The ASHAsphere – blog for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association – uploaded a timely and relevant post at the end of September. Its content was focused on one specific question: “Does Technology Inhibit Our Engagement With Children?” You can read the post in full here: http://blog.asha.org/2011/09/29/does-technology-inhibit-our-engagement-with-children/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ASHAsphere+%28ASHAsphere%29
The author – Mirla Raz – starts with a question posed by a colleague: “…communication is a relational activity, it’s all about relationships. Should we be investing so much energy on encouraging children to engage maybe more with technology than they do with people? … Do we really need all of the apps in order to engage children with spoken communication or do we need to get back to the real function of speech and language which is to connect people with people?”
This question is particularly salient in a time when the application of technology in speech and language therapy has never been so widespread. Communication aids that are high-tech, involve dynamic touch-screens and speak on behalf of the user are becoming more commonplace than ever in the speech and language therapist’s bag of tricks. iPads and iPods have also made alternative augmentative communication more affordable and portable. More and more research is being conducted into the benefits and efficacy of using information technology in speech and language therapy. The question therefore, is whether focusing on technology means focusing on interpersonal relationships is happening less and less.
As a speech and language therapist, Raz feels that the answer lies in how the technology is applied. She discusses ‘apps’: “There are apps available that can be used as a starting point for conversation. New app innovation holds the possibility of animating the standard pictures we have been using in therapy for years.” The key, perhaps, lies in the skill of the person applying the technology: a qualified speech and language therapist will know what is relevant, when it should be used, how often and to what level of intensity. Raz continues by saying, “Letters replaced human messengers, books replaced human storytellers, radio and television took their place alongside live entertainment. Today’s technology is another medium of interaction on this continuum.”
The article ends with an anecdote from another colleague: “At the end of school last year, I grouped two preschoolers who I had been seeing separately and at the end, we used the iPad for some free time. Boy, was I surprised at the amount of spontaneous conversation between the two boys! They shared their favourite app, described how to play it, asked questions about the other boy’s app, and made helpful suggestions. I hadn’t gotten such spontaneous language from the one student for over a year of therapy!!”
Sarah Bennington, October 2011
Written on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. Integrated Treatment Services is a private Speech and Language Therapy service based in Leicestershire and the East Midlands. It specialises in providing highly-skilled Speech and Language Therapists, but also associates with other therapeutic professionals, including Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Arts Therapists.
