Reading tasks have frequently been used in clinical examination of voice and speech disorders. In recent years, speech samples derived from reading tasks are useful not only for auditory perceptual evaluation but also for acoustic analysis of voice quality. However, in Japan several passages and short sentences are commonly used in the clinical situation, and there is no consensus on standard reading tasks.
Based on a search of literature and auditory materials after 1990, "The North Wind and the Sun," "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "A Rabbit Popped Out of the Bush" ("Yabuno nakakara usagiga pyokonto detekimashita" in Japanese) are identified as the most frequently used reading tasks. Here, we describe several aspects related to these three major reading tasks, including text, notation, origin, subject and purpose of development.
Development of standard reading tasks and unification of examination protocol are proposed. "The North Wind and the Sun 2022" is used to exemplify a standard reading task for further development of this study.

Background: Evidence suggests that prophylactic swallowing exercises improve swallowing-related outcomes after chemoradiation therapy (CRT) for head and neck cancer (HNC). However, low patient adherence undermines the potential effectiveness of the training.
Purpose: This study aimed to examine whether a self-training booklet improves adherence to prophylactic swallowing exercises in patients with HNC undergoing CRT.
Methods: Multiple disciplines jointly created a self-training booklet for prophylactic swallowing exercises that incorporated behavior change techniques. In this case-control study, 15 patients were instructed to perform six swallowing exercises using the booklet during CRT (the booklet group). The control group included 15 patients who had previously completed the same training before introducing the booklet, and thus did not use the booklet. All patients underwent clinical evaluation and videofluoroscopy before and after CRT. Adherence was determined from patient records on log sheets. Patients who completed more than 80% of the training sessions were considered highly adherent.
Results: Although the grade of oral mucositis at the end of CRT was significantly higher in the booklet group than in the control group, there were no significant differences in the level of adherence between the two groups. This suggests that the booklet group had a more significant barrier to adhering to the training than the control group. Nevertheless, the patients in the booklet group continued their self-training to the same extent as the control group.
Conclusion: The booklet may help patients with HNC undergoing CRT to maintain their motivation and continue self-training under challenging conditions

Cochlear implant users feel discomfited when they start working after graduating from school because of their change of environment. In this study, we performed a survey based on questionnaires administered to 21 students and 32 workers who wore cochlear implants to clarify the support methods necessary for cochlear implant users to enable them to adapt to their workplace environment. Significantly more workers used only oral or combined oral and written communication in their workplace than those using combined oral and sign language. The sound environment of the workplace for workers was constantly noisy, more frequently than that for students. The workers were significantly less satisfied with their communication, relationships with their colleagues, and the significance of their work than the students. Less than half of the students and workers used communication-assisting tools; however, most of their users utilized those instruments effectively. Going forward, it will be essential to improve the sound environment and achieve acceptance of cochlear implant users' hearing ability in the workplace, and to make communication-assisting tools more popular among cochlear implant users.

We conducted rapid reading and reading comprehension tasks on Japanese children from fourth to ninth grades, 24 with typical development and 24 with developmental dyslexia, and investigated the effects of a universal design digital font (UD font). We used rapid reading tasks (random kana character non-words, text and alphabetic characters) and reading comprehension tasks employing two font types: UD and textbook font. In the experiment, during the rapid reading tasks we measured the duration time, number of errors and number of self-corrections. In the reading comprehension tasks, we measured the number of correct responses. Participants were required to answer which font type, subjectively, is more comfortable. The results revealed no significant differences between the two types of font in all participants. Concerning subjective readability, both groups significantly preferred the UD font for readability and reading accuracy. On the other hand, the UD font was not significantly preferred for reading fluency. We concluded that a difference exists between objective and subjective readability. In this study, use of a UD font did not improve reading performance in Japanese children with developmental dyslexia.

Vocal attack during voice therapy exercises was investigated using photoglottogram (PGG). Eighteen healthy adult subjects (10 males and 8 females) were included in the study. First to fifth vocal waves at natural voice, hard and soft voice onset, and semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE: humming, tubing, lip trills) were assessed. We also calculated 25% vocal cord open quotient (OQ) using PGG and then compared these parameters. The 25% OQ did not show any sex difference. The first wave 25% OQ was low in hard attack and high in soft voice onset. Changes in the 25% OQs at voice onset and those of the first to fifth waves differed depending on the SOVTE, indicating different voice onset patterns. These results suggest that adequate selection of SOVTE tailored for each patient may have benefit in furthering voice improvement.

A deaf female adolescent underwent articulation training for 3 years. She had little experience using spoken language as a communication mode. In her training, articulation methods and points were illustrated and verbalized to promote understanding of articulatory mechanisms and articulatory motor patterns. Auditory feedback was substituted for visual, tactile, and kinesthetic senses. Moreover, linguistic feedback was provided to point out sound errors and correct them with the correct sound. As a result, her speech intelligibility was 50% of syllables, 30% of words, and 20% of sentences. She had difficulty acquiring the prosodic aspect. A questionnaire administered after her training yielded the following results: 1) the possibility of using her own speech for close contacts increased; 2) she became interested in spoken language and reaffirmed that Japanese sign language is not the only communication mode; and 3) both communication modes and opportunities to communicate with people close to her through speech increased. These were considered significant outcomes of articulation acquisition by a deaf adult.