Education Commons^™

Principals Who Supervise Teachers Of The Deaf: A Mixed Methods Study, Tanya Hilligoss

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

School principals are responsible for supervising educational staff. Since the majority of students who are deaf or hard of hearing are served in public schools, it is important for principals to understand how to supervise teachers of the deaf. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of school principals who supervise teachers of the deaf in public schools in the United States.

In this mixed methods study, data was collected separately and sequentially, using an explanatory sequential design. Information was gathered from state-level personnel using a web-based survey for quantitative data. Data collected included: a) number of …

Academic Supports And Tutoring, Strategy Brief., Scott Fluke, Ann O'Connor, Jenna Strawhun, Reece L. Peterson

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Students who fail eighth-grade math or English are 75% more likely to drop out of high school than peers. With increasing academic standards and accountability movements, there is a clear need to develop and provide students with extra help and support in order to succeed in school.This paper discusses the need for programs to provide supplementary supports for academics for students in school.

Alternative Schooling Strategy Brief, Emily Moss, Jenna Strawhun, Reece L. Peterson

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Although there is little overall research on alternative schooling due in part to the widely disparate types of alternative school programs, there is program evaluation and anecdotal support for their effectiveness for some students. These programs are commonplace, and must be considered a part of the effort to keep students, particularly students with behavioral needs in school. There is anecdotal evidence that these programs can be beneficial to students who would otherwise not participate and complete a school program.

Academic Supports & Tutoring, Reece L. Peterson, Ann O'Connor, Jenna Strawhun

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Many students, including those receiving special education services, require more academic support than their peers to be successful in school. Fortunately, a wide variety of strategies to provide this support have been developed and empirically evaluated.

A Mixed Methods Approach To Examining The Getting Ready Intervention For Supporting Young Children With Challenging Behaviors, Miriam E. Kuhn

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Families and preschool teachers of children with persistent challenging behaviors are taxed daily by difficulties presented in care and management of such children in their homes and early education settings. This study utilized a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach in three phases to better understand a collaborative partnership model of intervention, Getting Ready (Sheridan, Marvin, Knoche, & Edwards, 2008), for supporting preschoolers with challenging behaviors attending Head Start or state-funded pre-kindergarten programs. Preschool teachers received professional development and individual coaching to help them improve partnerships and collaboratively plan with parents to promote children’s growth, and enhance parent-child interactions.

In Phase …

A New Approach To Middle School Reading Intervention Balancing Self-Determination And Achievement, Amanda Mancini-Marshall

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While research on Response to Intervention (RTI) has focused almost exclusively on elementary education, an increasing number of middle and high schools are adopting this framework as a way to match student needs with instruction that accelerates academic growth. Without age-appropriate models, curriculum, or interventions, secondary schools often attempt to simply replicate elementary practices with limited success. These attempts typically take a prescriptive approach to reading instruction for struggling below-grade-level readers. However, this self-study examines how one research-practitioner designed, implemented, and modified a middle school Tier II RTI reading course with the goal of improving student self-determination as well as …

Genetics Of Peripheral Vestibular Dysfunction: Lessons From Mutant Mouse Strains, Sherri M. Jones, Timothy A. Jones

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Background

A considerable amount of research has been published about genetic hearing impairment. Fifty to sixty percent of hearing loss is thought to have a genetic cause. Genes may also play a significant role in acquired hearing loss due to aging, noise exposure, or ototoxic medications. Between 1995 and 2012, over 100 causative genes have been identified for syndromic and nonsyndromic forms of hereditary hearing loss (see Hereditary Hearing Loss Homepage http://hereditaryhearingloss.org). Mouse models have been extremely valuable in facilitating the discovery of hearing loss genes, and in understanding inner ear pathology due to genetic mutations or elucidating fundamental mechanisms …

Children’S Attitudes Towards Peers With Disabilities: Associations With Personal And Parental Factors, Soo-Young Hong, Kyong-Ah Kwon, Hyun-Joo Jeon

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the following: (i) associations among children’s prior contact with people with disabilities and the three dimensions of children’s attitudes towards people with disabilities: children’s understanding of and their feelings about people with disabilities and their behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions; (ii) the relation between children’s behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions and the demands of activity contexts and the types of disabilities; and (iii) the association between parents’ attitudes and children’s attitudes. Participants included 94 typically developing four- and five-year-old preschoolers. Children’s understanding of disabilities and their prior contact with people …

Integrating Universal Design And Response To Intervention In Methods Courses For General Education Mathematics Teachers, Kelley E. Buchheister, Christa Jackson, Cynthia Taylor

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Traditionally, teacher education programs have placed little emphasis on preparing mathematics teachers to work with students who struggle in mathematics. Therefore, it is crucial that mathematics teacher educators explicitly prepare prospective teachers to instruct students who struggle with mathematics by providing strategies and practices that specifically address their needs. In this study, we describe the principles of Universal Design for Learning and Response to Intervention. More specifically, we discuss how one Mathematics Teacher Educator uses these frame works in her mathematics methods course to help prospective teachers become cognizant of early interventions and effective strategies that can be implemented to …

The Effect Of Barium On Perceptions Of Taste Intensity And Palatability, Angela M. Dietsch, Nancy Pearl Solomon, Catriona M. Steele, Cathy A. Pelletier

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Barium may affect the perception of taste intensity and palatability. Such differences are important considerations in the selection of dysphagia assessment strategies and interpretation of results. Eighty healthy women grouped by age (younger, older) and genetic taste status (supertaster, nontaster) rated intensity and palatability for seven tastants prepared in deionized water with and without 40 % w/v barium: noncarbonated and carbonated water, diluted ethanol, and high concentrations of citric acid (sour), sodium chloride (salty), caffeine (bitter), and sucrose (sweet). Mixed-model analyses explored the effects of barium, taster status, and age on perceived taste intensity and acceptability of stimuli. Barium was …

3d Dynamic Visualization Of Swallowing From Multi-Slice Computed Tomography, Andrew K. Ho, Mark A. Nicosia, Angela Dietsch, William Pearson, Jana Rieger, Nancy Solomon, Maureen Stone, Yoko Inamoto, Eiichi Saitoh, Sheldon Green, Sidney Fels

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Human swallowing and its disorders (dysphagia) are still poorly understood, and yet many speech-language pathologists (SLPs) need to be trained to recognize correct, incorrect, and potentially dangerous swallows. The anatomy of the head and neck region is notoriously complex and difficult to visualize and study. Currently, training programs that teach SLPs to recognize swallowing disorders use artistically derived animations of swallowing, rendered at fixed viewpoints, to help students visualize the anatomy of the head and neck region.

This work improves on these animations by using state-of-the-art medical images to create a dynamic, interactive, 3D simulation of human swallowing. Images of …

Characterization Of Sex-Based Differences In The Mechanical Properties Of Human Finger Glabrous Tissue Using A Fiberoptic Sensor, Lalit Venkatesan, Steven M. Barlow

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

TAC-Cell is a custom-built somatosensory stimulator that delivers pneumatic cutaneous tactile inputs to virtually any skin target on the body and by virtue of its non-ferrous materials is compatible with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) brain scanners. In this study, we describe the method to measure apparent skin displacement induced by TAC-Cell stimulation of the glabrous surface of the distal phalanx of the index finger. Specifically, we studied the effect of four servo controller input voltages (0.4V to 1.0V) on resultant skin displacement among eighteen, neurotypical adult male and female participants. A fiberoptic displacement sensor, commonly used …

Amplitude-Integrated Eeg And Range-Eeg Modulation Associated With Pneumatic Orocutaneous Stimulation In Preterm Infants, Steven M. Barlow, Priya Jegatheesan, Sunshine Weiss, Balaji Govindaswami, Jaehoon Lee, Austin Oder, Dongli Song

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Background—Controlled somatosensory stimulation strategies have demonstrated merit in developing oral feeding skills in premature infants who lack a functional suck, however, the effects of orosensory entrainment stimulation on electrocortical dynamics is unknown.

Objective—To determine the effects of servo-controlled pneumatic orocutaneous stimulation presented during gavage feedings on the modulation of aEEG and rEEG activity.

Methods—Two-channel EEG recordings were collected during 180 sessions that included orocutaneous stimulation and non-stimulation epochs among 22 preterm infants (mean gestational age = 28.56 weeks) who were randomized to treatment and control ‘sham’ conditions. The study was initiated at around 32 weeks post-menstrual age (PMA). The raw …

The Impact Of Interface Design During An Initial High-Technology Aac Experience: A Collective Case Study Of People With Aphasia, Aimee R. Dietz, Kristy S.E. Weissling, Julie Griffith, Miechelle L. Mckelvey, Devan Macke

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this collective case study was to describe the communication behaviors of five people with chronic aphasia when they retold personal narratives to an unfamiliar communication partner using four variants of a visual scene display (VSD) interface. The results revealed that spoken language comprised roughly 70% of expressive modality units; variable patterns of use for other modalities emerged. Although inconsistent across participants, several people with aphasia experienced no trouble sources during the retells using VSDs with personally relevant photographs and text boxes. Overall, participants perceived the personally relevant photographs and the text as helpful during the retells. These …

Frequency-Modulated Orocutaneous Stimulation Promotes Non-Nutritive Suck Development In Preterm Infants With Respiratory Distress Syndrome Or Chronic Lung Disease, Steven M. Barlow, Jaehoon Lee, Jingyan Wang, Austin Oder, Sue Hall, Kendi Knox, Kathleen Weatherstone, Diane Thompson

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Background—For the premature infant, extrauterine life is a pathological condition which greatly amplifies the challenges to the brain in establishing functional oromotor behaviors. The extent to which suck can be entrained using a synthetically patterned orocutaneous input to promote its development in preterm infants who manifest chronic lung disease is unknown.

Objective—To evaluate the effects of a frequency-modulated orocutaneous pulse train delivered through a pneumatically-charged pacifier capable of enhancing non-nutritive suck (NNS) activity in tube-fed premature infants.

Methods—A randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of pneumatic orocutaneous stimulation 3x/day on NNS development and length of stay (LOS) in the NICU …

Modulation Of Eeg Spectral Edge Frequency During Patterned Pneumatic Oral Stimulation In Preterm Infants, Dongli Song, Priya Jegatheesan, Sunshine Weiss, Balaji Govindaswami, Jingyan Wang, Jaehoon Lee, Austin Oder, Steven M. Barlow

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Background—Stimulation of the nervous system plays a central role in brain development and neurodevelopmental outcome. Thalamocortical and corticocortical development is diminished in premature infants and correlated to electroencephalography (EEG) progression. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of orocutaneous stimulation on the modulation of spectral edge frequency, f_c=90% (SEF-90) derived from EEG recordings in preterm infants.

Methods—Twenty two preterm infants were randomized to experimental and control conditions. Pulsed orocutaneous stimulation was presented during gavage feedings begun at around 32 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA). The SEF-90 was derived from 2-channel EEG recordings.

Results—Compared to the control …

Reading Acceleration Training Changes Brain Circuitry In Children With Reading Difficulties, Tzipi Horowitz-Kraus, Jennifer J. Vannest, Darren Kadis, Nicole Cicchino, Yingying Y. Wang, Scott K. Holland

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Introduction: Dyslexia is characterized by slow, inaccurate reading. Previous studies have shown that the Reading Acceleration Program (RAP) improves reading speed and accuracy in children and adults with dyslexia and in typical readers across different orthographies. However, the effect of the RAP on the neural circuitry of reading has not been established. In the current study, we examined the effect of the RAP training on regions of interest in the neural circuitry for reading using a lexical decision task during fMRI in children with reading difficulties and typical readers. Methods: Children (8–12 years old) with reading difficulties and typical readers …

Phonological And Lexical Influences On Phonological Awareness In Children With Specific Language Impairment And Dyslexia, Kelly Farquharson, Tracy M. Centanni, Chelsea E. Franzluebbers, Tiffany Hogan

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Children with dyslexia and/or specific language impairment have marked deficits in phonological processing, putting them at an increased risk for reading deficits. The current study sought to examine the influence of word-level phonological and lexical characteristics on phonological awareness. Children with dyslexia and/or specific language impairment were tested using a phoneme deletion task in which stimuli differed orthogonally by sound similarity and neighborhood density. Phonological and lexical factors influenced performance differently across groups. Children with dyslexia appeared to have a more immature and aberrant pattern of phonological and lexical influence (e.g., favoring sparse and similar features). Children with SLI performed …

Perceptual And Instrumental Assessments Of Orofacial Muscle Tone In Dysarthric And Normal Speakers, Angela M. Dietsch, Nancy Pearl Solomon, Laura A. Sharkey, Joseph R. Duffy, Edythe A. Strand, Heather M. Clark

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Clinical assessment of orofacial muscle tone is of interest for differential diagnosis of the dysarthrias, but standardized procedures and normative data are lacking. In this study, perceptual ratings of tone were compared with instrumental measures of tissue stiffness for facial, lingual, and masticatory muscles in 70 individuals with dysarthria. Perceptual and instrumental tone data were discordant and failed to discriminate between five dysarthria types. These results raised concerns about the validity of Myoton-3 stiffness measures in the orofacial muscles. Therefore, a second study evaluated contracted and relaxed orofacial muscles in 10 neurotypical adults. Results for the cheek, masseter, and lateral …

Testing Of The Vocalog Vocal Monitor, Jeff Searl, Angela M. Dietsch

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Objective. To elucidate capabilities and limitations of the VocaLog, a device marketed to log-calibrated dB sound pressure level (SPL). Study Design. The study design varied depending on the experiment. All were prospective. Some were case series, and others were cohort studies without controls.

Method. Experiments were conducted to determine (1) whether the VocaLog logged phonatory activity and silence when it should, (2) if nonphonatory activities were detected, (3) correlation of VocaLog dB values to an external sound level meter (SLM), and (4) accuracy of phonation time (PT) and speaking time (ST) estimates from the VocaLog.

Results. Silence and phonatory activity …

Supporting Narrative Retells For People With Aphasia Using Augmentative And Alternative Communication: Photographs Or Line Drawings? Text Or No Text?, Julie Griffith, Aimee R. Dietz, Kristy S.E. Weissling

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how the interface design of an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device influences the communication behaviors of people with aphasia during a narrative retell task.

Method: A case-series design was used. Four narratives were created on an AAC device with combinations of personally relevant (PR) photographs, line drawings (LDs), and text for each participant. The narrative retells were analyzed to describe the expressive modality units (EMUs) used, trouble sources experienced, and whether trouble sources were repaired. The researchers also explored the participants’ perceived helpfulness of the interface features.

Results: The participants …

The Influence Of Audibility On Speech Recognition With Nonlinear Frequency Compression For Children And Adults With Hearing Loss, Ryan W. Mccreery, Joshua Alexander, Marc A. Brennan, Brenda Hoover, Judy Kopun, Patricia G. Stelmachowicz

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Objective—The primary goal of nonlinear frequency compression (NFC) and other frequency lowering strategies is to increase the audibility of high-frequency sounds that are not otherwise audible with conventional hearing-aid processing due to the degree of hearing loss, limited hearing aid bandwidth or a combination of both factors. The aim of the current study was to compare estimates of speech audibility processed by NFC to improvements in speech recognition for a group of children and adults with high-frequency hearing loss.

Design—Monosyllabic word recognition was measured in noise for twenty-four adults and twelve children with mild to severe sensorineural hearing loss. Stimuli …

Treating Myofunctional Disorders: A Multiple-Baseline Study Of A New Treatment Using Electropalatography, Alana Mantie-Kozlowski, Kevin M. Pitt

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: This study assessed the benefit of using electropalatography (EPG) in treatment aimed at habilitating individuals with nonspeech orofacial myofunctional disorders (NSOMD).

Method: The study used a multiple-baseline design across 3 female participants who were referred for an evaluation and possible treatment of their NSOMD. Treatment sessions were 30 min and provided twice weekly. Participant 1 received 8 treatments, Participant 2 received 6 treatments, and Participant 3 received 4 treatments. The patterns of sensor activation produced when participants’ tongues made contact with the electropalate during saliva swallows were compared with the patterns of age-matched peers. Individualized goals were developed on …