alongside word-searching behaviour. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.

Background: Previous research has found that people with aphasia produce more spontaneous iconic gesture than control participants, especially during word-finding difficulties. There is some evidence that impaired semantic knowledge impacts on the diversity of gestural handshapes, as well as the frequency of gesture production. However, no previous research has explored how impaired semantic knowledge impacts on the frequency and type of iconic gestures produced during fluent speech compared with those produced during word-finding difficulties. Aims: To explore the impact of impaired semantic knowledge on the frequency and type of iconic gestures produced during fluent speech and those produced during word-finding difficulties. Methods & Procedures: A group of 29 participants with aphasia and 29 control participants were video recorded describing a cartoon they had just watched. All iconic gestures were tagged and coded as either “manner”, “path only”, “shape outline” or “other”. These gestures were then separated into either those occurring during fluent speech or those occurring during a word-finding difficulty. The relationships between semantic knowledge and gesture frequency and form were then investigated in the two different conditions.Outcomes & Results: As expected, the participants with aphasia produced a higher frequency of iconic gestures than the control participants, but when the iconic gestures produced during word-finding difficulties were removed from the analysis, the frequency of iconic gesture was not significantly different between the groups. While there was not a significant relationship between the frequency of iconic gestures produced during fluent speech and semantic knowledge, there was a significant positive correlation between semantic knowledge and the proportion of word-finding difficulties that contained gesture. There was also a significant positive correlation between the speakers’ semantic knowledge and the proportion of gestures t

Background: Spatial communication consists of both verbal spatial language and gesture. There has been minimal research investigating the use of spatial communication, and even less focussing on people with aphasia. Aims: The aims of this exploratory study were to describe the frequency and variability of spatial language and gesture use by three participants with aphasia in comparison to nine control participants. This included: 1) frequency of gestures; 2) types of gesture; 3) number of spatial descriptions described by gestures but no language; and 4) frequency and variety of locative prepositional, verb, and noun phrases. Methods & Procedures: Each participant was videoed undertaking 11 spatial communication tasks: four description tasks, and seven tasks involving directing the researcher in the placement of objects or pictures. Gestures and language produced were transcribed and analysed. Outcomes & Results: Participants with aphasia used significantly more gesture. Participants with aphasia also used more gesture without spoken phrases when spatial vocabulary was unavailable. Finally, there were differences between the participants with regards to the types of gesture that they used when they were unable to access language. Conclusion & Implications: The results suggest that the analysis of gesture produced by people with aphasia may provide insight into their underlying language impairment. As this was an exploratory study, with just three participants with aphasia, further research is needed.

Background: Speech and language therapists rarely analyse iconic gesture when assessing a client with aphasia, despite a growing body of research suggesting that language and gesture are part of either the same system or two highly integrated systems. This may be because there has been limited research that has systematically analysed iconic gesture production by people with aphasia. Aims: The aim was to determine whether the gesture production of a participant with conduction aphasia was able to provide information about her language system. Methods & Procedures: The iconic gestures produced by a participant with conduction aphasia (LT) and five control participants produced during the retelling of a cartoon were analysed. In particular, the iconic gestures produced during lexical retrieval difficulties (co-tip-of-the-tongue (co-TOT) gestures) were compared with the iconic gestures produced during fluent speech (co-speech gestures). Outcomes & Results: It was found that LT produced 57 co-speech gestures that were similar in form to the co-speech gestures produced by the control participants (mean = 34.2, standard deviation (SD) = 22.2). LT also produced an additional eleven co-TOT gestures that were unlike her co-speech gestures and unlike the co-speech gestures produced by the control participants. While the co-speech gestures depicted events, the co-TOT gestures depicted ‘things’ (for example, objects and animals).Furthermore, all but one of the co-TOT gestures produced by LT was classified as a shape-outline gesture, whereas co-speech gestures were rarely classified as shape-outline gestures. LT also produced a new type of gesture that has not previously been described in the literature: a homophone gesture. This co-TOT homophone gesture depicted the homophone of the target word. The iconic gestures produced by LT suggest that she had an intact semantic system but had difficulties with phonological encoding, consistent with a diagnosis of conduction aphasia. Thi

Cross-linguistic evidence suggests that language typology influences how people gesture when using ‘manner-of-motion’ verbs (Kita 2000; Kita & Özyürek 2003) and that this is due to ‘online’ lexical and syntactic choices made at the time of speaking (Kita, Özyürek, Allen, Brown, Furman & Ishizuka, 2007). This paper attempts to relate these findings to the co-speech iconic gesture used by an English speaker with conduction aphasia (LT) and five controls describing a Sylvester and Tweety1 cartoon. LT produced co-speech gesture which showed distinct patterns which we relate to different aspects of her language impairment, and the lexical and syntactic choices she made during her narrative.

This study investigated the impact of age on iconic gesture and speech integration. The performance of a group of older adults (60–76 years) and a group of younger adults (22–30 years) were compared on a task which required the comprehension of information presented in 3 different conditions: verbal only, gesture only, and verbal and gesture combined. The older adults in the study did not benefit as much from multi-modal input as the younger adults and were more likely to ignore gesture when decoding the multi-modal information

There has been little research on the provision and adaptation of oral care for patients with dysphagia in nursing homes. This study collected data via a questionnaire specifically on the knowledge of oral hygiene and the current oral care practices for patients with dysphagia. Fifty-three registered nurses (RNs) completed the questionnaires. The results of the questionnaire indicated that although RNs gave more oral care daily to their patients with dysphagia than to their patients without dysphagia, they had limited knowledge of drugs that affect oral care and of medical conditions associated with poor oral hygiene. Of particular concern was the limited knowledge of the link between dysphagia, oral hygiene and pneumonia and that some of the current oral care practices may be putting patients who have dysphagia at increased risk of developing pneumonia. These results are discussed in light of previous research on the topic and recommendations are made with regards to oral care training.

Background: In order to comprehend fully a speaker's intention in everyday communication, information is integrated from multiple sources, including gesture and speech. There are no published studies that have explored the impact of aphasia on iconic co-speech gesture and speech integration. Aims: To explore the impact of aphasia on co-speech gesture and speech integration in one participant with aphasia and 20 age-matched control participants. Methods & Procedures: The participant with aphasia and 20 control participants watched video vignettes of people producing 21 verb phrases in three different conditions, verbal only (V), gesture only (G), and verbal gesture combined (VG). Participants were required to select a corresponding picture from one of four alternatives: integration target, a verbal-only match, a gesture-only match, and an unrelated foil. The probability of choosing the integration target in the VG that goes beyond what is expected from the probabilities of choosing the integration target in V and G was referred to as multi-modal gain (MMG).Outcomes & Results: The participant with aphasia obtained a significantly lower multi-modal gain score than the control participants (p<0.05). Error analysis indicated that in speech and gesture integration tasks, the participant with aphasia relied on gesture in order to decode the message, whereas the control participants relied on speech in order to decode the message. Further analysis of the speech-only and gesture-only tasks indicated that the participant with aphasia had intact gesture comprehension but impaired spoken word comprehension. Conclusions & Implications: The results confirm findings by Records (1994) that reported that impaired verbal comprehension leads to a greater reliance on gesture to decode messages. Moreover, multi-modal integration of information from speech and iconic gesture can be impaired in aphasia. The findings highlight the need for further exploration of the impact of aphasia on ge

Education of health professionals is costly to the general community and more specifically the educational sector. The increasing need for speech and language therapy (SLT) services, coupled with poor employment retention rates, poses serious cost-benefit considerations. The poor job retention rates among speech and language therapists are associated with high levels of job dissatisfaction. One factor known to influence job satisfaction is the congruence between one's career motivation and actual career experience. The current study sought to explore (1) why students choose to embark on an SLT degree, (2) what factors are important to maintain their long-term employment in SLT, and (3) how long they predicted they would remain in the workforce practicing in SLT. Students from two tertiary SLT courses, one in Australia (n=67) and one in the United Kingdom (n=84), completed an online questionnaire targeting these issues. Students' responses were consistent across cohorts, so they were combined into one data set. Three categories of responses emerged, relating to altruism (i.e., helping others), intellectual interest (i.e., interested in disease and disability), and professional issues (e.g., salary, desire for a professional career).There was good agreement in responses to questions focusing on why participants chose to study SLT and what they foresaw as important for their future career. Students who were motivated to enter SLT for professional reasons tended to report that they would remain in the profession for a shorter time than those students who chose the career with a primarily humanistic or intellectual motivation. The implications of these findings for educators and professional bodies are discussed.

Although several aspects of prosody have been studied in speakers with right hemisphere damage (RHD), rhythm remains largely uninvestigated. This study compares the rhythm of an Australian English speaker with right hemisphere damage (due to a stroke, but with no concomitant dysarthria) to that of a neurologically unimpaired individual. The speakers' rhythm is compared using the pairwise variability index (PVI) which allows for an acoustic characterization of rhythm by comparing the duration of successive vocalic and intervocalic intervals. A sample of speech from a structured interview between a speech and language therapist and each participant was analysed. Previous research has shown that speakers with RHD may have difficulties with intonation production, and therefore it was hypothesized that there may also be rhythmic disturbance. Results show that the neurologically normal control uses a similar rhythm to that reported for British English (there are no previous studies available for Australian English), whilst the speaker with RHD produces speech with a less strongly stress-timed rhythm. This finding was statistically significant for the intervocalic intervals measured (t(8) = 4.7, p < .01), and suggests that some aspects of prosody may be right lateralized for this speaker. The findings are discussed in relation to previous findings of dysprosody in RHD populations, and in relation to syllable-timed speech of people with other neurological conditions.