[Dysphagia] Masako controversy

[ronewman at columbus.rr.com (robert newman)]

Well, I suppose that proverbial can of worms was reopened with my "love the
Masako technique" comment. Maybe "love" was too strong of a word.  Just for
the record, I do not "Masako" every pt, and in reference to the cited
article-I do not treat normals, I do not use food or barium when using the
technique.  It's an exercise. Plain and simple.

 

I do take the time to read some research. However, as has been warned on
this listserve before-research should be read carefully. I do not believe
everything I read. Just think of all the meds that have reached the market
b/c of supposed rock solid research, then people die and the meds are yanked
off of the shelf. What good was referencing that research?

 

If there is no research to support speech pathology involvement in
dysphagia, then why are there journals with such a name? Why are there
'experts' out there charging upwards to $200/hour to speak about dysphagia
to sold out seminars? Why are there college courses teaching our new
students? Why have a listserve? Is this just a hoax?  Are we treating pts we
should not treat? Are we to go back to being just speech and language
therapists, throw out dysphagia altogether?

 

I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel yet. I feel there is a need b/c I
see it every day. I will not go into personal experiences, as I know
antidotal stories seem to be thrown to the wayside. I'm not being facetious,
just realistic.

 

As always, I do enjoy this forum. Even discussions like this do not scare me
off-in fact, it makes me come back for more!

 

Thanks,

 

Kelly L Newman, CCC-SLP