Introduction to Advances in Communication and Swallowing Volume 25, Issue 2

A warm welcome to Volume 25 Issue 2 of Advances in Communication and Swallowing! In keeping with the aims and scope of this journal, that is, to publish a rich and diverse array of high-quality research, we believe the main characteristic of this issue can be most aptly described as ‘eclectic’.

The eclecticism of Volume 25 Issue 2 is demonstrated by the inclusion of papers from researchers from across the world, including, Australia, New Zealand, United States of America, the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Ireland. Such a wide range of nations presented here is then mirrored in the variety of the topics in this issue, both within the area of the treatment of dysphagia, and beyond, to other areas of speech, language and communication intervention. The eclecticism is further underpinned by the welcome array of interdisciplinary perspectives showcased in this issue.

Within the treatment of dysphagia, we present papers that focus on the use of measurement tools and processes (see Simson & Govender and Wallace, Huckabee & Macrae, respectively). We also include papers on the experiences of patients from the perspective of healthcare professionals (Smith, Bryant & Helmsley), along with the experiences of dysphagia-trained nurses, whom we so heavily rely on in the delivery of dysphagia care (Benfield et al.). Flynn and colleagues (Flynn et al.) further add to the knowledge base on dysphagia in less-represented clinical populations, by presenting a scoping review protocol in the relatively under-researched area of swallowing difficulties in patients with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy.

Moreover, the characteristic eclecticism of this issue is further illustrated by the inclusion of papers that extend across topics of therapeutic relationships and interventions in the respective areas of stuttering (Connery et al.), and in the consideration of sensory-based interventions as used by speech and language therapists for children on the autism spectrum (Raubenheimer).

Finally, and in a follow-up to a recent ‘Spotlight on \dots  ’ paper in a previous issue (which considered healthcare humanities in the speech and language therapy context,) Knudson-Vilaseca extends this topic in her discussion of the potential for use of graphic novels by speech and language therapists in their own and others’ (e.g., students and researchers) education in the humanities, as part of a developing professionalism of care and understanding.

We would like to extend our thanks to our publisher, the authors, and the reviewers who worked hard to bring this set of papers to you. We hope you enjoy Volume 25 Issue 2 of Advances in Communication and Swallowing, which although diverse in content, is rendered cohesive by the common goal of sharing high-quality research with our journal’s ever-increasing audience.

Julie Regan

Irene P. Walsh

Co-Editors-in-Chief

November 2022