About

About us

Singapore Swallowing Specialists (SSS) is a network of healthcare professionals specialized in dysphagia care, as well as an informative website and blog on swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) management. SSS blog provides useful informations and tips on dysphagia management and it is followed by speech therapists and healthcare professionals from around the world.

SSS was initiated by the Mr Yoon Wai Lam (Founder of Speech Therapy Works) in 2015. Wai Lam is a well known speech-swallowing therapist and dysphagia trainer in Singapore and in the region. He is the inventor of the Chin Tuck Against Resistance (CTAR) swallowing therapy exercise that is currently practiced worldwide.

Mission

SSS has a wide network of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals with special interest in swallowing management from both public and private healthcare institution. Our missions:

• To provide comprehensive and cost effective assessment and treatment to individuals with swallowing difficulties.
• To provide support to other healthcare professionals dealing with swallowing difficulties in Singapore and in the world.
• To create more awareness on swallowing difficulties / dysphagia.

Our Team

Yoon Wai Lam
Founder of Singapore Swallowing Specialists
Senior Principal Speech-Language & Swallowing Therapist
Fully Registered under AHPC
Bachelor of Speech Sciences (Hons)

• Founder, Director of Speech Therapy Works LLP
• Founder of Singapore Swallowing Specialists
• Founder of Global Dysphagia Movement
• Invited Lecturer, MSc (Speech and Language Pathology), National University of Singapore
• Examiner for the Speech-Language Therapy Qualifying Examination Board
• Inventor of the award winning Chin Tuck Against Resistance (CTAR) exercise
• Reviewer of the Dysphagia Journal

Wai Lam  has close to 20 years of experience in adult speech, language and swallowing therapy. He is the inventor of the Chin Tuck Against Resistance (CTAR), a swallowing therapy exercise that is currently practiced worldwide. He has trained hundreds of speech therapists both locally and regionally. He is often consulted by speech therapists and other healthcare professionals for complex cases involving both speech and swallowing difficulties in Singapore and overseas.

He began his career in Singapore General Hospital (SGH) in year 2001. He was in charge of the dysphagia clinic, setting up of sEMG clinic, and Prosthetic Speech and Swallowing Clinic (PSSR) in collaboration with the National Dental Centre (NDC). In year 2006, he moved on to set up Speech Therapy Works to provide home therapy services and locum services to the local hospitals and nursing homes. He was also a part-time lecturer at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Masters in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) programme from 2008-2018.

Wai Lam has developed training programmes and has been conducting trainings and workshops on dysarthria and dysphagia in Singapore and overseas. He continues to supervise and provide support to the speech therapists in local hospitals and from abroad. He has been actively supporting the development of dysphagia management in Malaysia. In 2019, he was invited as a co-trainer at the distinguished Langmore Foundation FEES Course & Post Laryngectomy Rehabilitation Course at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.

Wai Lam’s research papers has been presented at local and international conferences and published in international journals. His research on CTAR exercise has won the first price poster presentation at the Dysphagia Research Society at Seattle, USA in 2013. Wai Lam’s CTAR research papers have been widely cited in international journal papers and text books (ResearchGate March 2020: ~ 80 citations). Wai Lam is also a reviewer of the Dysphagia Journal.

Wai Lam has developed various therapy protocol & therapy tools. His dysphagia therapy protocols for brainstem stroke, late effect from radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal cancer or head & neck cancer, and swallowing difficulties due to anterior cervical osteophytes have helped many patients to improve their swallowing functions. In 2018, he has successfully developed a smart swallowing device prototype in collaboration with the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Research and development are ongoing.

Certification in:

• Videofluoroscopy (VFS)
• Fiberoptic Endoscopic Examination for Swallowing (FEES)
• Surface Electromyography Biofeedback (sEMG)
• Vitalstim Therapy
• McNeill Dysphagia Therapy Program (MDTP)
• Tracheostomy Management
• K-Taping® Speech and Language Therapy
• Lee Silvermann Voice Therapy (LSVT)
• Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy (LMRVT)

Research and publications by Wai Lam:
https://dysphagia.sg/ctar-research/research-publication/

Languages:

• English
• Mandarin
• Cantonese
• Hokkien
• Malay
• Bahasa Indonesia

Low Ai Wei
Senior Principal Speech-Language & Swallowing Therapist
Fully Registered under AHPC
Bachelor of Speech Sciences (First Class Honour)

Ai Wei has more than 15 years of experience in Speech Therapy. She began her career as a Speech and Language Therapist in Singapore General Hospital in 2004, where she gained valuable experience assessing and managing both adults and paediatric cases across various disorders involving speech, language, and swallowing issues. In 2008, Ai Wei joined Speech Therapy Works in providing locum services to community hospitals (Ang Mo Kio – Thye Hua Kwan Hospital, Bright Vision Hospital), nursing homes, and a private paediatric clinic. She has also been providing home based therapy for both adults and children.

In addition to being a clinician, Ai Wei has supervised and trained junior Speech Therapists and Speech Therapy students on clinical placements in conducting Clinical Bedside Swallowing Evaluation and paediatric speech and language management. She is also actively giving on-going talks to healthcare professionals on “Introduction to Dysphagia Management”.

Ai Wei is trained and experienced in carrying out various programs and intervention approaches suitable for children with speech and language delay, articulation and phonological disorder, children with developmental apraxia of speech, children with autism spectrum disorder, children with hearing loss, children with auditory processing issues, and childhood stuttering. She has been working with a varied paediatric caseload from infants to school-age children.

Certification in:

• Videofluoroscopy (VFS)
• Fiberoptic Endoscopic Examination for Swallowing (FEES)
• Tracheostomy Management
• Vitalstim Therapy
• Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy (LMRVT)
• PROMPT (Basic Level)
• Hanen Programme (It Takes Two To Talk & More Than Words)
• Dementia Management (Understanding and Preventing Dementia)

Languages:

• English
• Mandarin
• Cantonese
• Hokkien
• Hainanese
• Malay