Simon Fischbach

Simone Fischbach's clinical interests include perceptual and instrumental assessment of velopharyngeal dysfunction for children with cleft lip/palate and other craniofacial disorders. She also has clinical expertise working with children who have facial paralysis and 22q Deletion Syndrome. Collaborating with and educating parents and other healthcare professionals are integral to her role. She provides clinical supervision for students in Speech-Language Pathology and participates in research activities to support quality service delivery. She has given numerous presentations and lectures in the areas of cleft palate and craniofacial anomalies, velopharyngeal dysfunction and structurally-related speech disorders. 

Research

Simone’s research interests include measurement of speech outcomes in children with cleft lip/palate and quality improvement studies for clinical care. She is a co-developer of the SickKids Cleft Speech Scoring System, which is the result of collaboration between cleft surgeons and Speech-Language Pathologists at SickKids.

Education

• 1995: BA (Hons), York University, Toronto, ON
• 1997: M.H.Sc., Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto, ON 

Achievements

• 2020: Journal Reviewer. The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal
• 2019: Nominee for 2019 Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching (Orientation of New Staff Member Category), SickKids
• 2019: Member of Speech-Language & Audiology Canada (SAC) Foundations Document Working Group
• 2016–Present: Non-Council Professional Member, College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO)

1. Klaiman, PG. Fischbach, SJ. Forrest, CR. Surgery for Velopharyngeal Dysfunction. In Losee J., Kirschner, R., Smith, D. (ed.) Comprehensive Cleft Care Family Edition. CRC Press, pp. 243-252; 2015.  
2. Bezuhly, M., Fischbach, S., Klaiman, P., Fisher, D. Impact of 22q Deletion Syndrome on Speech Outcomes following Primary Surgery for Submucous Cleft Palate. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 129(3), 502-509; 2012.
3. Bressman, T., Klaiman, P., Fischbach, S. Same noses, different nasalance scores: Data from normal subjects and cleft palate speakers for three systems for nasalance analysis. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 19(000), 1-8, 2005.
4. Armour, A., Fischbach, S., Klaiman, P., Fisher, D. Does Velopharyngeal Closure Pattern Affect the Success of Pharyngeal Flap Pharyngoplasty? Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 115 (1), 45-52, 2005.