Active-interactional cotherapy

In the literature on cotherapy, little attention has been focused on maximizing the effectiveness of two therapists working in tandem with families and couples. While cotherapists may at times share their ideas and feelings with their clients, and after the therapeutic session exchange views between themselves, generally little interaction occurs between them during the session. In this paper, a case is presented for more active interactions between cotherapists during the session, in order to expedite and facilitate change and growth in their clients. Anecdotal examples are provided to illustrate the approach.     

Developmental influences on speech-motor equivalence: some implications for articulatory disordered children

The peak amplitude of EMG activity was measured from the orbicularis oris superior (OOS), orbicularis oris inferior (OOI) and masseter muscles for 3 normal 4-yr.-old children and compared to past data gathered on a group of articulatory disordered children, normal children, and adults. The 4-yr.-olds evidenced greater average peak EMG activity than the other groups, suggesting that speech-sound production becomes more efficient with maturation. Also, levels of variability obtained for the younger children were considerably smaller than for the normal speakers across the three muscles, showing that motor equivalence changes with age whereby the flexibility in the control of articulators increases. The coefficient of variation for the OOI muscle for the disordered children, however, was similar to that for the 4-yr.-olds, while the corresponding data for the other two muscles paralleled those for normal ones. These findings were interpreted as reflecting a delay in the development of speech-motor equivalence that affects certain muscles while sparing others.