New Speech Therapy Device at WLU Lights the Way | News, Sports, Jobs

WORKING WITH THE DEVICE — Carol Zombotti, director of clinical education in speech-language pathology at WLU, left, plants a garden with Sara Alig, WLU speech pathologist, right, at Tovartafel, an innovative rehabilitation device that uses light projections and infrared sensors. — Emma Delk

WHEELING — Speech therapy and dementia patients at the West Liberty University Speech and Hearing and Behavioral Health Clinic play hammer games, plant gardens and do other things as part of their treatment with an innovative rehabilitation device.

The Tovartafel device, which means magic table in Dutch, allows patients to perform these activities using light projections and infrared sensors that detect gestures in real time to track hand and foot movements.

The device is the first of its kind in the state, and WLU obtained the system through a grant from the Milan Puskar Foundation. The machine displays a variety of therapeutic games on any 6-foot table or floor.

Using projected games, clinic faculty and students can treat patients with speech disorders and dementia.

Carol Zombotti, director of clinical education in speech-language pathology at WLU, explained that the device is a rehabilitation tool for speech disorders, language-based learning disorders and social communication deficits.

Although the device has only been in the clinic for a week, Zombotti and Sara Alig, a speech-language pathologist and speech therapist at WLU, have already seen benefits in patients of all ages.

“Before we had this machine, sometimes we would just roll a golf ball on a tabletop, so even if the patients can’t speak, it’s easy to catch the ball and keep going,” Alig said. “That triggers the brain to build a connection with someone else. Now we can do that same rolling action and more with Tovartafel.”

Alig noted that the machine is particularly helpful for dementia patients in the later stages of the disease. They can receive the visual stimulation they need during treatment through the table. She explained that simulating activities on the machine, such as planting a garden, is also helpful in preventing cognitive decline in dementia patients.

According to Alig, some games, such as passing a beach ball, encourage dementia patients to move, while other activities, such as polishing and sorting cutlery, encourage more advanced “categorization and task orientation.”

Games that do not require movement, such as art classes, also help dementia patients relax.

“We had a patient with late-stage Alzheimer’s who was behaving badly and was very agitated,” Alig said. “When she came in and started playing with the table, her demeanor completely changed. She calmed down while using the device, and that reaction was one of the most significant things I’ve seen so far.”

In addition to its benefits for older dementia patients, the device has also proven helpful for younger speech therapy patients at the clinic. Zombotti explained that one game that has proven beneficial for younger patients is an activity in which the player must match the sound of a farm animal to the animal’s projection.

“We have a student in the clinic who has some difficulty distinguishing between different sounds, so the farm animal game helped her identify what sounds she was hearing,” Zombotti said. “This same little girl also has some memory problems, so there are other memory-matching games we play with her.”

In addition to its beneficial effects during individual therapy, Tovartafel has also been used in the clinic during dementia support group meetings to improve social communication, promote physical activity and build cognitive reserve.

“We had one lady in our adult group who had some pretty significant brain changes, and she likes gardening and farming,” Zombotti said. “As we worked with her, we incorporated activities related to farming and gardening that helped her relate to it.”

Emma Hershman, a clinical student, noted that the device has become a popular activity for her adult patients. She explained that it adds a much-needed break from the speech workbooks her patients work through during sessions.

“After we did the fly-swatting exercise and the memory game, my patients’ moods completely changed,” Hershman said. “I’ve never seen them smile so much, and now they’re asking when they can use the device full time.”

The device was put to good use in the center’s first week, and Alig noted that Tovartafel helped “achieve intended goals more quickly.”

Zombotti added that as speech therapy has evolved, providing patients with activities other than “saying S and R” has become an important aspect of treatment.

“Anytime you use other modes of communication, there’s just a whole different element of how you can accomplish your goals in a therapy session,” Alig said. “It’s a different form of therapy compared to using a workbook, where you can tell patients, ‘OK, here’s a functional activity where you can plant tomatoes.’”

Zombotti and Alig encourage anyone in the area interested in the device and in need of affordable dementia treatment or speech therapy to contact the clinic at (304) 336-8199. The clinic also hosts a free chronic brain disease support group for patients and their caregivers on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 4 p.m. at the First Christian Church on National Road.

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