Outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has affected immensely the service delivery to patients with communication disorders. Tele-rehabilitation has become a new norm for the service in the field of speech and hearing. Daily challenges in service delivery are widely being reported. The objective of study is to highlight challenges faced by Audiologists and Speech Language pathologists during tele-practice. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out through a web-based questionnaire regarding challenges faced by Audiologists & Speech Language Pathologists, and their perspectives towards telepractice was compared. Total of 18 questions were divided into three sections. Section I included questions regarding training related to tele-practice, types of cases being handled, etc. Section II comprised of questions related to teletherapy resources and section III had questions related to evaluation and treatment by tele-mode. 118 participants (47% Postgraduate students, 29% undergraduate students and 24% Professionals) participated in the study. Only 16.1% of the clinicians were trained formally for service delivery via tele-mode. All the participants reported child language disorders, difficult to handle during sessions. Participants reported lack of evidence based tele resources for the use during their practice and also stated difficulty assessing and intervening clients via tele-mode. Results show telerehabilitation is being widely used. Challenges faced by Audiologists and Speech language pathologists are difficulty handling paediatric population, lack of evidence-based tele-resources, and difficulty in evaluation & management of the patients. Effective training regarding tele practice is the need of current scenario. Future research on developing evidence-based resources is emphasized.

Introduction Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, tele-practice has become the new normal in the field of Speech-Language Pathology. Students and professionals throughout the country are embracing this new normal. Both groups confront problems; documentation of the problems may provide insight into how to improve tele-practice services. Aim The purpose of this study was to compare the problems that undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and working professionals in the field of Speech-Language Pathology experience in daily practice. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional survey study using a web-based questionnaire was conducted to examine the obstacles experienced by students and working professionals in the field of speech-language pathology, as well as their perspectives about tele-practice. There was a total of 20 questions. Divided into four sections, closed questions and Likert scale questions were used for demographic details, practice aspects, experience during telerehabilitation, and evaluation and treatment. Results The study had 118 participants (47% postgraduate students, 29% undergraduate students, and 24% professionals). Only 16% of clinicians were properly trained to provide services via tele-mode. All participants reported providing service to the pediatric population to be challenging, with autism spectrum disorder, fluency disorders, and hearing impairment to be difficult to handle cases. In tele-mode, undergraduate students reported a decrease in the number of cases and difficulties selecting therapy materials when compared with the other two groups. All three groups reported a lack of evidence-based teletherapy resources available. There was no difference in perceived difficulty between the three groups while conducting assessment and achieving treatment goals via tele-mode. Conclusion Tele-practice is generally recognized and employed, according to data availability. In terms of resource selection, evaluation, and treatment sessions, the difficulties faced by students and experts are disturbing. In the realm of speech-language pathology, strategies to address these issues could pave the way for tele-practice. As a result, better policies are strongly advised to address these difficulties to improve future tele-mode service quality.

With the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, a shift in teaching children with special needs has taken place. The purpose of this descriptive research study was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on teacher relationships with special needs kids during the mandated school closures in March 2020. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out through google form questionnaire. A total of forty special educators participated in the study. The challenges faced by special educators were documented through five sections: Demographic details, Online Teaching, Access to Resources, Individualized Educational Plan and Parental Satisfaction. During the Covid pandemic, more than 90% of teachers switched to an online way of service delivery. Special educators agree that online resources should be used properly, and that parents should be able to organize material for online education. They agreed that acquiring and exchanging information on Individualized Educational Plan (IEP), establishing IEP direction, planning and drafting IEPs for online classrooms, and implementing and reviewing IEPs were all tough. Parents’ satisfaction with online education and interest in online programs were lower than in-person teaching, according to the study. Special educators were constantly seeking to adapt to the present instructional requirements. Culturally relevant resources, guidelines for implementing the Individualized Educational Plan, and a family-centered approach are all needed.

In India, post-stroke dysphagia affects between 37 and 78 percent of people. In recent years, research into transcranial magnetic stimulation has enhanced our understanding of the neurological aspects of swallowing, thanks in great part to Hamdy and colleagues' pioneering work. TMS has been shown to help with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and parkinsonian symptoms, however, there is no study on how it can help with swallowing. This case study looked at the effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation in combination with standard swallowing training on swallowing function in brainstem stroke patients with cricopharyngeal spasms.