Digital Commons Network^™

Transition Class: A Bridge From Early Intervention To Early Childhood Special Education, Jamie Mahurin-Smith, Ciera M. Lorio

Faculty Publications – Communication Sciences and Disorders

Transitions are widely acknowledged to present challenges for young children with special needs. In the US system, the transition from early intervention (EI; services for children aged 0–3) to early childhood special education services (ECSE; services for preschool children) is a process known to cause uncertainty and anxiety for families. This paper describes a transition class offered by a midwestern US EI agency; children receiving EI services are eligible to participate beginning at age 2;6. Agency personnel chart the children’s progress each week. For this study, researchers reviewed de-identified weekly progress reports for the 40 transition class participants who attended …

A Practice-Based Interprofessional Emergent Writing Intervention: Impacts On Graduate Students And Preschoolers, Danika Pfeiffer, Stacey Pavelko, Dannette Allen-Bronaugh, Carol C. Dudding, Geralyn Timler

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Despite the importance of collaboration in schools, few studies have examined interprofessional education (IPE) interventions for graduate speech-language pathology (SLP) students designed to prepare them with the skills necessary to effectively work on school-based teams. The current pilot study implemented a five-week practice-based IPE intervention with six SLP graduate students and three occupational therapy (OT) graduate students. Three SLP students were randomly assigned to the ‘unpaired’ condition and delivered emergent writing activities independently to a small group of preschoolers (n = 10). The other three SLPs were each randomly assigned an OT student to collaborate with in a ‘paired’ …

Strengths And Challenges Of The Cosmin Tools In The Appraisal Of Outcome Measures: A Case Example For Speech-Language Therapy, Elaine Kwok, Peter Rosenbaum, Nancy Thomas-Stonell, Barbara Jane Cunningham

PRECISe Preschool Speech and Language Publications

Background: The Consensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) is an international initiative that offers standardized and validated tools to guide the appraisal of outcome measures in healthcare.

Aims: This study aimed to explore the use of a new set of tools from COSMIN to appraise studies on outcome measures available to speech and language therapists (SLTs).

Methods: We used the COSMIN tools to appraise seven studies and a user manual that reported the measurement properties of the Focus on the Outcomes of Children Under Six (FOCUS), a validated measure of preschoolers’ communicative participation that …

Lessons Learned In Practice-Based Research: Studying Preschool Language Interventions In The Real World, Rachael E. Smyth, Julie Theurer, Lisa Md Archibald, Janis Oram Cardy

PRECISe Preschool Speech and Language Publications

Abstract

Background and aims: Practice-based research holds potential as a promising solution to closing the research-practice gap, because it addresses research questions based on problems that arise in clinical practice and tests whether systems and interventions are effective and sustainable in a clinical setting. One type of practice-based research involves capturing practice by collecting evidence within clinical settings to evaluate the effectiveness of current practices. Here, we describe our collaboration between researchers and clinicians that sought to answer clinician-driven questions about community-based language interventions for young children (Are our interventions effective? What predicts response to our interventions?) and to address …

Using Implementation Science To Engage Stakeholders And Improve Outcome Measurement In A Preschool Speech-Language Service System, Barbara Jane Cunningham, Janis Oram Cardy

PRECISe Preschool Speech and Language Publications

This tutorial presents one example of collaborative implementation research in a preschool speech-language service system - Ontario Canada’s Preschool Speech and Language Program. Working collaboratively with stakeholders including policy makers, managers, and speech-language pathologists (SLPs), four webinar modules were developed to support implementation of the Focus on the Outcomes of Communication Under Six (FOCUS), a new participation-focused outcome measurement tool in pediatric speech-language pathology. The webinar modules were pilot tested at two community sites to determine whether they were effective at increasing SLPs’ knowledge, perceptions, and intentions for practice. The Knowledge-to-Action framework was used to inform all phases of this …

The Speech-Language Pathologist's Role In Supporting The Development Of Self-Regulation: A Review And Tutorial, Amanda Binns, Janis Oram Cardy

PRECISe Preschool Speech and Language Publications

Purpose

Children’s engagement in self-regulation is a strong and positive predictor of their social and academic success, making self-regulation an important focus for caregivers and clinicians. The aims of this article are to provide a framework for understanding self-regulation and to identify strategies speech-language pathologists can use to integrate self-regulation work into their clinical practice.

Method

Empirically supported considerations describing the developmental progression from co-regulation to self-regulation are outlined, and the effects of stress on self-regulation are discussed. A clinical framework is provided to guide speech-language pathologists in considering stress and self-regulation in their clinical work. Strategies are provided to …

The Nature Of Child Engagement And Teacher-Child Interactions Within Stem-Based Instruction In Preschool Classrooms, Hayley Ann Griffin

Theses and Dissertations

While educators and speech-language pathologists have been found to utilize informational texts far less than fictional texts when working with young children, informational texts can support young children's academic and language development. This study qualitatively analyzed how children engaged in informationally-based activities and how instructors interacted with children to support their engagement and learning. Fifty-three children from 4 Head Start classrooms participated in small and large group STEM-based instructional activities for 2 days each across 2 weeks. The instructional unit related to how plants grow and how they are used for food. The researchers reviewed and transcribed video recordings and …

An Early Childhood Expository Comprehension Measure: A Look At Validity, Marybeth Fillerup Robertson

Theses and Dissertations

Many have argued for more informational text to be incorporated into the curriculum, even in the earliest grades. However, it has traditionally been thought that narrative text should precede informational text when introducing children to literacy. Still several studies have demonstrated that preschool children are capable of learning from these texts. Because informational texts are being introduced even in the earliest grades, preschool teachers are in need of ways to assess their students' ability to handle early forms of informational texts. The Early Expository Text Comprehension Assessment (EECA) was developed to help teachers understand the comprehension abilities of their preschool …

Paraprofessional-Implemented Dialogic Reading And Its Impact On Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Annalise D. Irvine

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of paraprofessional-implemented dialogic reading (DR) strategies on the comprehension, interaction, and attending abilities of a child on the autism spectrum. The secondary purpose was to understand whether the DR strategies assisted the paraprofessional in establishing meaningful interactions and positive behavioral changes with her student on the autism spectrum. A single subject across behaviors design was implemented with one paraprofessional and her student with autism. Judged from visual analysis of the graphical representation of the data, it was determined that there was a medium to strong functional relationship (depending on the …

Development Of An Early Expository Text Comprehension Assessment: A Pilot Study, Stacey Christianson

Theses and Dissertations

Literature supporting the use of informational texts with preschool children has increased in recent years. However, many preschool classrooms still focus on narrative text, and teachers are often unsure how to provide support for children's comprehension of informational texts. An assessment addressing preschool children's informational text comprehension will help teachers understand what children can do with informational texts and point out demands or tasks that children should be able to handle. A comprehension assessment for preschool children focusing on text purpose, text features, text retell, and comprehension of text structures has not been available. To fit this need, recent effort …

Pitch Perception In Preschool-Age Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Megan Lambert

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This research thesis will 1) provide an overview of the psychoacoustics of music perception, particularly as related to the properties of pitch perception in young children and 2) describe the methods and outcomes of an exploratory study to evaluate the efficacy of obtaining pitch perception data from preschool age children with hearing loss. Each child completed a series of three tasks, including coaching and practice, single note perception, and pitch contrasts. All of the children readily understood the single-note pitch perception task. Pitch contrast performance across participants ranged from 50% to 96% correct for the first data collection period and …

Current Methods Of Evaluating Speech-Language Outcomes For Preschoolers With Communication Disorders: A Scoping Review Using The Icf-Cy, Barbara Jane Cunningham, Karla N. Washington, Amanda Binns, Katelyn Rolfe, Bernadette Robertson, Peter Rosenbaum

PRECISe Preschool Speech and Language Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this scoping review was to identify current measures used to evaluate speech-language outcomes for preschoolers with communication disorders within the framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health – Children and Youth (ICF-CY) (World Health Organization, 2007). Method: The review included five phases outlined by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) and further developed by Levac et al. 2010: (a) articulating the research question, (b) identifying relevant studies, (c) study selection, (d) charting the data, and (e) collating, summarizing and reporting the results. The WHO ICF-CY was used to frame the measures included. Results: A total …

Print Referencing Intervention During Shared Storybook Reading For Preschool Children With Hearing Loss, Sara Lawrence

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a print referencing book-reading intervention among children with hearing loss. Two preschool children with hearing loss who are developing listening and spoken language participated in this single subject study. The children participated individually in print referencing book-reading intervention (10 minute session once a week for 7 weeks). Assessment of children’s print knowledge skills occurred at the beginning of each session. Print referencing book-reading intervention was associated with gains in conceptual print knowledge. Further study is needed in this area.

Help Me Chat: Eliciting Communicative Acts From Young Children Using Speech-Generating Devices, Rebecca A. Hernandez-Cartaya

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an evidence-based practice targeting the communication deficits of children with complex communication needs (CCN). While young children with communication disorders are attending preschool and using AAC, and specifically speech-generating devices (SGDs), with increasing frequency, best practices for implementation with this population are largely unexplored. In an effort to contribute to the knowledge base for teachers, the essential communication partners for children in the classroom setting, this research explored the interactions of four teacher-child dyads and analyzed the prompts and cues used to elicit communicative acts from the children.

Results of statistical and descriptive analyses …

Creating Therapy Materials To Improve Communication Of Young Children, Allison J. Corey

Senior Honors Projects

Once children start preschool, they should be able to speak in simple sentences and use basic syntax. When they complete preschool and begin kindergarten, they should be using complete, complex sentences, have an extensive vocabulary, and use correct grammar. However, sometimes a child’s language doesn’t develop as expected resulting in speech delays or impairments. This problem could arise for a multitude of reasons, for example, the child may be on the autism spectrum, he/she may have a specific language delay, or it may be due to an articulation/phonology problem. The role of a speech language pathologist (SLP) in a school …

Assessing Vocabulary Of Children: Investigating The Evaluation And Instruction Of Basic Concepts, Rebecca Elizabeth Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Vocabulary knowledge of preschool children is a key factor in predicting literacy success in elementary school (Hammer, Farkas, & Maczuga, 2010). However, few deliberate attempts to teach basic concept vocabulary have been studied (Bowers & Schwarz, 2013; Wilson, 2004). The purpose of this research is to determine if large group explicit instruction with interactive activities of specific basic concept vocabulary will increase preschool children's understanding of basic concept terms when measured by a standardized basic concept assessment. This research will also assess the validity of a basic concept-curriculum based measure (BC-CBM) as an efficient tool to monitor a child's understanding …

Literacy Exposure In Public Preschools: The Effects On Language Acquisition, Chloe Hannah Robison

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Structured Narrative Retell Instruction For Young Children From Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds: A Preliminary Study Of Feasibility, Suzanne M. Adlof, Angela N. Mcleod, Brianne Leftwich

Faculty Publications

Successful acquisition of literacy depends on adequate development of decoding skills as well as broader, meaning-related knowledge and skills for text comprehension. Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds are often challenged in both domains, relative to peers who are not economically disadvantaged. The efficacy of code-focused instructional programs for at-risk preliterate children is well supported, but less evidence is available regarding interventions to improve broader language and comprehension skills. This preliminary study tested the feasibility of a new intervention, "structured narrative retell instruction" (SNRI), and explored its potential to enhance meaning-related knowledge and skills, including vocabulary, listening comprehension, and …

Explicit Teacher-Implemented Phoneme Awareness Instruction: Preschool Effects, Heather M. Osterhouse

Masters Theses

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the impact of explicit, concentrated, teacher-implemented phonological awareness instruction for ―at risk‖ 4- year-olds. Early childhood educators were trained to implement a 10-week program delivered for 20-minute sessions, four times a week, in their classrooms. The program focused on phonological awareness beginning at the level of letter-sound knowledge and advancing to blending and segmenting constituent phonemes in words. Pre- to post-treatment comparisons of phonological awareness and letter knowledge skills indicated that children in the experimental group made significant gains in comparison to the control group in phoneme blending and letter knowledge. …

Effects Of A Classroom-Based Pre-Literacy Intervention For Preschoolers With Communication Disorders, Alyssa Rose Currier

Open Access Dissertations

Children with communication disorders are often at risk of literacy difficulties, especially students that present with autism and/or speech sound disorders. This quasi-experimental study was designed to examine the effects of a 10-week "hybrid" intervention for preschool students with and without communication disorders in an integrated classroom. The classroom intervention targets both vocabulary and phonological awareness, two critical components of literacy that are strongly correlated with one another. The objectives of this study were (1) to provide empirical evidence that classroom-based pre-literacy intervention can be effective for students with communication disabilities, allowing for more time with their peers in a …

Preschoolers With Speech And Language Impairment: Case Studies From A Teacher-Delivered Phonological Awareness Program, Katherine J. Wickham

Masters Theses

Past and present research demonstrates early reading success related to phonological awareness (PA) instruction conducted individually or in small groups outside of the preschool classroom. This study investigated the effects of an explicit, intensive and teacher-delivered PA instruction for children with speech sound disorder and language impairment as part of the preschool curriculum. The investigator examined the performance of individual cases in both groups, those who received instruction and the control. Two participants in each of the experimental (E1 and E2) and control (C1 and C2) groups had standardized scores indicating deficits in speech and/or language. These children who received …

Evaluation Of Language Of Intervention On Expressive-Receptive Lexical Skills For Preschool Bilingual Children, Blanca Estela Cisneros

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the expressive-receptive lexical skills gained in bilingual preschool children for both their native language (L1) and second language (L2) when provided a bilingual vocabulary intervention and compared to contrasting monolingual and controlled conditions. This group study assessed four treatment conditions: monolingual English intervention, monolingual Spanish intervention, bilingual English-Spanish intervention, and a controlled intervention condition receiving math instruction. English and Spanish expressive and receptive lexical skills were the dependent variables measured at pretest and posttest. After a brief 4 week intervention block, the bilingual group achieved greater gains in Spanish expressive lexical skills …

Effects Of Rhyming Instruction On Learning The Alphabetic Principle, Phonemic Awareness, And Rhyming Complexity Skills With At-Risk Prekindergarten Students, Crystal Randolph

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

At-risk prekindergarten students (i.e., low SES, speech-language impaired) typically lag behind their peers in phonological awareness and other emergent literacy skills such as letter knowledge and vocabulary (Duursma et al., 2008; Lundberg, 2009). However, there is a limited amount of research that has studied the efficacy of phonological interventions for at-risk children (Ziolkowski & Goldstein, 2008). Because of the long-lived debate concerning the role of rhyme versus the role of phoneme awareness, it is uncertain whether learning rhyming skills will provide the most facilitative context to learn other emergent literacy skills (e.g., letter knowledge, phonemic awareness). The current study investigated …

Utilizing Music In Speech And Language Therapy For Preschool Children And Children With Autism: A Systematic Review, Joelle Kay Johanson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This thesis was conducted as a systematic review. A systematic review is an assessment and evaluation of current research that attempts to answer a clinical question. The purpose of this systematic review was to attempt to answer the following clinical question: Are there high-quality studies that document the effectiveness of using music in speech and language therapy with preschool aged children and children with autism? This review also attempted to identify future research implications and needs. Nine studies were reviewed and critiqued; six preschool based studies and three autism based studies. Results indicated a general positive change in speech and …

Finish-A-Rhyme-Story: A Rhyme Cloze Assessment For Preschool Children, Kimberly Jeanne Condie

Theses and Dissertations

Educators need measurement tools to determine phonological awareness in young children. This study investigated the appropriateness of rhyme cloze tasks, referred to as Finish-a-Rhyme-Story items, which were designed to measure preschool and kindergarten children's early rhyme development. The rhyme cloze tasks required children to verbally complete a sentence by filling in a final rhyming word that matched a rhyme pattern highlighted in a short story that was read aloud to them. The task required rhyme awareness as well as comprehension of the language in the story. Twenty-four items were individually administered to preschool (n = 207) and kindergarten (n = …

Effectiveness Of Story Enactments Versus Art Projects In Facilitating Preschool Children's Story Comprehension, Jennifer Ann Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to compare preschool children's comprehension of a story after either enacting the story or participating in an art project, and (b) to qualitatively describe the children's interactions during the more interactive story enactment instruction. Twenty children from two Head Start classrooms were told the stories as a class, and then participated in either an art project (AP) or story enactment (SE) in small groups. The children in each classroom each heard three stories followed by the AP condition, and three followed by the SE condition. The children's comprehension of the story was …

Relation Between Phonologic Difficulty And The Occurrence Of Disfluencies In The Early Stage Of Stuttering, Rebecca Throneburg, Ehud Yairi, Elaine P. Paden

Rebecca Throneburg

People who stutter, especially children, have often been reported to exhibit a wide range of concomitant communication problems including articulation and phonologic deficiencies. This study investigated the relation between the phonologic difficulty of words and the point at which stuttering-like disfluencies occurred in the speech of preschool children identified as having a stuttering problem (n = 24). The children were divided into subgroups according to stuttering severity and phonologic ability. A spontaneous speech sample of approximately 1,000 words was tape-recorded from each child, and perceived disfluencies were identified. The phonologic difficulty of each word on which there was a stuttering-like …

Relation Between Phonologic Difficulty And The Occurrence Of Disfluencies In The Early Stage Of Stuttering, Rebecca Throneburg, Ehud Yairi, Elaine P. Paden

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

People who stutter, especially children, have often been reported to exhibit a wide range of concomitant communication problems including articulation and phonologic deficiencies. This study investigated the relation between the phonologic difficulty of words and the point at which stuttering-like disfluencies occurred in the speech of preschool children identified as having a stuttering problem (n = 24). The children were divided into subgroups according to stuttering severity and phonologic ability. A spontaneous speech sample of approximately 1,000 words was tape-recorded from each child, and perceived disfluencies were identified. The phonologic difficulty of each word on which there was a stuttering-like …

Relation Between Phonologic Difficulty And The Occurrence Of Disfluencies In The Early Stage Of Stuttering, Rebecca Throneburg, Ehud Yairi, Elaine Paden

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

People who stutter, especially children, have often been reported to exhibit a wide range of concomitant communication problems including articulation and phonologic deficiencies. This study investigated the relation between the phonologic difficulty of words and the point at which stuttering-like disfluencies occurred in the speech of preschool children identified as having a stuttering problem (n = 24). The children were divided into subgroups according to stuttering severity and phonologic ability. A spontaneous speech sample of approximately 1,000 words was tape-recorded from each child, and perceived disfluencies were identified. The phonologic difficulty of each word on which there was a stuttering-like …

A Comparative Evaluation Of Listening Skills Of Hearing Impaired Preschool Children Treated By The Home Auditory Program, Utah Project Ski*Hi, 1972-75, Susan Gail Crant Carne

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Home Auditory Program of Project SKI*HI on the listening skills of its students during the years 1972-1975. The scores of two groups of children, as measured on the SKI*HI Listening Skills Scale were compared. The statistical evaluation indicated that: 1. Significant improvements in listening skills were demonstrated by one group of children during three to eleven months of treatment, and 2. The scores of this treated group were significantly superior to the non-treated group, despite a similarity in age and degree of hearing loss between the two groups. …