Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Improving Self-Report In Quality Of Life Reporting For Individuals With Dementia, Elizabeth Grace Grade Redford

Theses and Dissertations

People with dementia (PWD) are one of the fastest growing clinical populations for speech-language pathologists. Self-reported quality of life (QoL) assessments are critical patient-reported outcome measures that align with person-centered care principles. However, proxy- report is most often used due to assumptions that PWD cannot provide reliable self-report. Visual analogue scales (VAS) have been successfully used with people with expressive and cognitive deficits to measure subjective constructs, such as QoL, mood, and pain. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the feasibility and reliability of a VAS QoL assessment tool.

Twenty healthy older adults were assessed using the QoL-AD …

Ultrasonography As Biofeedback To Increase Muscle Activation During The Mendelsohn Maneuver In Healthy Adults, Ching-Hsuan Peng

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of applying real-time ultrasound as visual feedback in addition to verbal instruction/tactile feedback to facility the accuracy of learning the Mendelsohn maneuver. The Mendelsohn maneuver is one of the commonly used swallowing exercises targeting hyolaryngeal elevation and prolonging upper esophageal sphincter opening during swallow. It was hypothesized that the additional visual cueing provided by ultrasound would significantly increase sEMG activity which may be associated with increased duration and extent of hyolaryngeal elevation during the Mendelsohn maneuver as compared to the effect of verbal instruction/tactile feedback alone. A total of twenty-four …

School-Based Augmentative And Alternative Communication Collaboration During Covid-19, Nicole Kocanda

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The first purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics and procedures of successful AAC teams in schools. The second purpose was to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the functioning of teams. Methods: Well-functioning teams completed an online survey about their team. Results: Results indicated there was no particular profile of what constituted a well-functioning team in this study. Results also indicated a significant change in meeting modality because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: Participants discussed several procedures and characteristics of their well-functioning AAC team. AAC teams may consider implementing discussed procedures to improve their overall functioning.

Dialect Use, Language Abilities, And Emergent Literacy Skills Of Prekindergarten Children Who Speak African American English, Erika Rose Baldwin

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the complex relationship between spoken language and emergent literacy skills for children who speak African American English (AAE). Therefore, this study examined children’s language proficiency, dialect use, and emergent literacy skills at the beginning of Head Start preschool and throughout the entire academic year.

Methods. This study analyzed scores from a database of 120 preschool children who spoke AAE. Data included narrative retells of the wordless picture book Frog Where Are You? that were transcribed utilizing Systematic Analysis of Language Transcript (SALT) Software. Narrative retells were then …

A Comparison Of Two Devices For Isometric Lingual Strengthening In Healthy Adults, Daniel Laurensio Gutierrez

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare tongue pressure measurements recorded by an established device, the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI) and a new device, the TongueometerTM.

Eight healthy adults ages 18 to 59 were subjects. Independent variables included device type (IOPI & TongueometerTM) and bulb placement in oral cavity (anterior & posterior). The dependent variable was tongue pressure in kPa. Each subject attempted three trials of maximum tongue pressure at both the anterior and posterior bulb placement location for both devices. The order of device and bulb placement position was counterbalanced to reduce potential carryover effects. Subjects were …

The Effect Of Attention To Self-Regulation Of Speech Sound Productions On Speech Fluency In Oral Reading, Chana Basya Halpern

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: This study ultimately sought to test whether a condition of heightened attention to speech sound production during connected speech serves to trigger increased disfluencies. Disfluencies, or disruptions in the flow of speech, are highly variable in form and location, both within and across individuals and situations. Research to identify conditions that can predictably trigger disfluencies has the potential to provide insight into their elusive nature. A review of related literature covered the cognitive-linguistic theories related to speech fluency and stuttering. This review of previous literature also served as the foundation for why it was proposed that disfluencies would be …

Comparison Of Analysis Techniques For Assessing Oro-Pharyngeal Swallow From Videofluoroscopy, Prasanna Venkataraman

Theses and Dissertations

MBSImP® is an ordinal rating scale designed to evaluate 17 swallowing events from Videofluoroscopic Swallowing Study. Use of an ordinal scale to judge swallowing impairment involves subjectivity and could affect the reliability of judgements. There is a need to validate the ordinal levels of ratings in MBSImP® with objective data, in order to improve confidence of clinical judgements. The hypothesis was that discrete objective data could be obtained for each level of rating in MBSImP® that are statistically different from the data of the subsequent rating level, which would objectively support the concept of the MBSImP® tool. Two hundred 5ml …

Speech-Language Pathologists' Practices And Attitudes Toward App Use In Therapy, Tessa Alexandra Benedon

Theses and Dissertations

Numerous national surveys have established that Americans of all ages are using mobile technologies (e.g. cell phones, smartphones, and tablets) more than ever before (Pew Research Center, 2018; American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016a; American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016b; Reid-Chassiakos et al., 2016; Tsetsi & Rains, 2016; Kabali et al., 2015). In the same vein, Morris, Jones, and Sweatman (2016) found that Americans with visual, hearing, motor, learning, and speech disabilities area also engaging with apps on smartphone and tablet technologies for vocational, educational, and social purposes. Developers of the iOS and Android operating systems have prioritized user-friendly design and accessibility …

What Should Be Included In A Measure Of Communicative Participation? Perspectives Of Speech-Language Pathologists, Natalie Kelly Graceffa

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A MEASURE OF COMMUNICATIVE PARTICIPATION? PERSPECTIVES OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS

by Natalie Graceffa

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2017 Under the Supervision of Professor Dr. Shelley Lund

As the field has developed, speech-language pathologists (SLP) need to validate their therapies and prove, beyond clinical judgment, that their therapy is necessary and ethical. SLPs and other healthcare professionals must prove they are achieving positive outcomes with their treatment, and that the outcomes they set are appropriate for their patients and clients. To bring this validity to the treatment of health, the International Classification for Functioning, Disability, and …

Using A Database Of Typical Speakers To Describe The Expository Language Skills Of Children With Language Impairment, Joanna Carol Zwerlein

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose. This study examined the expository language skills of older students with language impairment (LI) in relation to a large database of typically developing (TD) students. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether comparing language samples to the database allowed users to distinguish between adolescents with LI and those with typical language, and develop individual profiles of relative strengths and weaknesses in children with LI.

Methods. School speech-language pathologists elicited expository language samples from high school students with LI (N = 9; mean age = 16;8 [years;months]) by asking them to explain how to play their favorite game …

Perspectives Of Stuttering Treatment: Parents, Children, And Adolescents, Heather Darlene Salvo

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Perspectives of Stuttering Treatment:

Parents, Children, and Adolescents

By Heather D. Salvo

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee August 2016

Under the Supervision of Carol H. Seery

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Purpose. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether age affects the perspectives of children (ages 8-12), adolescents (ages 13-17), and parents related to stuttering treatment experiences and outcomes. A secondary purpose of this study was to investigate whether the perspectives of children and adolescents regarding stuttering treatment experiences and outcome preferences differed from the perspective of their parents.

Participants. Participants required internet access and minors …

Print Awareness: A Comparison Between Print And Electronic Assessments In Typically Developing Preschool Children, Peter Kao

Theses and Dissertations

This study compared print and electronic formats of the Concepts About Print (CAP) assessment in typically developing preschool children. The researchers were interested in comparing print awareness skills using two different reading modalities. Independent variables were mode of presentation and age, dependent variables were the CAP scores. To account for a learning curve, two different versions of the CAP assessment were used and counterbalanced. Modes of presentation was also counterbalanced. Examiners achieved a 98.24% agreement (K = 0.964) across 40% of all assessments.

A significant correlation (r =.919) was found between the scores on the CAP and scores on the …

Comparison Of Conversation And Narrative Language Abilities In Children With Autism: Diagnostic And Therapeutic Considerations, Corissa Kroenke

Theses and Dissertations

Many children with autism experience significant difficulty with comprehension and expression of spoken language. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) require sensitive assessments to describe the unique profiles of individual clients with autism so that appropriate treatments can be prescribed. Language sample analysis is a current best-practice for describing language profiles in children with language difficulties, though there is a limited literature describing clinical best-practices for children with autism. The purpose of this study was to analyze the difference in conversation and narrative language abilities in children with autism. Language ability was also analyzed in comparison to age-matched typically developing peers. This goal …

The Effects Of Color In Recognition Of Images In Multiple-Choice Displays By People With And Without Aphasia, Kristin Michelle Zenz

Theses and Dissertations

Language assessments for people with aphasia often rely on the use of images. Images are presented together with a verbal stimulus and participants are asked to choose the image that corresponds to the verbal stimulus. It is assumed that if a person chooses an incorrect image, he or she has language comprehension deficits. However, other non-linguistic factors can influence image recognition processes, such as stimulus characteristics and verbal or motoric response requirements associated with target selection. Color has been shown to facilitate image recognition in language-normal individuals and in people with aphasia. However, traditional tasks to assess the influence of …

Exploring Experiences, Expectations And Perceptions Of Parents Of Children With Asd In Receiving Parent Education From Speech-Language Pathologists, Vinaya Hindane Kulkarni

Theses and Dissertations

EXPLORING EXPERIENCES, EXPECTATIONS AND PERCEPTIONS OF

PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH ASD IN RECEIVING PARENT EDUCATION

FROM SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS

by

Vinaya Kulkarni

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2014

Under the Supervision of Professor Paula Rhyner, Ph.D.

As the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) rises, an increasing number of

parents are faced with questions related to diagnosis and intervention for their child with

ASD. The purpose of the present study was to examine parental experiences,

expectations, and level of satisfaction regarding parent education received on ASD from

practicing speech-language pathologists (SLPs). A 36-question online survey: Parent

Education in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Experiences, …

The Impact Of Accessible Email On The Written Communication Of People With Aphasia, Anne Catherine Sempos

Theses and Dissertations

Aphasia is a language disorder affecting individuals' ability to speak, listen, read, and write. Because of repeated communication breakdowns, people with aphasia often avoid social interactions, which can lead to feelings of social isolation. Email may reduce the frustrations of face-to-face communication by providing additional time to compose and revise messages. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the use of email would impact functional communication and social participation in people with aphasia. A single-subject, multiple-baseline across participants design was used to evaluate the effect of a simplified email program on participants' written communication skills and feelings of …

Perceptual Correlates Of Acoustic Measures Of Vocal Variability, Bree Ann Cumbers

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated relationships between acoustic measures of vocal variability (pitch sigma, SFF range) and perceptual ratings of vocal variability during a reading task. Fifteen male (19-30 years of age) and nineteen female speakers (20-30 years of age) who were recorded reading the Grandfather Passage provided the stimuli for the listening task. From these samples, 30 were selected as representing a continuum of degrees of vocal variability. Male (N = 15) and female (N = 15) samples were presented to listeners separately. Thirty graduate students in Communication Sciences and Disorders who had a course background in voice supplied the perceptual …

The Effects Of Expiratory Muscle Strength Training On Swallowing And Voice Measures In Healthy Older Adults, Adam Follmer

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of a four week expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) exercise program on healthy older adults (65-79 years). The investigators were interested in possible changes to the swallowing and voice production systems, both of which are in the scope of practice for a speech language pathologist. Specific voice variables included maximum phonation time, conversational intensity level, and upper and lower limits of available intensity range. Swallowing variables were related to tongue function and included maximum isometric pressure and mean swallowing pressure. Finally, maximum expiratory pressure was measured as a comparative value to other EMST studies. A …

Cepstral- And Spectral-Based Acoustic Measures Of Normal Voices, Rachel Garrett

Theses and Dissertations

A review of recent literature suggested that cepstral- and spectral-based acoustic measures showed good potential as objective measures of dysphonia for clinical application. However, the small numbers of normal subjects in previous research and wide age ranges prevent a good estimation of the performance of normal speakers of various ages on these measures. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to provide normative data for Long-Term Average spectral- and cepstral-based measures for both men and women in two different age groups to aid clinicians with assessing and treating voice disorders. Sixty participants consisting of fifteen males and fifteen females, ages …

Acoustic Characteristics Of Tense And Lax Vowels Across Sentence Position In Clear Speech, Lindsay Kayne Roesler

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the acoustic characteristics of tense and lax vowels across sentence positions in clear speech. Recordings were made of 12 participants reading monosyllabic target words at varying positions within semantically meaningful sentences. Acoustic analysis was completed to determine the effects of Style (clear vs. conversational), Tenseness (tense vs. lax), and Position (sentence-medial vs. sentence-final) on vowel duration, vowel space area, vowel space dispersion, and vowel peripheralization. The results showed speakers had longer durations and expanded vowel spaces in clear speech for both tense and lax vowels. Importantly, the amount of increase was similar …

Understanding The Development Of Alphabet Knowledge In At-Risk Populations: The Influence Of Pre-Literacy Skills, Ashley Coursin

Theses and Dissertations

In the current research, alphabet knowledge has been confirmed as a critical component of children's developing emergent literacy proficiency. The assessment of pre-literacy skills, such as alphabet knowledge, plays an important role in the management of children at-risk for poor reading outcomes. This study aimed to better understand the influence of phonological awareness skills, print skills, and receptive vocabulary on the development of alphabet knowledge in at-risk preschool-age children. Statistical analyses revealed that a significant unique relationship was present between phonological awareness skills and the development of alphabet knowledge. Furthermore, this study identified three clusters of children based on the …