With a record-breaking 2021 in the books, we’re looking to keep the momentum going into 2022. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, though, we’d like to take one last opportunity to celebrate your favorite articles from 2021.
The 10 articles featured below were some of the most read and most talked about articles across our five journals. Check out our top articles of 2021 below.
Your Top Articles
Speech Development Between 30 and 119 Months in Typical Children I: Intelligibility Growth Curves for Single-Word and Multiword Productions: First published online in September, this open access article quickly became our most read of the year. Authors mapped the intelligibility curves for typically developing children aged 2 to 10. This research can help identify children with intelligibility deficits earlier and more accurately.
Examining the Role of Physical Activity on Word Learning in School-Aged Children: Our most talked-about article of the year made a splash not just in social media but in news outlets, as well! Authors looked at previous data that showed increased brain activity after exercise, and they studied whether exercise could also stimulate vocabulary learning in children. The data show that only certain types of exercise can improve children’s ability to learn new vocabulary.
COVID-19 and Telehealth
It should come as no surprise that four of our most popular articles of the year center on COVID-19 and the provision of telehealth. These articles serve as great resources for clinicians working during a pandemic that has lasted almost 2 years.
Coping With Tinnitus During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How did changing access to health care affect those living with tinnitus? The findings in this article can help practitioners, stakeholders, and other support services work together to provide patient-driven, accessible, and evidence-based support.
COVID-19 and Speech-Language Pathology Clinical Practice of Voice and Upper Airway Disorders: Clinicians working in voice and upper airway disorders are at an especially high risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. This article looked at best practices to ensure patient and provider safety while providing crucial services.
Telehealth for Dysphagia Across the Life Span: Using Contemporary Evidence and Expertise to Guide Clinical Practice During and After COVID-19: Authors reviewed pre-pandemic and emerging evidence and presented guidelines for the safety and reliability of dysphagia telemanagement. They also identified some limitations to current telehealth provisions, which may guide future innovations and research.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Speakers With Aphasia: What Is Currently Known and Missing? Enhancing social participation is a crucial rehabilitation goal for patients with aphasia; however, physical distancing measures during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic made this difficult. This article highlighted ways that various stakeholders can be flexible and sensitive to the social and rehabilitation needs of people with aphasia.
Autism Spectrum Disorder
In 2021, we published two key forums on autism spectrum disorder. These forums were so popular that one article from each made our top 10 list of the most read articles of the year!
Emergent Literacy Assessment in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Who Have Limited Verbal Communication Skills: A Tutorial: In this tutorial, the authors explained the need for a comprehensive, assessment approach that involves all members of the educational team and that is catered to the needs of the individual child.
“Everyone Deserves AAC”: Preliminary Study of the Experiences of Speaking Autistic Adults Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Authors examined the experiences of speaking autistic adults who chose to use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) later in life. The experiences of these individuals showcase the importance of offering communication choices to autistic individuals and their families.
Evidence-Based Care for Children and Adults
The last two featured articles highlight the variety offered by the ASHA journals in 2021. No matter what patient age you specialize in, we have the latest research available for you.
Longitudinal Changes in Auditory and Cognitive Function in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: This article surveyed middle-aged and older adults across a time span of 8–9 years, looking for a link between changes in auditory and cognitive function. Ultimately, the authors found that hearing loss wasn’t a significant factor in cognitive decline, but other measures of hearing were more strongly associated with cognitive function.
Treating Childhood Speech Sound Disorders: Current Approaches to Management by Australian Speech-Language Pathologists: Children with speech sound disorders represent a high proportion of pediatric SLPs’ caseloads; however, there has been little research on the intervention processes used with this population. This article showed that the Australian SLPs interviewed often choose a hybrid approach—one that is designed around the individual needs of these children.
Our Latest Articles on the Go
We know that as a practitioner, researcher, or professor, time isn’t always on your side. That’s why the ASHA Journals has made finding the latest articles quicker than ever. You can follow @ASHAJournals on Twitter for the most up-to-date article notifications and research summaries.
New this year is the Kudos Showcase enabling authors to provide short, accessible summaries of their work. Every summary featured in the Kudos Showcase answers two important questions—“What’s the article about?” and “Why is it important?”—in plain language. Be sure to check this constantly updated page often to read our latest research summaries. If you’re an author with the ASHA Journals, we encourage you to complete a Kudos summary and select a featured image (see our blog post for more information) to ensure that researchers have quick and easy access to your work.
All These and 895 More!
The articles above represent just a small sample of the record 905 articles we published in 2021. We hope that this post helps you find an article that sparks your interest. Not sure you’re up to date on the current research in your area of expertise? Try a keyword search on ASHAWire or check out our topic collections, showcasing the latest articles in 40 topic areas.
We hope 2022 is a great year for you, both personally and professionally. Our New Year’s resolution is the same this year as it has been for the past 85 years—to provide all ASHA members with the latest research in communication sciences and disorders!
