>> Sports-Related Concussions Among Canadians: The Risks And The Treatment >> Can we help teachers help kids with dyslexia? >> Dysarthria: Did You Know There Is Only One Treatment Option Available? >> Autism Rates Are Escalating, Be Prepared As A Parent >> Concussions: What To Know And What To Ask Find out more at https://therapyspot.ca/

1. Therapies To
Break The
Chains Of
Disabilities

2. Synopsis

3. Sports-Related Concussions Among
Canadians: The Risks And The
Treatment
• If you are passionate about professional sports, you probably heard
at least once that players are sitting out on games because of their
concussions. Recovering from a concussion can vary and it can be a
very slow process. Some people may experience PCS (post-
concussive syndrome) symptoms. These are long-lasting
impairments that can significantly altersocial-cognitive behaviour.
• Concussion therapy has the power to help with brain trauma.
Because of the sensitivity of this issue, a team of healthcare
professionals usually assesses,offers diagnosis and advice. There
are two aspects one should bear in mind when evaluating the
seriousness of a concussion: how severe it is and how long do the
symptoms persist and the number of concussions suffered
previously.
• People who have suffered a concussion canget better through
structured concussion treatment. This can help accelerate recovery
and promote well-being. Since symptoms vary and each individual
experiences them differently, it can be tough to say exactly when
someone will be fully back to normal and able to perform daily
activities. Happily, finding a trustworthy therapist is not necessarily
difficult, although it requires some background research.

4. Can we help teachers help kids
with dyslexia?
• There is no set treatment for dyslexia and the best way to help is
to adjust the way reading is taught. One of these is occupational
therapy. Occupational therapy encompasses many activities
meant to help people develop reading skills. The most common
activity used is multisensory structured language education
(MLSE) which is often used with both kids and adults . Patients
can use other senses to help them recognise sounds and
syllables. One example of this is using sandpaper letters to learn
spelling or learning syllables by tapping with their fingers. As
such, they learn the same sound over and over, helping them to
remember it better .
• An alternative program is the Lindamood-Bell method. This is not
often learnt in school but in private centres instead. In a similar
way to MLSE, Lindamood-Bell breaks down learning to read in
steps. However, instead of just using other senses to learn to
read the word, the program also focuses on understanding
content. This is often in the form of imagery and associating a
certain word or phrase with a mental image .

5. Can we help teachers help kids
with dyslexia?
• Speech therapy is usually thought to help articulating words but
this is not the case. Speech therapy can be advantageous as it
helps the patient develop their vocabulary in addition to helping
them develop phonological awareness . It is a skill that helps kids
recognise thesound structure in words and identify specific
sounds like syllables. Subsequently, they will improve in reading
comprehension .
• Often in schools, teachers would seek the help of a speech
language pathologist or receive training from them. Helping
children with dyslexia is often an issue, especially since teachers
have limited capacity to help students one on one. This means
that many children are often left to their own devices. In
addition, teachers do not always have the necessary training to
recognise dyslexia or even support them in the classroom .

6. Dysarthria: Did You Know There Is
Only One Treatment Option
Available?
• Speech therapy is the only available treatment for dysarthria. It is
important to note that even though results differ depending on the
severity of the symptoms, this treatment has improved in many cases
the ability to speak. Therapy sessions can include exercises for
slowing down speech, improving muscle strength, tongue and lips
mobility and breathing exercises. Writing or as of more recently,
using technology such as iPads and augmentative reality can also be
used as tools in helping improve intelligibility.
• A small group study published in the American Journal of Speech-
Language Pathology reveals the benefits of speech therapy in
patients who had weekly sessions. The treatment consisted of a 60-
minute warm-up session followed by 60 minutes of therapy session
for a month. Following treatment, patients demonstrated substantial
speech improvements.
• There have been dozens other studies aiming to shed more light on
the positive implications of speech therapy. In spite of being the one
single treatment that patients can access, a significant part of those
studies are either single, experimental cases, or observational among
small groups. You can imagine how significant this unmet need is in
the dysarthria community and how important is now than ever to
raise awareness about research into the benefits of speech therapy.

7. Autism Rates Are Escalating, Be
Prepared As A Parent
• The most commonly used type of therapy for autism is applied
behavioral analysis (ABA). Its patient-centricity and flexibility are
probably the main characteristics that made it successful. ABA aims
to help children with autism develop social skills, from learning how
to write and using the bathroom to empowering one to engage in
social dialogue and even finding a job. Because of how the program
is thought out – involving as much as 40 hours a week and a step by
step breakdown of objectives, it also promotes discipline, education
and confidence.
• In a critical review of ABA in autism spectrum disorders it is being
revealed that a specific type of therapy called early intensive
behavioural intervention can significantly improve a child’s IQ and
social skills, and amazingly there is evidence that some cases have
been completely cured . Although patients and their families should
not embark on this journey expecting a 100% full recovery, that is in
most of the cases the goal.
• Most importantly, it is important to know that frequency can make a
very big difference. The vast majority of study papers have
concluded by saying that more hours every week translate into more
benefits.

8. Concussions: What To Know And
What To Ask
• Cognitive rehabilitation speech therapists use evidence-based
approaches to efficiently identify the issues and encourage healing. The
main benefit is the fact that it is a patient centric therapy. Due to the
fact that sessions are one-on-one, it allows patients to recover, help get
better and even offer support and effective advice in how to compensate
with a difficulty. It also takes into consideration the patient’s goals and
their usual environments.
• Cognitive rehabilitation speech therapists use evidence-based
approaches to efficiently identify the issues and encourage healing. The
main benefit is the fact that it is a patient centric therapy. Due to the
fact that sessions are one-on-one, it allows patients to recover, help get
better and even offer support and effective advice in how to compensate
with a difficulty. It also takes into consideration the patient’s goals and
their usual environments.
• Concussion therapy can help at all stages of treatment. In worst case
scenarios, during a coma for instance, professionals aim to get a general
response to sensory stimulation, prepare for anticipatory recovery and
prepare loved ones on how to interact when the patient regains
consciousness. As the patient becomes more aware of the situation, a
specialist may try to keep focus on basic exercises, like everyday
conversation, help reduce confusion and put things in perspective. Late
recovery involves an integrated plan for improving speech and memory,
social skills strategies and as well self-management at home.

9. The End
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