Abstract
We’re delighted to welcome you to this latest edition of Advances in Communication and Swallowing. The journal is in a period of exciting transition to Sage and is indexed by Scopus, Google Scholar, EBSCO and ProQuest, and further database indexing is in progress.
Within this current issue, we present a diverse range of articles that should appeal to readers. McAllister et al. and Lyons et al. have prepared a two-part series that discusses the importance of ethical practice and ethical leadership within Speech and Language Therapy practice. They discuss ethical complexities within the contexts of increasing caseload and service demands, as well as contemporary changes within the field itself. To embed these principles, they then apply ethical principles to two hypothetical scenarios within childhood disability services.
O’Toole and colleagues present their work exploring an initiative called ‘Babbling Babies’, which facilitated parents of young babies to meet a Speech and Language Therapist to improve literacy and communication outcomes. The authors used a qualitative approach to profile the successes and challenges of this programme.
Moving on to school-aged children, Doherty et al. report their findings from a mixed-methods study to examine parents’ and Speech and Language Therapists’ perspectives on home practice for communication difficulties. They offer reflections on the value of high-quality home practice and the potential for future developments in this area.
O’Keeffe and colleagues in their Spotlight On… article discuss recent trends on social media, whereby users took place in the ‘thickened liquids challenge’. The authors discuss the benefits and drawbacks of such simulated experiences and discuss how change in diet modification practice should remain a key focus for clinicians.
As always, we encourage submissions relevant to the journal’s scope and are proud of our favourable turnaround times for decisions. We would also like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the journal’s peer-reviewers, who give so generously of their time.
Ciarán Kenny
Julie Regan
Co-Editors-in-Chief
February 2025