Search

Purpose: The main objective of this study was to gain insight into school-based speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') perspectives on and experiences with telepractice as a service delivery model at the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic. A better understanding of the facilitating and challenging factors that belie telepractice-based services will guide the creation of training and resource development to further support remote speech-language services in schools. Method: Four focus group sessions using a semistructured format were conducted with 22 school-based SLPs from 14 states in the United States. The focus groups provided an opportunity for SLPs to reflect on their telepractice experiences, including pros and cons, necessary knowledge and skills, factors impacting telepractice service delivery, and student and family participation. Inductive thematic analysis was used to describe the collective experiences and perspectives of the participants. Results: Three themes regarding telepractice emerged: technology use, locus of control for decision making, and student and family engagement. Participants reported experiencing a range of successes and challenges when attempting to meet students' needs and identified gaps in resources and school capacity for telepractice. Conclusions: The findings revealed how school SLPs experienced telepractice service delivery during the remote learning portion of the 2019-2020 school year due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study increases our understanding of factors that facilitated and challenged the effective delivery of speech-language services via telepractice. To assist SLPs in future telepractice efforts, implications for professional development and further research are provided.

This exploratory study investigated supports and services academic libraries currently provide that assist in the fulfillment of information needs. Utilizing wayfinding, think-aloud protocol (TAP), retrospective think-aloud protocol (RTAP), and a GoProTM camera, the actions, thoughts, and feelings of an autistic college freshman and a neurotypical peer were recorded as they navigated their campus library in search of materials. The library website, virtual maps to resource locations, and library workers served equally as enablers and barriers to both students in their information seeking. This proof-of-concept study demonstrates that participant viewpoint ethnography is a viable methodology that can be applied in school library research, with specific adaptations and examples provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]