Indication Used in patients who need assistance in performing activities of daily living Comments May provide recreation and leisure activities The therapist provides parents and patients with a strategy and drills that can help improve performance and enable the therapy to be continued in the home Speech therapy Description A speech therapist determines the cause of the patients' difficulty in expressing themselves and implements techniques and aids to address the difficulty Indication May help children overcome speech difficulties Comments May assist in use of special communication devices Therapy may continue as long as speech problems persist Parents should continue drills that help to improve performance at home Evidence A systematic review of 12 RCTs of varying size (8 patients to 20 patients) examined the effects of speech and language therapy for children with cerebral palsy. The reviewers found positive trends in communication skills such as use of speech and gesture to articulate thought, but durable improvement could not be substantiated. Level of evidence: 2 A systematic review sought contemporary RCTs to examine the impact of speech and language therapy administered to young children with dysarthria. The reviewers sought specifically to identify practices that improve the intelligibility of speech and enhance communication in the dysarthric. The reviewers found no suitable studies on which to acknowledge or challenge current practice (which often includes voice supplementation devices) and made no recommendations for or against current practice. Level of evidence: 3 References Behavioral therapy Description
Indication Used in patients who need assistance in performing activities of daily living Comments May provide recreation and leisure activities The therapist provides parents and patients with a strategy and drills that can help improve performance and enable the therapy to be continued in the home Speech therapy Description A speech therapist determines the cause of the patients' difficulty in expressing themselves and implements techniques and aids to address the difficulty Indication May help children overcome speech difficulties Comments May assist in use of special communication devices Therapy may continue as long as speech problems persist Parents should continue drills that help to improve performance at home Evidence A systematic review of 12 RCTs of varying size (8 patients to 20 patients) examined the effects of speech and language therapy for children with cerebral palsy. The reviewers found positive trends in communication skills such as use of speech and gesture to articulate thought, but durable improvement could not be substantiated. Level of evidence: 2 A systematic review sought contemporary RCTs to examine the impact of speech and language therapy administered to young children with dysarthria. The reviewers sought specifically to identify practices that improve the intelligibility of speech and enhance communication in the dysarthric. The reviewers found no suitable studies on which to acknowledge or challenge current practice (which often includes voice supplementation devices) and made no recommendations for or against current practice. Level of evidence: 3 References Behavioral therapy Description
Cerebral_palsy.docx