Tongue Strengthening ecourse

The tongue - it's the common denominator for every evaluation we do for speech and swallowing. It's necessary to evaluate tongue range of motion, strength and endurance as it's critical for speech and swallowing. Data collected during the evaluation helps us create the roadmap for therapeutic activities. This seminar builds on your basic knowledge of evaluating the tongue utilizing traditional tests on the market, the importance of this assessment, specific muscles critical for efficient function, how to determine range of motion and strength to assist in therapy planning as well as tools available to assist in improving tongue range of motion and strength to improve outcomes for speech and swallowing.

Course Requirements:

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:


Course Instructor(s)


Denise Dougherty

MA, CCC-SLP

Denise Dougherty, MA, CCC-SLP
Denise owns and operates a private practice in Indiana, PA, where she conducts therapy with both children and adults. She is a legal consultant/expert witness in wrongful death/negligence lawsuits involving dysphagia. Denise is a co-editor of Private Practice Essentials: A Practical Guide for Speech-Language Pathologists, published by ASHA Press. She has presented workshops and written numerous articles appearing in the ASHA Leader on the topic of private practice. Denise served as a consultant for The Arijah Children’s Foundation in Anguilla, BWI, providing evaluations and therapy programs for special needs children. Ms. Dougherty was an adjunct faculty member at York College of Pennsylvania and Wesley College in Dover, Delaware. She is a past President of the American Academy of Private Practice in Speech Pathology and Audiology (AAPPSPA), and received the Academy’s 2007 Honor Award and 2014 Award of Excellence for her achievements. Ms. Dougherty is a member of the Technical Experts Panel for Quality of Insights of Pennsylvania, working on initiating quality measures for CMS to improve effectiveness, efficiency, economy and quality of services delivered to Medicare beneficiaries. She received her bachelor’s degree in communication disorders from Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania; a master’s degree in communication disorders from St. Louis University. Ms. Dougherty is certified in VitalStim® therapy and is a VitalStim® instructor, has completed additional training in orofacial myology, is a member of the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association and has received numerous ASHA ACE Awards. For more information, please visit www.dldspeechpath.com.

Financial Disclosure Denise receives honoraria from CIAO for the presentation of her live courses and royalties for the sale of her online courses. Denise is in private practice and receives legal consultant/expert witness fees
Non-Financial Disclosure: There are no non-financial relationships to disclose.


Course Agenda

30 Minutes
Tongue anatomy and physiology
15 Minutes
Function and impact of tongue weakness
30 Minutes
Assessments and tasks to determine function
25 Minutes
Current research
10 Minutes
Importance of Tongue Strengthening in Rehabilitation of Speech and Swallow
55 Minutes
Methods and Tools: IOPI, SwallowStrong, Tongueometer, Tongue Press, other options
2.8 Hours
Total

Contact hours pre-approved for:

  • 2.5 Hours
  • CIAO is an ASHA Approved Provider (0.25 ASHA CEUs) bubble sheet submission required
  • ASHA CE Provider Approval and use of the Brand Block does not imply endorsement of course content, specific products, or clinical procedures.


Intermediate Level
0.25 ASHA CEUs