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The study aimed at evaluating the diadochokinetic (DDK) skills of Greek-speaking preschool children with Phonological Disorder (PD) by means of a structured evaluation protocol and at proposing cut-off points for children at risk of speech impairment. The participants were 36 children with PD and 60 typically developing (TD) peers. The groups were matched on age and gender. The PD group performed significantly slower than the TD group in all speech DDK tasks, but not in the oral-motor tasks. The ROC analysis showed a statistically significant positive discrimination for all speech tasks. The internal consistency of the protocol was excellent (Cronbach’s α = .844), while complex stimuli showed a better discriminatory ability. The obtained results agree with Dodd’s classification for Speech Sound Disorders (SSDs). Different types of speech stimuli must be included in the evaluation of DDK performance which can be used as a clinical predictor for preschoolers with SSDs who face difficulties in speech maturation.

Telepractice or teletherapy is defined as the means of service delivery via technology-based platforms that allow long-distance interventions across populations, age spans, and geographical locations. Specifically, telepractice capitalizes on communication technologies such as online modules, videoconferencing, and computerized software programs, in servicing populations with communication challenges. Notably, telepractice has emerged as a potentially effective, low-cost, and promising means of conducting and completing online assessment, diagnosis, and intervention sessions for individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Moreover, telepractice allows the inclusion of parents, caregivers, and educators as potential facilitators in supporting treatment delivery in populations with ASD. This thematic review article aims to highlight and acquaint practitioners and other stakeholders with relatively recent information regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the telepractice service delivery model in ASD. Furthermore, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted service delivery in the field of Health Sciences including speech and language pathology (SLP). Consequently, the need to avoid face-to-face therapy sessions, recommended to SLPs as to all health practitioners, resulted in the call for adaptation and adjustment of service telepractice. This paper attempts to answer this call by suggesting supplementing traditional diagnostic and therapy resources with training modules consisting of online materials and use of animated and specially designed programs in SLP intervention with individuals with ASD. Lastly, the paper includes a discussion of research findings in the field, a conclusion, and a take-home message.

The proper use of language for communication in any context is defined as Pragmatics. Pragmatics includes the linguistic adjustments made (what is said, how it is said, body language, appropriateness) in order to accomplish the communication goal. Children and adults may be referred for rehabilitation when pragmatic communication deficits have an impact on social functioning, employment, and family/marital relationships (Turkstra, et al., 2016). The aim of this study is to examine gamification as an alternative to supplement clinical assessment procedures of an individual's communication deficiencies with a focus on pragmatics perception, which led to the creation of a mobile gamified procedure designed to collect data on pragmatics perception. The gamified procedure was created in Kahoot! and was played by a sample of two hundred and fifty-six (256) university students with non-acquired communicative deficits studying health related courses in Greece. Data on points scored, response accuracy and duration of time spent on of each language feature was recorded. A detailed description on students' pragmatics abilities and motivation was reported. The results of the study described normative data concerning points scored, response time and accuracy of language features. Statistically significant differences were found between genders in terms of response accuracy and time for some language features. The gamified e-assessment has the clear potential to contribute innovatively to the clinical assessment procedures of pragmatic communicative deficits including the needs of individuals with developmental disorders, psychiatric disorders, acquired brain injury, neurodegenerative disorders in a motivating way along with current technological advances of face to face and/or telepractice services.