Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Living With Stuttering: Authenticity, Identity, And Mental Health, Sarah Musilli

Masters Theses

In an effort to manage stigma, some PWS attempt to conceal stuttering and pass as a fluent speaker (Constantino et al., 2017). These efforts to conceal may be counterintuitive, as concealment of stuttering is predictive of elevated distress (Gerlach et al., 2021) and decreased quality of life among PWS (Boyle et. al., 2018). Although this association exists, the factors explaining how and why it exists are unexplored. Identity conflict and feelings of in/authenticity are two potential factors that are explored in this study. Qualitative interviewing supplemented with quantitative survey data is utilized to explore the lived experiences of identity conflict …

Perceptions And Experiences Of Indian And Indian-American Multilingual And Multicultural Adults Who Stutter, Bhavani Ganesh

University Honors Theses

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the intersectional identities of Indian and Indian American people who stutter and explore how their multicultural and/or multilingual identities contribute to their self-perceptions and experiences of disability.

Method: Five Indian or Indian American adults (all male) who stuttered participated in a semi-structured interview via Zoom. Interview transcripts were analyzed using a phenomenological qualitative research methods process. The qualitative research process included in-vivo coding, identification of categories, and emergence of themes.

Results: Participants reported both unique and shared experiences related to their stuttering and their multicultural and multilingual backgrounds. Four major themes …

Caregiver Experiences Of Feeding Instruction For Infants Born With Cleft Lip And/Or Palate, Clare Huang

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to learn what feeding education was provided to caregivers of infants with cleft lip and/or palate and how they view the feeding experience. Method: Participants (n=5) were recruited from two Facebook support groups, Cleft Lip and Palate Support Group :*) and Cleft Mom Support. The data were collected using Qualtrics™ software. The questionnaire consisted of eight demographic questions and seven topic-specific questions. The demographic questions included the exclusion and inclusion criteria. The participants of this study were required to be an English-speaking parent or a caregiver of a child under one year of …

The Importance Of Learning Deaf Culture Through A Black Deaf Perspective In The Field Of Communication Sciences And Disorders, Lindsay Lee

Honors College Theses

As the diversity in the demographics of clinical populations increases in the United States, clinicians must also be accountable for learning the culture of their patients. The Deaf community, specifically individuals who identify with Deaf culture and Black Deaf culture, is a multifaceted, cultural group that has been marginalized within various settings including social, political, and employment settings, including academic and clinical research. This review will examine the historical developments within Deaf History in the United States, the injustices related to Deaf culture, and more specifically Black Deaf culture, and discuss the critical need for Deaf research and tools that …

Differential Effects Of Speech And Language Therapy And Rtms In Chronic Versus Subacute Post-Stroke Aphasia: Results Of The Northstar-Ca Trial, Anna Zumbansen, Heike Kneifel, Latifa Lazzouni, Anja Ophey, Sandra E. Black, Joyce L. Chen, Dylan Edwards, Thomas Funck, Alexander Erich Hartmann, Wolf Dieter Heiss, Franziska Hildesheim, Sylvain Lanthier, Paul Lespérance, George Mochizuki, Caroline Paquette, Elizabet Rochon, Ilona Rubi-Fessen, Jennie Valles, Susan Wortman-Jutt, Alexander Thiel

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background & objective: Contralesional 1-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) over the right pars triangularis combined with speech-language therapy (SLT) has shown positive results on the recovery of naming in subacute (5–45 days) post-stroke aphasia. NORTHSTAR-CA is an extension of the previously reported NORTHSTAR trial to chronic aphasia (>6 months post-stroke) designed to compare the effectiveness of the same rTMS protocol in both phases. Methods: Sixty-seven patients with left middle cerebral artery infarcts (28 chronic, 39 subacute) were recruited (01-2014 to 07-2019) and randomized to receive rTMS (N = 34) or sham stimulation (N = 33) with SLT for …

Caregiver Rights, Virtual Meetings, And The Multidisciplinary Team: Communication Of Legal Rights Within Special Education, Amber Gordon, Kurustun Musick

Theses & Honors Papers

During the COVID-19 pandemic many professional settings used virtual platforms to conduct meetings that typically took place in person. Within the United States public schools, special education programs faced unique challenges when conducting students’ Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. These meetings are mandatory and essential in creating an individualized plan to provide the necessary services and support for students or for monitoring their progress. As mandated through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it is a legal right of parents and/or guardians to be afforded the opportunity to attend any meetings regarding the “identification, evaluation, and educational placement” of …

Predicting Autism From Infant Characteristics: A Systematic Review, Alysha Y. Henrichs, Cynthia Cress Ph.D.

Honors Theses

A literature review was conducted of 73 articles to explore 12-month-old characteristics in infants that predicted later diagnosis with autism (ASD). Articles were reviewed if they discussed ASD, infants with siblings diagnosed with autism (high-risk) and/or infants later diagnosed with autism without known family history of ASD (low risk). Articles were not reviewed if the participants were 36 months or older at the start of the study. More factors were identified that discriminate characteristics associated with later ASD diagnosis in infants between 12-24 months compared to characteristics of infants below 12 months. Characteristics of infants under 12 months that were …

Functional Nasal Breathing Rehabilitation: Effectiveness And Feasibility Of An Online Integrative Breathing Therapy Protocol, Rosalba Courtney, Roger Engel, Sandra Grace, Anna Potts, Brooke Riordan, Kaitlyn Ireland, Courtney Osbourne, Avinash Sukhtankar

International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy

Purpose: Nasal disuse and mouth breathing are associated with negative structural, functional, postural, occlusal, and behavioural changes. While there is some research to suggest that nasal breathing exercises can reduce mouth breathing, clinical protocols have not been extensively investigated. The purpose of this research was to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a nasal breathing rehabilitation protocol based on Integrative Breathing Therapy principles called Functional Nasal Breathing Rehabilitation (FNBR).

Methods: Twenty-three participants with symptoms of nasal obstruction and self-reported mouth breathing completed the 4-week online FNBR training. Outcome measures included the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale, a numeric rating …

Cluttering In The Speech Of Young Men With Fragile X Syndrome, Katherine Bangert, Kathleen Scaler Scott, Charley Adams, Jessica S. Kisenwether, Lisa Giuffre, Jenna Reed, Angela John Thurman, Leonard Abbeduto, Jessica Klusek

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Cluttering is a fluency disorder that has been noted clinically in individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Yet, cluttering has not been systematically characterized in this population, hindering identification and intervention efforts. This study examined the rates of cluttering in male young adults with FXS using expert clinical opinion, the alignment between expert clinical opinion and objectively quantified features of cluttering from language transcripts, and the association between cluttering and aspects of the FXS phenotype.

Method: Thirty-six men with FXS (aged 18-26 years; M = 22, SD = 2.35) contributed language samples and completed measures of nonverbal cognition, autism …

Dosage, Intensity, And Frequency Of Language Therapy For Aphasia: A Systematic Review-Based, Individual Participant Data Network Meta-Analysis., Rehabilitation And Recovery Of People With Aphasia After Stroke (Release) Collaborators, Jackie Hinckley

HPD Articles

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Optimizing speech and language therapy (SLT) regimens for maximal aphasia recovery is a clinical research priority. We examined associations between SLT intensity (hours/week), dosage (total hours), frequency (days/week), duration (weeks), delivery (face to face, computer supported, individual tailoring, and home practice), content, and language outcomes for people with aphasia.

METHODS: Databases including MEDLINE and Embase were searched (inception to September 2015). Published, unpublished, and emerging trials including SLT and ≥10 individual participant data on aphasia, language outcomes, and time post-onset were selected. Patient-level data on stroke, language, SLT, and trial risk of bias were independently extracted. Outcome …

Kemar Hats Head Orientation Directivity, Samuel D. Bellows, Timothy W. Leishman

Directivity

This directivity data set for a KEMAR head head-and-torso simulator (HATS) includes head orientations in 14 directions in 5° steps starting from 0° to 40° and then in 10° steps from 40° to 90°. The full spherical measurements followed at an a = 0.97 m radius with the mouth aperture at the spherical center. The sampling density and distribution followed the AES 5° dual-equiangular sampling standard, omitting the south pole (θ = 180°). Thus, each spherical directivity assessment included 36 polar-angle θ samples and 72 azimuthal-angle ϕ samples. The presented data include 22 1/3-octave bands, ranging from 80 Hz …

Comparing Measures Of Phonological Development For Bilingual Speech Sample Analysis: A Descriptive Study, Julianna Ciccarelli

Honors Projects

The present study analyzed two common measures of phonology for use within a bilingual (Spanish-English) preschool population. The utilized measures include Percentage of Consonants Correct-Revised (PCC-R) and Phonological Mean Length of Utterance (pMLU) and were selected to avoid sources of bias, often found in standardized, norm-referenced assessments. The scores calculated from these measures were analyzed across language.

Implications Of Facial Coverings On Communication, Katherine Giustino

Honors Theses

Nonverbal communication constitutes over half of communication in verbal communicators’ production. With so much lost to covering essential parts of expressing nonverbal communication, for example the mouth, this study aims to find how that impacts the general population’s ability to communicate effectively.

A study found that masks act as an acoustic filter for speech and can attenuate high frequencies (Marler & Ditton, 2020). At the most basic level, a facial covering creates a physical barrier to communication.

This study was designed in a survey format to gather data. A total of 95 participants completed the survey in its entirety. The …

A Review Of Selective Mutism In Immigrant Children [Poster], Lauren Cummings

Research in the Capitol

Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder that is characterized by a child’s lack of verbal communication in certain situations where there is an expectation of speech. Children who are diagnosed with selective mutism typically have communication or cognitive difficulties and later display higher rates of psychiatric disorders in early adolescence and adulthood. The overall prevalence of selective mutism is debated, but there is clear evidence that immigrant children are at least three times more likely to be diagnosed with selective mutism than the general population. As the number of immigrant children in the United States continues to rise, it is …

Effects Of Positive And Negative Emotion On Picture Naming For People With Mild To Moderate Aphasia: A Preliminary Investigation, Tyson G. Harmon, Courtney Nielsen, Corinne Loveridge, Camille Williams

Faculty Publications

Purpose: To investigate how emotional arousal and valence affect confrontational naming accuracy and response time in people with mild to moderate aphasia compared with adults without aphasia. We hypothesized that negative and positive emotions would facilitate naming for people with aphasia but lead to slower responses for adults with no aphasia.

Method: Eight participants with mild to moderate aphasia, 15 older adults, and 17 young adults completed a confrontational naming task across three conditions (positive, negative, neutral) in an ABA case series design. Immediately following each naming condition, participants self-reported their perceived arousal and pleasure. Accuracy and response time were …

Sudden Hearing Loss: Wrs Importance And Timing Of Medical Intervention, Irina Linkov Middleton, Alexandra Costlow, Molly Wolfson, Midori Wakabayashi, Tingting Zhan

Aria Health Posters

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate recovery in hearing acuity of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) based on timing of onset to determine how late is too late to medically intervene.

Study Design: A retrospective chart review was conducted in patients previously treated for primary complaint of sudden hearing loss (HL). Participants meeting inclusion criteria were analyzed based on timing of onset to service date, age, gender, associated ear, associated symptoms as well as recovery in pure tone average (PTA) and recovery in word recognition scores (WRS).

Setting: All patients seeking treatment for SSNHL were seen …

Covid Anxiety And Stress In Higher Ed (Cash), Letitia Bergantz, Christopher E. Curtis

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

College is a time of increased stress and anxiety. The current changes in attendance and methods of instruction due to COVID-19 have demonstrated even higher levels of stress, anxiety, and mental health issues. Tailoring interventions to the specific needs of a campus community has been proposed as an appropriate means to the current crisis. This study identifies the mental health needs of students at a rural college as they pertain to the effects of the pandemic.

Questionnaires collected data from college students (N=33) at Athens State University, a rural university in …

The Flipped Classroom Model As Applied To An Augmentative And Alternative Communication Course, Eric J. Sanders, Louise C. Keegan, Mary Culshaw, Colin Tomes

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

The Flipped Classroom Model (FCM) is an andragogical approach where students complete content-related work outside of the class and engage in activities related to this content during the class period. This approach has garnered recent attention in the field of speech-language pathology, but its implementation has not been studied in an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) course and there is limited information on student perspectives of the experience. This study presents the results of a qualitative investigation designed to investigate the preferences and experiences of preservice speech-language pathology graduate students in an AAC course utilizing the FCM. Semi-structured interviews with …

The Effectiveness Of Near-Peer Mentoring And Clinical Laboratory Experiences In Undergraduate Student Perceptions Of Career Preparedness And The Profession Of Audiology, Ashley G. Flagge, Julie M. Estis

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Students in undergraduate Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) programs with an interest in audiology often report feeling unprepared to make career and graduate school decisions due to a lack of exposure to the field. The present study examines the impact of near-peer mentoring and hands-on lab experiences on undergraduate student perceptions of career preparedness and of the profession of audiology by examining pre- and post-course survey responses and lab wrapper responses of 41 undergraduate speech and hearing science majors enrolled in an introductory audiology course. Students were paired in groups with a first-year audiology graduate mentor to walk through a …

Using Ability Grouping To Examine The Effects Of Differentiated Instruction In An Undergraduate Course In Communication Sciences & Disorders, Katherine B. Green, Jacqueline Towson

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Differentiated instruction is a student-centered approach to instruction that considers the differing characteristics and aspects of the learner. With increasing diversity in higher education, differentiated instruction is one strategy that instructors may use to facilitate student success. However, there is limited empirical research examining the effectiveness of differentiated instruction in higher education. Using a quasi-experimental pretest posttest group design, the effects of differentiation of instruction, specifically differentiation of content and variable grouping, on student content knowledge were examined in an undergraduate course in a Communication Sciences and Disorders program. Students in the intervention group scored significantly higher on final course …