Ages: 5-14

Be prepared for referrals to treat children with typical voice disorders with this book of tools, techniques, methods, and materials. This book is a great reference for the busy clinician looking for "need to know" information and organizational helps in one handy place.

• Chapter 1: Describes the kinds of things that can go wrong with the voice and gives descriptions of problems related to voice abuse. Medically-related causes of voice problems (e.g., GERD, upper respiratory infections) are also addressed as well as congenital medical disorders with related voice problems (e.g., cleft plate, cerebral palsy).
• Chapter 2: Reviews the clinical (i.e., non-instrumental voice assessment) and includes a Clinical Voice Evaluation Checklist, observation form, case history form, and educational handout.
• Chapter 3: Gives an overview of instrumental evaluation measures and how to interpret them.
• Chapter 4: Includes helps for implementing appropriate interventions with sample forms and treatment plans, and a master list of goals and treatment objectives. Suggestions are given for addressing the challenges of:
  • helping the child understand his/her voice problem
  • utilizing a behavior change reinforcement system
  • determining prognosis and length of treatment
  • insurance/reimbursement
• Chapter 5: Covers treatment of the hyperfunctional voice (voice produced with too much tension). The types of hyperfunction and their respective treatments are discussed. Illustrated exercises and take-home activities are included.
• Chapter 6: Describes specific strategies for helping children replace vocal abuses with good vocal hygiene techniques as well as techniques to address the aspects of respiration, phonation, and resonance that effect vocal hyperfunction. Suggestions for motivating the child, goals and objectives, and specific treatment methods with data collection forms and illustrated exercises are provided.
• Chapter 7: Shows how to teach children to use a better respiratory pattern and includes illustrated activities.
• Chapter 8: Focuses on three aspects of phonation that may be problematic for children: volume, pitch, and voice onset. Sample treatment goals, a sequence of activities, and illustrated activities are included.
• Chapter 9: Deals briefly with hypernasality and covers tone focus in detail. Treatment techniques are reviewed and illustrated activities are included.
• Chapter 10: Gives information on paradoxical vocal fold dysfunction (PVFD). Although PVFD is not a voice disorder, its treatment requires a knowledge of respiration and phonation.

179 pages • 8.5 x 11, softcover book (Evaluation, documentation, and educational tools and therapy activities are included in the book) • ©2005