Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Development Of The Tagalog Version Of The Western Aphasia Battery-Revised, Carmina Ozaeta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has been limited research done in the Philippines in the area of aphasia, a frequent concomitant symptom of strokes and presents as impairment in any area of the input and output of language. Diagnosis is generally conducted by clinicians based on sites of lesion of speakers with aphasia and clinical observations of language symptoms and unpublished translation of the WAB. The lack of relevant research and formal assessment tools in the Philippines motivated this current study. The development of this type of assessment battery for the Tagalog (pronounced /təˈɡɑːlɒɡ/ in English) speaking population will provide a means for differential …

Effects Of A Reading Strategy With Digital Social Studies Texts For Eighth Grade Students, Melissa Doan Malani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent data indicate that only 34% of American eighth grade students are able to demonstrate grade-level proficiency with academic reading tasks (NCES, 2011). The staggering nature of statistics such as this is even more profound when considering that high level literacy skills combined with mastery of digital texts have become practical requirements for success in secondary education, post-secondary education, and virtually all vocational contexts. Despite this incongruent scenario, little research has been conducted to evaluate instructional methods and reading comprehension strategies with digital texts. To address this critical issue, the present study examined the effects of a metacognitive reading comprehension …

Temperamental Profiles Of Children With Communication Impairment., Whitney Charlena Lau

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The temperament literature available that involves children with communication impairments is limited but promising. The purpose of this study was to investigate the temperamental profiles of children with autism spectrum disorders, primary language impairments, phonological/articulation impairments, and combined phonological and language impairments. Participants included 38 children who attended the East Tennessee State University Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic at the time of the study or in the past 10 years. Parents of eligible participants were asked to complete demographic and temperament questionnaires about their children. Results indicated that the temperamental profiles of children with communication impairments differed significantly from typically developing children in …

Curriculum Vocabulary Acquisition Of 4th Graders Using A Language-Sensitive Teaching Approach, Joanna H. Spielvogel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if a direct, explicit method of teaching vocabulary with a Vocabulary Scenario Technique-Language Sensitive protocol (VST-LS) would yield gains in the vocabulary knowledge of 4th grade students greater than those seen in 4th grade students receiving vocabulary instruction typical to some general education classrooms. VST-LS is a detailed description of procedures intended to be used by a teacher in a general education classroom for direct vocabulary instruction. The VST-LS protocol provides for 14 word encounters involving listening, reading, writing, and speaking. Forty-one 4 th grade students consisting of 18 males and …

The Relationship Among Perceptual And Objective Reflux Measures In Singers, Adam Thomas Lloyd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is currently one of the most prevalent conditions associated with voice disorders being treated in voice care centers worldwide. Many singers experience voice related disturbances but are unaware that these disturbances may be the result of LPR. The purpose of this study was to quantify the perceptual symptoms and objective measures of LPR in a population of singers in order to understand the relationship between perceived symptoms, laryngeal findings, and evidence of acid exposure to the larynx. The Reflux Symptom Index (RSI), Reflux Finding Score (RFS), and the Dx-pH monitoring system were used to quantify participant symptoms, …

Effects Of A Reading Inference Strategy Intervention On The Reading And Social Inference Abilities Of Adults With Asperger Syndrome, Kimberly A. Murza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ability to generate inferences is a skill that is necessary to fully comprehend a text and understand the intentions, behaviors, and emotions of a conversational partner. Individuals with Asperger syndrome (AS) have been shown to demonstrate significant difficulty in inference generation in both social contexts and in reading comprehension. Although, the reciprocity of the four components of literacy (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) has been established in the literature (Bradley & Bryant, 1983; Catts & Kamhi, 2005; Englert & Thomas, 1987; Gillon & Dodd, 1995; Hiebert, 1980; Kroll, 1981; Ruddell & Ruddell, 1994); the relationship between inference generation in …

A Comparison Of Stimuli Presentation In Advanced Theory Of Mind Tasks For Adolescents With Asperger's Syndrome (As), Juliet N. Leon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Individuals diagnosed with Asperger‟s Syndrome (AS) have marked impairments in social interaction, including difficulty expressing and perceiving thoughts, emotions, and intentions. This deficit may be due in part to a delayed or underdeveloped Theory of Mind (ToM). The previous research investigating ToM in individuals with AS has been inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to compare three Theory of Mind (ToM) tasks, presented via three different modalities, to evaluate the recognition of complex emotions and mental states in adolescents with AS compared to typically developing adolescents. Participants in this study included twenty adolescents: 10 adolescents with AS and 10 …

A Model Of Treating Hyperfunctional Voice Disorders For School Age Children Within A Serious Gaming Environment, Suzanne King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study is to test the feasibility of implementing a video-game based intervention protocol as a means to improve therapy compliance in school age children with hyperfunctional voice disorders. Three levels of modification were made to an existing entertainment software program in order to implement the therapeutic protocol and test compatibility. The third level of modification included a two-phase quasi-experimental single subject design with a school age participant receiving the video game therapy protocol and traditional therapy for equal time. The independent variables for this study included the mode of voice therapy delivery (traditional vs. video …

A Model For Electrical Communication Between Cochlear Implants And The Brain, Douglas A. Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the last thirty years, cochlear implants have become an invaluable instrument in the treatment of severe-to-profound hearing impairment. An important aspect of research in the continued development of cochlear implants is the in vivo assessment of signal processing algorithms intended to improve perception of speech and other auditory signals. In trying to determine how closely cochlear implant recipients process sound relative to the processing done by a normal auditory system, various assessment techniques have been applied. The most common technique has been measurement of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs), which involves the recording of neural responses to auditory stimulation. Depending …

Categorical Perception Of Stop Consonants In Children With Autism, Laura Bourdeau

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine whether children with autism recognize the same perceptual voicing boundaries of stop consonants as normally developing children of the same age group. This was explored using three groups of participants: ten children with autism between the ages of 8-14, five typically developing children between the ages of 8-14, and five typically developing seven-year-old children. Children in all groups listened to initial stop consonant syllables with voicing contrasts, with voiced and voiceless cognates presented. The initial consonants were altered along a voice onset time continuum within the typically perceived boundaries of each consonant. …

Promoting Speech And Vocabulary Development Through Specialized Storybooks In Children With And Without Cleft Palate., Joellyn Ruth Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated changes in vocabulary and speech production in response to storybooks embedded with specialized language prompts and speech recasts. Six children received intervention, 3 with cleft palate (CLP), displaying speech-language delays, and 3 with nonclefts, each 12-24 months of age. A multiple baseline design across behaviors was implemented by a clinician. Results indicated all children increased use of target vocabulary and production of stop consonants, while reducing compensatory articulation errors. Generalization of targets to a picture-naming task, a free-play task, and to the home was observed. Effect sizes were moderate-to-high. Children with CLP required more sessions to achieve …

Temperament And Early Communication In Premature Children., Nina King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Premature children are at greater risk for developing communication delays than full-term children, although it is not inevitable. Recent research links specific temperament characteristics to early language development. Thus, temperament may provide a way to identify premature children who are at increased risk. The first purpose of this study was to determine if temperament characteristics of premature children are the same as full-term children when measured by the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised. The second purpose was to determine if temperament and language acquisition, as measured by the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Gestures, are linked in premature infants …

Phonetic And Acoustic Analyses Of Two New Cases Of Foreign Accent Syndrome, Rosalie Perkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study presents detailed phonetic and acoustic analyses of the speech characteristics of two new cases of Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS). Participants include a 48-year-old female who began speaking with an "Eastern European" accent following a traumatic brain injury, and a 45-year-old male who presented with a "British" accent following a subcortical cerebral vascular accident (CVA). Identical samples of the participants' pre- and post-morbid speech were obtained, thus affording a new level of control in the study of Foreign Accent Syndrome. The speech tasks consisted of oral readings of the Grandfather Passage and 18 real words comprised of the stop …

The Prevalence Of Voice Disorders In University Teaching Faculty, Kristen P. Higgins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

K-12 teachers are known to be at a higher than average risk for developing voice disorders. Less is known about the prevalence of voice disorders among teaching faculty in higher education. In this study, 100 university teaching faculty members were interviewed to assess possible voice problems. Information on risk factors such as demographic variables (i.e. gender and age) and health and behavioral variables (i.e. illness, use of tobacco, alcohol, and medications) was also gathered. The results were compared to published data on K-12 teachers and non-teachers. University professors reported significantly more cases of voice disorders than non-teaching professionals, but significantly …

Voice Onset Time Production In Individuals Wth Alzheimer's Disease, Julie M. Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the present study, voice onset time (VOT) measurements were compared between a group of individuals with moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) and a group of healthy age- and gender-matched peers. Participants read a list of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, which included the six stop consonants. Recordings were gathered and digitized. The VOT measurements were made from oscillographic displays obtained from the Brown Laboratory Interactive Speech System (BLISS) implemented on an IBM-compatible computer. VOT measures for the participants' six stop consonant productions were subjected to statistical analysis. The results of the study indicated that differences in VOT values were not statistically significant …

A Comparison Of Three Phonological Awareness Tools Used To Identify Phonemic Awareness Deficits In Kindergarten-Age Children., Edgard Robelo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if three different tests of phonological awareness: the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processes (CTOPP) (Wagner, Torgesen, & Rashotte, 1999), The Phonological Awareness Test (PAT) (Robertson & Salter, 1997), and the Pre-Literacy Skills Screening (PLSS) (Crumrine & Lonegan, 1999) measure the same phonological awareness skills (content) in the same manner (procedures) and, whether typically-developing kindergarten-age students perform similarly on each of the tests. Twenty-five kindergarten students consisting of 14 males and 11 females (mean CA of 72.24 months) participated in this study. All participants were attending the second half of kindergarten in a …

Articulation And Phonological Systems Of Spanish-English Speaking Florida 4 And 5 Year Olds, Jennifer Dennis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are currently five million children three to five years of age (i.e., 59.5% of all children from three to five), who are bilingual, living in the United States. By 2025, Census data show that the population of Florida will increase by some 26 percent adding another 5.5 million people to the state. There are a limited amount of studies yielding data on the development of Spanish phonology in 4 and 5 year old children residing in the United States, particularly in Florida. Consequently, there is limited normative information pertaining to articulation and phonological development in Spanish speakers. It was …

Accuracy Of Parental Report On Phonological Inventories Of Toddlers, Kristin Marie Teske

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Considering the diminishing availability of professional resources, increasing costs, and time requirements involved in early childhood mass screenings, parents are an essential source of information. In this study, the Survey of Speech Development (SSD) (Perry-Carson & Steel, 2001; Steel, 2000) was used to determine the accuracy of parents in reporting the speech sound inventories of their toddlers. Parents of 30 children, who were between the ages of 27 to 33 months old, completed the SSD prior to a speech and language assessment session. Based on assessment results, the children were classified as normal developing or language delayed. A 20-minute play …

Reliability Of The Concensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation Of Voice On Pediatric Voices With Trained And Untrained Listeners, Teresa Elizabeth Pitts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rating scales are commonly used to study voice quality. The purpose of this study was to examine inter-rater reliability/agreement of graduate student clinicians with differing levels of experience in rating voice perception. The Consensus Auditory Perception Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) was used to asses 1.) overall severity, 2.) roughness, 3.) breathiness, 4.) strain, 5.) pitch and 6.) loudness from a sample of pediatric voices. Twenty-four graduate clinicians who had completed a graduate level course in voice disorders participated in the study. Twelve of the participants were randomly selected to complete a perceptual training course prior to the evaluation session. Voice …

Early Speech And Language Development: A Comparison Of Typically Developing Children To Children With Cleft Palate., Holly Jannice Mcgahey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has shown that parent implemented intervention is effective in increasing the speech and language development of children with cleft lip and palate. To further determine the efficacy of this intervention, this study compared the speech and language development of children with CLP, who received parent implemented intervention, with a group of younger, typically developing children, matched for vocabulary size. This study also evaluated the language differences between the mothers of both groups of children. Speech and language assessments were administered to the typically developing children and their mothers at two times to mirror the time of assessment for …

The Effects Of A Multimodality Approach On Sentence Production Using Response Elaboration Training With A Reading Component On Aphasic Patients., Sara E. Mccarthy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The effects of a multimodality treatment were investigated using a single subject experimental design across behaviors in two patients with different severity levels of Broca's aphasia. We hypothesized that Response Elaboration Training and an oral reading task would improve accuracy of sentence production, information content, and mean length of utterance. Results indicated that this treatment approach elicited significant improvement in the accuracy of sentence production and information content in the participant with very mild Broca's aphasia. Furthermore, the participant with severe Broca's aphasia demonstrated a very significant improvement in information content and mean length of utterance. The improvements support the …

An Enhanced Dialogic Reading Approach To Facilitate Typically Developing Pre-School Children's Emergent Literacy Skills., Sheri E. Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated an enhanced dialogic reading (DR) approach in facilitating emergent literacy skills in typically developing preschool children. Eight children from a Title One preschool and their parents participated in five weekly 90-minute training sessions that focused on phonological awareness, print awareness, and alphabet knowledge. First order effects were examined in parent questioning and interaction behaviors on pre- and post-training videotapes. Second order effects were examined in the children's outcomes from pre- to posttesting of preliteracy, speech, and language skills. Results indicated that parents made significant increases in their initiations and responses and a significant decrease in their Mean …

The Type And Frequency Of Morphosyntax Errors In Children's Narratives., Jennifer Lynn Lockhart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A subsample of 478 children who originally participated in a larger study (Tomblin et al., 1997) was examined for type and frequency of morphological noun and verb errors in oral and written narratives in 2^nd and 4^th grade. Each child represented one of four groups: Typical Language, Specific Language Impairment, Nonspecific Language Impairment, and Low Nonverbal IQ. Three MANOVA's and post-hoc comparisons were used to test three predictions: (1) children will have more difficulty with verb than noun morphology; (2) children will make more errors in the written than the spoken narratives; and (3) children whose language impairments …

Contexts For Facilitating Emergent Literacy In Typically Developing Preschoolers., Karen Nicole Wilhjelm

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there is an additive benefit in training Emergent Literacy (EL) skills with typically developing preschoolers using a combined intervention approach, Dialogic Reading (DR) plus classroom Phonological Awareness (CL), than a single intervention approach providing only DR training.

The study consisted of 8 preschoolers (5 DR+CL, 3 DR). The classroom PA training was conducted 3 times a week for 5 weeks for 20 minutes, using play-based activities. The DR training programs were held once a week for 5 weeks for 90 minutes teaching strategies that could be used in the home environment. …

The Speech Situation Checklist: A Normative And Comparative Investigat, Susha Verghese

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studies conducted over the past decades have identified the presence of a greater amount of negative emotional reaction and speech disruption in particular speech situations among children who stutter, compared to those who do not (Brutten & Vanryckeghem, 2003b; Knudson, 1939; Meyers, 1986; Trotter, 1983). Laboratory investigations have been utilized to describe the particular situations that elicit the greatest or least amount of speech concern and fluency failures. More recently, in order to deal with the limitation of laboratory research, the use of self-report tests have gained popularity as a means of exploring the extent of negative emotional reaction and …

Rate Of Graduation Among Students With Histories Of Specific Language Impairment, Amy Jean Hadley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rate of graduation among students with histories of specific language impairment (SLI) was investigating by comparing the target population to matched, nondisabled peers. Data regarding the graduation outcomes for 176 matched pairs of students, over a five-year period, were analyzed to determine if a significant difference in achievement of a high school diploma was observable between the two groups of students. In addition, the study addressed the variables of socioeconomic status and attendance rate as related to graduation rate. For students with histories of specific language impairment, model of service delivery was also examined with regard to graduation rate. …

Effects Of Simultaneous Exercise And Speech Tasks On The Perception Of, Heather Koblick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of voice production and perception of dyspnea in aerobic instructors during simultaneous tasks of exercise and speech production. The study aimed to document changes that occur during four conditions: 1) voice production without exercise and no use of amplification; 2) voice production without exercise and the use of amplification; 3) voice production during exercise without the use of amplification; 4) voice production during exercise with the use of amplification. Participants included ten aerobic instructors (two male and eight female). The dependent variables included vocal intensity, average fundamental frequency (F0), noise-to-harmonic …

Phonological Awareness Training In A Preschool Classroom Of Typically Developing Children., Sara Phelps

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of phonological awareness (PA) training with typically developing preschool children in a classroom setting. The PA training incorporated a range of PA skills and the training outcomes were assessed along a broad spectrum of PA abilities, pre-literacy skills, and general language abilities.

This study consisted of 21 children (11 Experimental, 10 Control). The classroom PA training program was conducted with the Experimental class in one large group for 5 weeks with 20 minute sessions conducted three times a week. A variety of fun, play-based PA activities were used with …

Special Education Teachers' And Speech Therapists' Knowledge Of Autism Spectrum Disorder., Carol Hendrix Whaley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to survey special education teachers and speech therapists in eleven school districts in Northeast Tennessee regarding their knowledge level (etiology and educational programming) of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The primary focus of the study was to identify effective programs and methods used by special educators in this region, comparing them to the latest techniques and teaching methods prescribed by recent research. In addition, identified weaknesses were used to recommend future training and staff development to enable educators to provide the best possible programs for children with autism.

Five hundred fifty-two surveys were disseminated to …

Feature Retention And Phonological Knowledge Across Children With Suspected Developmental Apraxia Of Speech, Phonological Impairment, And Typically Developing Speech., Tracy A. Ford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research effort was to examine whether the feature retention patterns and phonological knowledge of children with suspected apraxia of speech (AOSc) in comparison to those of children with phonological impairment (PI). A second purpose was to determine if a relationship exists between phonological knowledge and feature retention.

The study consisted of three groups of children: PI, AOSc, and typically developing (TD), ages four to seven. A 245-item speech sample was collected from each group. Feature retention percentages and phonological knowledge, represented by percent correct underlying representations (PCUR) were calculated for each child.

All groups retained place …