[Dysphagia] re: Ataxic pt.

[swlslp at yahoo.com (Sandi Lancaster)]

Hello,

Regarding the pt w/ ataxic dysarthria:

I just got back yesterday from a certification seminar
for LSVT (which was originally developed as a voice
therapy for Parkinson patients).

As we learned in the seminar, LSVT is now being
explored with a variety of pts including pts with
ataxic dysarthria, and including pts who don't present
with dysphonia as the primary speech difficulty. 
There has been some success using LSVT with ataxic
dysarthic pts who don't present with dysphonia as the
primary difficulty.

For this ataxic pt who wants to continue therapy, I
would suggest finding an LSVT certified SLP in your
area who can do a trial of LSVT to see whether it
might help.

By the way, for anyone who is interested in LSVT, I
highly recommend the course!  It was wonderful!

-Sandi





--- acellucc@bidmc.harvard.edu wrote:

> Hi there, I am forwarding this to the listserve for
> my colleague. I will
> forward any feedback back to her. thanks in advance.
> 
>  
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2004 3:07 PM
> Subject:can you forward this?
> 
> 
> 
> Alex-
> 
> Will you please forward this message to the
> Dysphagia list serve?  Thanks.
> 
>  
> 
> Hello, friends.  This is not a swallowing question.
> 
>  
> 
> I'm looking for an SLP in the Boston area who has
> some experience in
> treating ataxic dysarthria.
> 
>  
> 
> My patient is a young man in his 30's with ataxic
> dysarthria as a result of
> several cerebellar infarcts during a cardiac
> procedure.  He is HIGHLY
> MOTIVATED and probably the most compliant patient
> I've ever had.  
> 
>  
> 
> I know that the literature does not support
> behavioral speech therapy for
> treatment of ataxic dysarthria, but I agreed to take
> this patient on a trial
> basis.  His ataxia has diminished somewhat during
> our course of therapy.  Of
> course, it is impossible to know if his improvement
> is due to our exercises,
> or due to spontaneous recovery.
> 
>  
> 
> I've run out of ideas to try on him and am ready to
> discharge him.  The
> exercises he's been doing, I think he can continue
> to do independently
> without my skilled intervention.  The patient is
> highly resistant to the
> idea of discharge and wants to continue with
> therapy.
> 
>  
> 
> If there is anyone out there with experience with
> this group, I'd love to
> chat with you off-line to see if a referral to a new
> SLP may be in order.
> He truly is a great patient, but I don't think I can
> ethically see him
> anymore, as I've got nothing new to offer him.
> 
>  
> 
> Joy Walsh, MS, CCC-SLP
> 
> Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
> 
> Boston, MA 
> 
> 617-632-7405
> 
>  
> 
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> 


=====
Sandi Lancaster, M.A. CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist

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