Chromosome 13q deletion syndrome is a kind of chromosome aberration which belongs to rarely occurring genetic abnormalities. Chromosome 13q deletion results in phenotypic disorders such as malfunctions in the central nervous system, anatomical changes of the body, as well as disorders in large and small motor skills. One of the possible consequences of the problems in motor skills development are speech development disorders, particularly concerning speech production. Other problems may relate to breathing, phonation and articulation. Additionally, on the one hand, some persistent reflexes in the orofacial area can be observed, while, on the other hand, some reflexes are absent. In the case of chromosome 13q deletion, the logopedic therapy contains also swallowing, as well as exercises which aim at improving the muscle tension in the area of face, articulators, neck, shoulders, chest and upper limbs. Disorders in speech production may take form of dysarthria, for example. Whereas, learning to communicate may require to introduce alternative communication – non-verbal communication within language production.

Nowadays, the teachers of Polish are facing a new phenomenon with increased frequency: namely, that of bilingualism or multilingualism in Polish schools or among the expatriate Poles, which is consequent to the population migration patterns. And with it, a new challenge is thus posed: to look at the Polish language functionally and to teach it in a communicative way. A preschool teacher or a Polish teacher may seek the support of a speech therapist who has the ability to build, rebuild and develop linguistic and communicative competences in children whose language difficulties are caused by the interference between two or even three language systems or which result from speech disorders. The methods of teaching foreign languages, effective in „language programming”, may also prove useful for this purpose. The article is a review of the methods and techniques used in teaching Polish as a foreign language to children of foreigners or Polish bilingual children of preschool and early school age, which methodology can also be implemented in the treatment of children with speech delay (alalia). The article also presents examples of grammar exercises developed by the Author, which are aimed at mastering nominal and verbal inflection and developing receptive (passive) and productive (active) language skills.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the ways in which people communicate with each other; it has had an impact on everyone including people with disabilities. The aim of this research was to find out the opinions of special education teachers on the new form of communication with pupils that was necessitated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, attention was drawn to the difficulties encountered during remote teaching. Six teachers from special schools in Krakow took part in the study. The survey used a narrative interview questionnaire developed by the author.

For many speech therapists, regardless of their work experience, undertaking therapy with a patient after complete removal of the larynx is a huge challenge that they often cannot cope with. This state of affairs is caused by the still small number of practical studies containing detailed guidelines for post-laryngectomy therapy. The article presents detailed recommendations on evoking esophageal voice along with an explanation of the causes of possible failures during the voice and speech rehabilitation process. Possible actions range from those that are possible a few days after laryngeal surgery to those for practicing the prosodic elements of speech.

This article presents the BID (briefing, interaction, debriefing) procedure as a useful tool for speech therapists who face the problem of correct diagnosis of language subsystems and abilities in bilingual children. An example of the BID’s application is the assessment of phonological processes in children representing Ukrainian-Polish bilingualism. Using the BID procedure, it was possible to conduct a bilingual diagnosis and to extract developmental processes, interference, and atypical processes from the collected data. This article also highlights the cooperation of a speech therapist with an interpreter, i.e. a neophilologist of the Ukrainian language, who makes it possible to interpret the collected bilingual linguistic data.

Interpersonal communication in medicine is a very important topic that requires constant development and training of health care physicians. The article is a report from a study the aim of which was to find out the opinions of medical students from Polish universities on this subject. The study involved 56 female students and 38 students who answered questions about: communication techniques in the doctor-patient relationship, protocols for passing on unsuccessful information, concerns related to contact with a given patient, communication barriers, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on interpersonal communication, departments with which the greatest communication problems are associated, the usefulness of optional classes during the education of students in the field of medicine. The conclusions were presented in the discussion, along with the possibilities of solving potential communication problems in the patient-doctor relationship.

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