Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Speech & Language Services: Examining The Experiences Of Deaf / Hard Of Hearing People, Milayna N. Barker

University Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) adults and parents of Deaf/HoH children related to speech and language services, and their recommendations for service providers. Historically, professionals have focused on the development of speech and aural/oral skills of Deaf and HoH people. As such, when working with families of newly-identified children with hearing loss, hearing professionals may be ill-equipped to provide culturally-responsive, fully inclusive information and education regarding communication options and opportunities.

Method: This study used a qualitative research design to examine participant experiences related to speech and language services …

Assessing The Reliability Of The Pairwise Variability Index For Differential Diagnosis Of Apraxia Of Speech, Celeste Sinko

University Honors Theses

Differential diagnosis of apraxia of speech (AOS) from other speech and language disorders is a prevailing challenge in the field of speech language pathology. Presently, existing measures for assessing AOS consist of perceptual rating scales, such as the Apraxia of Speech Rating Scale developed by Duffy, Strand, Clark, and Josephs. While perceptual rating scales are the current gold standard for assessment and diagnosis of AOS, they require a high degree of clinical expertise, and are susceptible to rater bias and rater drift. Thus, there exists a need for quantitative, objective measures for differential diagnosis of AOS. The purpose of this …

Exploring Speech Experiences, Cpib Scores, And Aac Assessment Experiences Of Autistic Aac Users With Intermittent, Unreliable, Insufficient, And/Or Expensive Speech, Karina Rayl, Pang Lee Herr, Brandon Eddy, Amy Donaldson, Stephanie Fuller, Alyssa Zisk

Student Research Symposium

There is growing evidence from the perspectives of speaking autistic people that augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) supports their self-expression and communicative agency. Despite the evidence supporting the communication effectiveness of AAC, autistic adults have reported that professionals often prioritized speech as the ideal communicative method rather than offering AAC as a communication option. This study will investigate autistic adults’ AAC assessment experiences and explore whether a modified version of the Communication Participation Item Bank (CPIB) self-rating questionnaire could be an effective tool to document the internal states of intermittent, unreliable, insufficient, and/or expensive speech. Surveys will be distributed to …

Second Language Impacts On First Language Processing, Natalie Robison, Sarah C. Creel, Sarah Elkington, Judith Kelholt, Amy Lin, Carolyn Quam

Student Research Symposium

This line of research investigates attrition (loss of fluency) of native Mandarin language (L1) proficiency with increasing proficiency in English. English uses pitch to denote intonation (e.g., “it’s there?” versus “it’s there!”), while Mandarin uses pitch to indicate word meanings; e.g., /he/ means “drink” with a high, level tone, or “river” with a rising tone. The present study delineates between two alternative explanations for the prior finding (Quam & Creel, 2017) that English proficiency correlates with attrition of Mandarin tones, but not vowels. This pattern could be explained by 1) language assimilability (L1-L2 Assimilability Hypothesis), or 2) by tone being …

Impact Of Testosterone Therapy On Voices In Trans-Masculine People: A Scoping Review, Samuel E. Hedine, Jeff Conn, Deanna Britton

Student Research Symposium

Treatment of trans people by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) dates back to at least the 1980s. However, the majority of early research on the voices of trans people focused on trans-women. More recently, the field of speech-language pathology has garnered more interest in the effects of testosterone therapy in trans-masculine individuals. The goal of this project is to review current research, and compile the known effects of testosterone therapy in the trans-masculine population on common acoustic indices of voice production, including fundamental frequency (pitch), decibels/sound pressure level (dB SPL; loudness) and cepstral peak prominence (voice quality). A scoping literature search was …

Feesability Of Laryngeal Endoscopy Simulation Labs In Student Training: A Scoping Review, Anna Thut

Student Research Symposium

Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) involves passing a flexible endoscope through the nose and down the throat to provide a detailed view of the throat, airway, and vocal folds. With the scope in place, people can eat and drink, allowing the clinician to evaluate for safe swallowing. Speech-Language Pathologists (SLP) use FEES for diagnostic evaluation and to gauge therapy progress and effectiveness. Simulation training on a low or high-fidelity model may provide a bridge for SLP graduate students to gain competency before being introduced to FEES in a clinical setting. This review aims to gather evidence on the use …

Respiratory-Swallowing Coordination In Motor Neuron Disease: A Scoping Review, Mariam Z. Mansoor

Student Research Symposium

Respiratory-swallowing coordination (RSC) is essential for providing efficient breathing and optimal swallowing function. Most commonly used methods of measuring RSC include nasal thermistry, and respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP) to determine direction and durations of airflow. Outcome measures include swallow apnea duration (SAD) and respiratory phase pattern (RPP), i.e., direction of airflow pre- and post-SAD. The goal of the current project was to conduct a scoping literature review of RSC, focusing on the motor neuron disease (MND) population, including people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A multi-engine literature search was conducted in 2023-24 via PubMed and Google Scholar. No limitations were …

Exploring Attrition And Linguistic Shifts: The Impact Of Covid-19 And Anti-Asian Discrimination On The East And Southeast Asian Diaspora, Amy Wan-Ling Lin

University Honors Theses

This thesis investigates the complex interplay of language and identity among speakers of East Asian and Southeast Asian languages in the United States, within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the concurrent rise in anti-Asian hate. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach to delve into these complexities, guided by three research questions exploring changes in language use since the onset of the pandemic, changes in perspective on language identity since the onset of the pandemic, and the effect of geopolitical climate, specifically the rise in Asian hate, on language use and perspective on language identity. The qualitative methodology employed …

Behavioral Management Of Respiratory/Phonatory Dysfunction For Dysarthria Associated With Neurodegenerative Disease: A Systematic Review, Sarah E. Perry, Michelle Troche, Jessica E. Huber, Jordanna Sevitz, James Curtis, Brianna Kiefer, Qiana Dennard, Deanna Britton, Multiple Additional Authors

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose:

This systematic review represents an update to previous reviews of the literature addressing behavioral management of respiratory/phonatory dysfunction in individuals with dysarthria due to neurodegenerative disease.

Method:

Multiple electronic database searches and hand searches of prominent speech-language pathology journals were conducted in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses standards.

Results:

The search yielded 1,525 articles, from which 88 met inclusion criteria and were reviewed by two blinded co-investigators. A large range of therapeutic approaches have been added to the evidence base since the last review, including expiratory muscle strength training, singing, and computer- and device-driven …

Developmental Change In English-Learning Children’S Interpretations Of Salient Pitch Contours In Word Learning, Carolyn M. Quam, Daniel Swingley

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

To efficiently recognize words, children learning an intonational language like English should avoid interpreting pitch-contour variation as signaling lexical contrast, despite the relevance of pitch at other levels of structure. Thus far, the developmental time-course with which English-learning children rule out pitch as a contrastive feature has been incompletely characterized. Prior studies have tested diverse lexical contrasts and have not tested beyond 30 months. To specify the developmental trajectory over a broader age range, we extended a prior study (Quam & Swingley, 2010), in which 30-month-olds and adults disregarded pitch changes, but attended to vowel changes, in newly learned words. …