“Types of Dysarthria: Spastic Dysarthria”
The information presented in this website was written by an unknown author named "admin." The author used information that was evident & similar to other websites targeting symptoms of Spastic Dysarthria. This webpage did not contain any peer-reviewed information from journals or citations from verifiable sources. Also, references were not provided as to where the author found the information. The intended audience for this webpage is the general public. The information quality was written at the appropriate level for its intended audience. This is due to its user-friendly format in which the reader would not have difficulty understanding the information that is being discussed. This webpage uses simple & easy to read text in a bullet point format. The website does not contain an “about us” or “contact us” link. Because of this, an email address, phone number, and actual address could not be located. Although, it’s not possible to contact the website directly, it is possible to leave a comment on the webpage. In order to leave a comment, it is required for the reader to leave their name & email address along with the comment. Despite the ability to leave a comment, the website does not give information as to whether or not the reader will receive a reply from the website or author of the webpage. Numerous links could be found throughout the webpage. Some of these links brought the reader to similar topics & different topics than the current webpage, but others were advertisements that brought the reader to different websites. The advertisements attempted to sell software, programs, & materials to the reader that should be looked with caution. The overall rating for this webpage is fair because of the unknown author, confusion when trying to contact the website, and the advertised items that were trying to be sold to the reader.
Amanda's Overall Rating: Fair
“All About Spastic Dysarthria”
This website did not have any identifying information about the source. There was no organization name or link to the company. “Heath and Nutrition Tips” seems to actually be the name of the company, and there are dozens of topic links for a variety of health questions. However, because no source is provided, this information is not very credible. There is no author or link to any other resources on the topic.
This website is intended for the general public. There is no medical terminology and only very basic information is provided. The hyperlinks on this page are primarily advertisements posted by Google, which are extremely distracting as they take up almost the first half of the website. There are also smaller links to other disorders within the “Health and Nutrition Tips” library such as “Brain Stem Injury” and “Hypothalamus Disorders”. These links all work, providing basic information in an outline similar to the spastic dysarthria page. However, the links are all internal and from the same distrusted source.
There is no information regarding the credibility of the organization. There is no contact information or address. There is a disclaimer stating, “information on this web site is provided for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice” which is not a comfort regarding validity of the information provided.
I would not recommend this website to professionals or the general public, as it is not a reliable source. The information is threadbare and there are many more professional sources of information. The site recommends support groups and psychologists for treatment, glossing over speech and language treatment as a “better than nothing” resort.
Kristi's Overall Rating: Poor
This website is a from a reliable organization called HealthLine. There is a great deal of information about the organization which is all accessible from the main page. The site is developed with information from physicians and maintained by a team of medical specialists. A variety of health-related websites link to HealthLine for additional information, such as AARP and health.com. This webpage was written by a PhD associate of the Gale Encyclopedia of Neurological Disorders. It provides a variety of books and organization about spastic dysarthria as well as the other dysarthrias at the end of the article.
The intended audience of this website is the general public. The terminology may be a little difficult for the average consumer (e.g. pyramidal or upper motor neuron system) but the disorder is explained very clearly. Important terminology is in blue, and one can hover the mouse over these terms for explanations, pictures (if necessary) and links for additional information.
The hyperlinks lead mostly to other parts of the HealthLine search, with relevant information such as a doctor search. The organization has contact information, customer care, and a “help” page. There is an address that can be verified by a Google search. This website has a great deal of reliable and valid information. I would recommend that patients and their families use this site for further information, because one can really find as much information as needed. The organization is knowledgeable about SD and many other disorders, and is an accessible and helpful resource.
Kristi's Overall Rating: Excellent
WrongDiagnosis.Com
I arrived at this webpage after a Google search of spastic dysarthria. This website is a provider of online medical health information. It is intended for the general public to obtain facts regarding their health and know what questions to ask their doctors/providers. When describing the definition of spastic dysarthria, the page states it is “a motor speech disorder where damage to the brain or spinal cord affects the muscles involved in speech.” The site uses user-friendly terms that are appropriate for its general public audience. I found the site provided basic informative data for the general public. It is not intended for medical professionals or speech pathologists, for example. In fact, the links to causes, treatment and symptoms of spastic dysarthria were confusing and often unrelated to the speech disorder itself. One particular link that initially caught my eye as offering promising potential was its “Video” link. I clicked on it expecting to see an actual video on spastic dysarthria, yet it led me to unrelated videos on ‘Thyroid Disease’, another on ‘Stress and Love’, yet another to a video on ‘Birth control pill”. Not one of the links for “Treatment” and/or “Doctors and Medical Specialists for Spastic Dysarthria” led to a speech pathologist. The quality of the information was limited. It did not contain any links to peer-reviewed information from journals nor citations from verifiable sources.
I found the site somewhat confusing to navigate through given the numerous advertisements throughout the site. I ended up inadvertently clicking onto several advertisement web pages given the mere quantity of them on the page. In addition, I found the “Contact Us” link quite disturbing and annoying. When you click on this link, it warns you that the information you provide in email or feedback is not guaranteed to be shared with third parties. Since the site relies on their advertisers for their funding, it seems that they cater more to them than the actual consumer. Despite the fact that this site provides basic factual information for the general population, the overabundance of advertisements and useless unrelated links like ‘Target ‘, ‘Jetblue’ and ‘Repeal Obamacare’.
Elisa's Overall Rating: Poor.
Another webpage I chose to examine was http://health.yahoo.net/galecontent/ dysarthria/2. It appears to be intended for the general public, yet it also contains more detailed information that make it useful for a more educated consumer. It is encouraging that the site claims to be only for informational purposes, and warns that it is not a substitute for professional or health advice, diagnosis and/or treatment. It also has multiple links to further details on the topic of spastic dysarthria , its symptoms, causes, treatment as well as many additional resources. In its treatment section, the authors recommend a comprehensive team approach that includes clinical neurologist, speech-language pathologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, neuropsychologist, nurse practitioner, and social worker treatment. One critical fault I would find with its treatment plan, however, is that each of these team members had a hyperlink connected to it with the exception of the speech-language pathologist. Each of their hyperlinks provided further descriptions of their professions, educational requirements, and additional hyperlinks. The treatment plan did, however, go into a fair amount of detail of speech musculature exercises that the speech pathologist can implement that would improve the strength, tone, range of motion, coordination, and speed of integrated tongue, lip, jaw, and vocal musculature contractions.
The author of this article, James Paul Dworkin PhD, is an accredited author with several books on speech disorders. There are many links books, peer reviewed articles and organizations that would make reliable references. There is even a “Find a Doctor” section where you can type in the specialty, ‘speech therapist’, for example, and your zip code, it will provide a list of several SLP’s in the area.
Elisa's Overall Rating: Excellent
Upon further examination of the http://health.yahoo.net/galecontent/dysarthria/2 webpage, I explored the link to the Gale Cengage Learning, which licensed and sponsorsed the webpage.
When I was led to the website, I noticed several links to other social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. The Youtube link for the Gale Cengage Learning was quite informative since it contained several videos that proved very interesting. When I searched ‘spastic dysarthria’ on its page, one was able to witness an SLP working with a man diagnosed with spastic dysarthria. Actually watching the effects of the disorder being researched truly provides further insight into the disorder itself and how it manifests itself in a real patient/client.
I had already given this webpage a ‘Good to Excellent’ rating without having explored this particular link. Once I did, it further reinforced or even surpassed the overall rating I would give this site.