Telepractice involves the application of technology to deliver services over a geographical distance. Studies in which telepractice procedures were used in the assessment or treatment of individuals with aphasia were reviewed. Systematic searches identified 10 studies meeting inclusion criteria. These studies were evaluated in terms of the: (a) characteristics of the participants, (b) technology utilized (c), services delivered via telepractice, (d) research methodology, and (e) results and conclusions of the study. Telepractice was used by speech-language pathologists and allied health professionals to assist with the delivery of services to participants with aphasia by their caretakers or clinicians. The services delivered included appraisal, diagnostic assessments, interventions, and consultation. This review suggests that telepractice is a viable method of service delivery for individuals with aphasia, however further research is warranted. Guidelines for practitioners and potential directions for future research are discussed.

Telepractice is a method of service delivery in which professionals provide intervention, assessment and consultation services to individuals through the use of telecommunication technologies. In response to the nationwide school-based shortage of speech-language pathologists, telepractice has emerged as a viable way to reach underserved clients. Telepractice has the potential to extend to populations in need of services, including those diagnosed with autism. This paper examines an evidence-based clinical model for the delivery of telepractice services and describes the policies and procedures required for assessing individual need, confidentiality, technology, training and documentation within a telepractice program. Two clinical case studies involving individuals diagnosed with autism are described and provide initial evidence for the use of telepractice as a practical method for direct and consultative service delivery. Results indicated that both the student receiving direct services, and the treating clinician receiving consultative services via telepractice, demonstrated an increased skill level in target domains.

Abstract:Telehealth involves the application of technology to deliver services over a geographical distance. Studies in which telehealth procedures were used in the training or coaching of parents with young children (aged 6 years and under) who were diagnosed with autism were reviewed. Scoping searches identified two studies that met the inclusion criteria. These studies were evaluated in terms of the: 1) characteristics of the participants; 2) technology utilized; 3) services delivered via telehealth; 4) research methodology; and 5) results and conclusions of the study. Telehealth was used by speech-language pathologists and university researchers to provide training to parents on specific intervention approaches to facilitate targeted communication initiations and responses by gestures, picture pointing, or verbalizations, as well as the delivery and evaluation of the Early Start Denver Model. While the available literature is limited on this topic, this review suggests that the use of telehealth is a viable means to provide training to parents with young children diagnosed with autism.

There is a shortage of qualified speech and language pathologists (SLPs) to not only meet the needs of students with a variety of communicative disabilities, but also the needs of those students with severe impairments who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Special education administrators need to consider additional methods of service delivery, such as telepractice. However, there is limited evidence regarding the efficacy of services delivered to students using AAC via telepractice as opposed to face-to-face services. This study examines the effectiveness of services provided using both methodologies, and aims to provide some validation of telepractice as an alternative treatment method. Using a single-subject design to compare performance outcomes, a 7 year-old male participant, who used a Vantage Plus™ device with an 84-sequenced overlay, was studied over an eight-week period, with four weeks of on-site therapy immediately followed by four weeks of telepractice therapy. Student progress was measured by comparing outcomes in both conditions to baseline data with respect to short-term goals focused on grammatical morphemes. The results indicate that the performance outcomes were comparable in both conditions. The authors discuss the implications of using telepractice to deliver direct intervention and future applications of telepractice as a service delivery model for individuals using AAC.

A crucial step in adapting to urban habitat is switching to novel, often man-made, resources. Switching to a novel resource can influence the dynamics of species coexistence, particularly if it alters trade-offs in performance. While such switches are frequently documented, their influence on species coexistence has been difficult to assess because it requires knowledge of performance trade-offs in the context of both historical and novel resource use. Western and mountain bluebirds provide a unique system in which to investigate the effects of a resource switch on species coexistence because both depend on secondary nest cavities to breed and, across a large part of their range, have switched to using man-made nest boxes. Western bluebirds are less dispersive, but more aggressive, than mountain bluebirds leading to a successional pattern of species replacement in many nest box populations; however, there is evidence of continued coexistence in natural post-fire habitat. Nest boxes differ from natural cavities in both distribution, which may affect the dynamics of interference competition between the species, and thermal conductance, which may impact competition by altering survival of ectothermic young. Here, we use a combination of experimental manipulations of nest box density and more than a decade of fitness and incubation temperature data to investigate whether altered resource distribution or thermal environment best explain patterns of species replacement in nest box populations. In both species, we found that females breeding in nest boxes were unable to maintain normal incubation temperatures during inclement weather and experienced similar offspring mortality patterns. Moreover, climatic variation across populations did not predict species' relative abundance. Instead, experimental manipulation of nest box density showed that mountain bluebirds persisted longer when nest boxes were distributed farther apart, suggesting that nest box distribution may be a key factor in understanding how human-created habitat impacts coexistence of bluebird species. These results emphasize that knowledge of species interactions in the historical habitat is crucial to understanding population dynamics as species transition to novel, man-made habitat.