Hi Reader,
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I spent an hour or so coming up with a font-size screener for people with low vision. I'm sharing it with you, in case you find it helpful. You can learn how I'm using it in the "Featured post & handout" section below.

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​🧠What I'm working on

First, I'm working on a comprehensive cheat sheet for writing high-value but succinct SOAP notes.

(Brevity is a challenge for me, as anyone who has read my blog posts in the past couple of years may guess!)

The cheat sheet has been really helpful to me, since it breaks down each section into a menu of options, with sentence-starters and examples. I'm planning for this to be the basis for my next blog post.

Second, I've been working on the spiral-bound book project. I've looked at all 136 handouts from the EST Resource Binder and marked which ones are ready to publish and which ones need to be updated.

🎓Continuing education & colleague support

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​*These are affiliate links. As an affiliate of MedBridge Education, I may earn a commission on qualifying new subscriptions. There is no extra charge to you, and it will help make Eat, Speak, & Think sustainable.

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The Medical SLP Collective is a subscription-based membership group. I've found the community to be very helpful for high-quality CEUs, materials, and quick answers for clinical questions from experts.

Just mention my name (Lisa Young) when you sign up, and we both get an extra month free!

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I've earned many continuing education credits by listening to courses as I drove from one patient's home to another.

🎁 Featured EST post & handout

You can access all free Eat, Speak, & Think PDF downloads in the password-protected Free Subscription Library.

• ​Treat EST to a coffee and you'll get the Mini Resource Binder (84 pages).
• Become a member at the "Supporter" level, and you'll receive the full Resource Binder (326 pages), plus updated editions. ($2/month or $20/year)

Featured post: Low vision tips: Bigger, bolder, & brighter. Watch a 2-minute video simulation of different types of low vision. Learn the 3 key strategies with tips.

Featured handouts:

• The free download from the blog article shares 10 low vision tips for functional activities.
• ​Low Vision Font Size Screener, 14 - 80 pt​
• ​Low Vision Font Size Screener, 100 - 144 pt​

I occasionally work with adults who have low vision and need to identify what font size works best for them. Sometimes, they have written material that I can measure, but usually, it's trial and error.

I wanted a quick way to figure out a good font size, but I couldn't find a screener online that covered a wide range of font sizes.

So I spent a little time researching best practice to refresh my memory. Then I worked with ChatGPT to come up with a variety of words to use. I wanted to use:

• Common, functional words.
• Short and long words.
• Variety in letter shape.
• Different words for each list to avoid familiarity effect.

I printed these out, inserted them in page protectors and put them in a binder that I'm keeping in my car.

In my binder, I also added some picture based communication boards - large versus small pictures, black and white versus color. I need to be more systematic for this part, but it's a start!

TIPS:

• Print the word lists out one-sided, so the ink doesn't bleed through.
• Try to use high-quality, bright white matte paper (not glossy).
• Use clear page protectors.
• If inserting the pages back-to-back in page protectors, insert blank sheets of paper in between so that if you hold the page up to the light, the words on the back don't bleed through.
• Use a bright light when showing these words to patients.
• If there is glare during a screening, try moving the light or removing pages from the page protectors.

I welcome all tips and suggestions!

Thanks for reading!
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Consider supporting EST by telling a friend or directly through Buy Me a Coffee.

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Stay safe and be well,

Lisa
(she/her/hers)