Dementia often changes a person’s communication while also increasing their need for connection and support. In this episode of ‘What’s Got Us Talking…’, we explore the impact of communication changes in dementia, and the important role speech pathologists play in enabling more successful communication and connection.

Resources:

Dementia Australia: 
Talking to someone with dementia https://www.dementia.org.au/living-dementia/staying-connected/talking-someone-dementia

Speech Pathology Australia Factsheet on Dementia and Communication: 
https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/common/Uploaded%20files/CommunicationHub/Fact-Sheets/Dementia%20and%20communication%20FINAL.pdf

Speech Pathology Australia Dementia Practice Guideline:
Working with People with Lived Experience of Dementia https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/Public/Shared_Content/Smart-Suite/Smart-Library/Public/Smart-Library-View.aspx?resource=920

Systematic Review of Communication Partner Training Programs for Families of People with Dementia (Open Access)
Folder, N., Power, E., Rietdijk, R., Christensen, I., Togher, L., & Parker, D. (2023). The Effectiveness and Characteristics of Communication Partner Training Programs for Families of People with Dementia: A Systematic Review. The Gerontologist. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad095  

Host: Professor Bronwyn Hemsley 

Guests: Naomi Folder and Gwenda Darling

Producer: Ali Aitken

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of “What’s Got Us Talking …” we explore the dangers of facilitated communication and variants Spelling to Communicate and Spellers Method. We outline the importance of recognising an individual’s communication rights and their need to access a method of communication that reflects their own thoughts, and not those of the facilitator. 

Facilitated Communication and variants (Supported Typing, Letterboarding, Spelling to Communicate / Spellers Method) are increasingly being used due to:

(a) growing numbers of speech-language pathologists and clinics delivering FC/S2C services; and 

(b) promotion in The Telepathy Tapes (Seasons 1 and 2), which dangerously and incorrectly interpret failed message passing tests as pseudoscientific telepathy rather than being evidence of facilitator control over the messages produced. 

This episode features some of the authors of a new paper outlining the communication rights of individuals exposed to the dangers of facilitated communication and variants (Spelling to Communicate, S2C, Spellers Method), listed below. 

Outline of Communication Rights and Authorship Assessment in FC/RPM/Spellers (Open Access) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23297018.2025.2544116

Hemsley, B., Beals, K., Lang, R., Schlosser, R. W., Shane,  H. Simmons, W., Skinner, S., & Todd, J. (2025). Safeguarding the communication rights of minimally- or non-speaking people who are vulnerable to Facilitated Communication, Rapid Prompting (Spellers method) and variants. Research and Practice in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, 1-21.

Systematic Review of Facilitated Communication (Open Access) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2396941518821570

Hemsley, B., Bryant, L., Schlosser, R. W., Shane, H. C., Lang, R., Paul, D., Banajee, M., & Ireland, M. (2019). Systematic review of facilitated communication 2014–2018 finds no new evidence that messages delivered using facilitated communication are authored by the person with disability. Autism & Developmental Language Impairments, 3. https://doi.org/10.1177/2396941518821570 (Original work published 2018)

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Article 16 Freedom from Exploitation, Violence and Abuse: https://social.desa.un.org/issues/disability/crpd/article-16-freedom-from-exploitation-violence-and-abuse

Article 21 Freedom of Expression and Opinion and Access to Information: https://social.desa.un.org/issues/disability/crpd/article-21-freedom-of-expression-and-opinion-and-access-to-information

Website and YouTube resources: Blog posts, videos, critiques of studies, and lists of organisations with position statements opposing FC/RPM

https://www.facilitatedcommunication.org/

https://www.youtube.com/@fcisnotscience

POSITION STATEMENTS on FC/RPM/S2C/Spellers

American Association of Speech Language Hearing:

ASHA Position Statements on Facilitated Communication https://www.asha.org/policy/ps2018-00352/

ASHA Position Statement on Rapid Prompting Method (Spelling to Communicate, S2C, Spellers Method) https://www.asha.org/policy/ps2018-00351/?srsltid=AfmBOopseOn5HhRP7E0er6QJYNt97hjImlHsPcb9S2MUc9Qud8X4Mwdp

ASHA Evidence Map on Systematic Review of Facilitated Communication https://apps.asha.org/EvidenceMaps/Articles/ArticleSummary/75d47271-e474-ee11-814b-005056834e2b

Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability - ASID Position Statement on Facilitated Communication and Rapid Prompting Method https://asid.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Sept-2024-Final-Position-Statement-on-FC-and-RPM-13-July-202475.pdf

Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists  https://www.rcslt.org/members/delivering-quality-services/facilitated-communication/#section-2

Host: Professor Bronwyn Hemsley 

Guests: Dr Katherine Beals, Dr Jeffrey Chan and Professor Karen Nankervis

Producer: Ali Aitken

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Recognising the rising popularity of GLP/NLA, we bring the results of a systematic review into the conversation and explore some reasons for its rapid growth despite the absence of research evidence.

Resources: 

Key paper: 

• Bryant, L., Bowen, C., Grove, R. et al. (2024) Systematic review of interventions based on Gestalt Language Processing and Natural Language Acquisition (GLP/NLA): Clinical implications of absence of evidence and cautions for clinicians and parents. Curr Dev Disord Rep 12, 1–14 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40474-024-00312-z https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40474-024-00312-z 

Websites for evidence-based practices

• Autism Evidence and Practice (The National clearinghouse, NCAEP, USA). https://ncaep.fpg.unc.edu/

• Australian Autism CRE (Centre for Research Excellence) evidence tables https://www.autismcrc.com.au/interventions-evidence/summary-umbrella-review/evidence-table

Host: Prof Bronwyn Hemsley 

Guests: Dr Lucy Bryant and Dr Caroline Bowen, AM.

Produced by Laura Corrigan, thanks to 2SER

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As multilingual speech pathology is an emerging field of research and practice, we explore how and why speech pathologists support multilingual clients, and several new developments. it.

Resources:

• Multilingual Children’s Speech YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRXcSAl_dA7arRMrE0qdxLuzGChY1LgY2

• Multilingual Children’s Speech website: https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech

Key paper: 

• McLeod, S., & Crowe, K. (2018). Children’s consonant acquisition in 27 languages: A cross-linguistic review. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 27(4), 1546–1571. https://doi.org/10.1044/2018_AJSLP-17-0100 

• Free posters: https://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/speech-acquisition/learning-english-consonants

Host: Prof Bronwyn Hemsley 

Guests: Dr Denise Ng,  Prof Sharynne McCleod, Emily Chan, and Lily.

Produced by Laura Corrigan, thanks to 2SER

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a person’s voice doesn’t match the gender they identify with, this can cause dysphoria. Here’s how speech pathologists and students at UTS are helping transgender clients. 

Resources:

American Speech-Language Hearing Association page https://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/voice-and-communication-change-for-transgender-people/

Host: Prof Bronwyn Hemsley 

Guests: Dr Catherine Gregory, Skye Walker, Jenna Nelson, and Kathy Zhou.

Produced by Laura Corrigan, thanks to 2SER

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We used generative AI to write this podcast headline, and then checked it matched our intended meaning. Here’s other ways we’re using it in speech pathology. 

Resources:

• https://theconversation.com/will-ai-tech-like-chatgpt-improve-inclusion-for-people-with-communication-disability-196481

• Speech Pathology Australia Position Statement on Artificial Intelligence in Speech Pathology: Ethical Considerations https://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/resource?resource=935

• Australian Government Framework for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Schools https://www.education.gov.au/schooling/resources/australian-framework-generative-artificial-intelligence-ai-schools

Host: Prof Bronwyn Hemsley 

Guests: Prof Emma Power, Fiona Given, Tristan Nickless, Bernadette Frewen, and Lauren Reinhardt.

Produced by Laura Corrigan, thanks to 2SER

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Discover the latest research and insights in Speech Pathology from the University of Technology Sydney. Join Professor Bronwyn Hemsley, Head of Speech Pathology at UTS, as she starts the conversations shaping the field. A must-listen for speechies, students, and their curious friends. Produced by Laura Corrigan, thanks to 2SER

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.