Despite their use for many years and their popularity among some SLPs for the treatment of a wide variety of speech problems in children and adults, NSOMTs are controversial because sufficient evidence does not exist to support their effectiveness in improving speech. Moreover, limited evidence exists for the use of NSOMTs to facilitate nonspeech activities. Therefore, the available evidence does not support the continued use of NSOMTs as a standard treatment and they should be excluded from use as a mainstream treatment until there are further data. SLPs should consider the principles of EBP in making decisions about NSOMTs.
Educational materials for clients with cleft lip/palate and their families and materials for the general public produced by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association were analyzed for readability. The SMOG Grading Formula, a simple, fast procedure for predicting grade-level difficulty of written material, and the Fry index of readability, a more lengthy measure of readability, were used to analyze 30 publications. Reading levels were computed, and results ranged from elementary to college level. The majority of materials were written at or above the high school readability level. Results suggest a need for revision of current materials to lower reading levels. Writers should consider the appropriateness of reading level for readers when preparing educational materials.
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