More than 150 Years in the Making: The Evolution of Telepractice for Hearing, Speech, and Language Services

• Published in: The Volta review Vol. 112; no. 3; pp. 195 - 205
• Main Authors: Houston, K. Todd, Stredler-Brown, Arlene, Alverson, Dale C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing 2012; Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf, Incorporated
• Subjects: Accessibility (for Disabled); Bell, Alexander Graham (1847-1922); Best Practices; Communication (Thought Transfer); Computer Mediated Communication; Delivery Systems; Disabilities; Evaluation Needs; Hearing; Hearing Impairments; Intellectual History; Intervention; Inventors; Language history; Language Impairments; Licenses; Medicaid; Medical Services; Oral Language; Patients; Performance Factors; Pregnancy; Semantics; Speech; Speech Impairments; Speech Language Pathology; Speech-language pathologists; Teaching Methods; Telecommunications; Teleworking; Video conferencing; Videoconferencing; New Mexico; United States > US; Baltimore Maryland
• ISSN: 0042-8639; 2162-5158
• DOI: 10.17955/tvr.112.3.m.709

For well over a century, individuals have sought new and efficient ways to communicate health-related information and provide medical services over distances. Often, this desire has sparked considerable innovation in technology and ushered in improved models of service delivery. Today, modern videoconferencing technology allows practitioners to have unbridled audio and video interactions in real time on a range of devices. For speech-language pathologists and audiologists, this allows an array of hearing, speech, and language services to be provided through models of telepractice. By fully understanding the past, practitioners can continue to shape the future and fully realize the potential of these service delivery models.