Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Dynamic Assessment Of Aac Verb Symbols For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Valerie Prieto, Cindy Gevarter, Cathy Binger, Mary Hartley

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

This study used dynamic assessment (DA) with graduated prompting to evaluate whether preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrated learning potential with verb-based augmentative alternative communication (AAC) symbols. Four participants completed DA sessions across three instructional conditions: (a) requesting actions embedded in play, (b) labeling actions embedded in play, and (c) labeling actions presented via video. Performance across these conditions along with a control condition was compared using an adapted multielement single-case design. Three participants demonstrated learning in at least two instructional conditions, and only one showed progress in the control condition. Overall, participants initially required less cueing to …

Coaching Student Clinicians And Parents To Use Naturalistic Communication Techniques For Children With Signs Of Autism, Erin M. Gallegos

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

In this study, researchers implemented a short-term cascading coaching program focusing on naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs) with three participant triads consisting of a graduate student clinician, a minimally verbal child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or signs of ASD, and the child’s parent. The efficacy of several short-term instruction sessions, in-session coaching, and student clinician parent coaching was evaluated using a multiple baseline across interventionists design. The primary dependent variables were clinician and parent use of elicitation techniques, including creating communication temptations and prompting, and response techniques, including reinforcing child communication and using vocal models. Following targeting coaching, all …

Measuring Language Development In Children With Down Syndrome Who Use Aac, Ji Sun Park

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Purpose: This study examined the inter-observer agreement (IOA) and within-observer agreement as well as the clinical potential of newly proposed measures that are designed to monitor language progress of children with Down syndrome who use AAC. Measures were explored based on the Graphic Symbol Utterance and Sentence Development Framework.

Method: Participants included 8 preschoolers with Down syndrome. Four graduate student observers coded 13 measures across 57 intervention sessions. Each session was coded by two observers for IOA, and all sessions were recoded for within-observer agreement. Statistical analyses were completed on utterance level and session level.

Results: Across all observers and …

Main Concept, Sequencing, And Story Grammar (Mssg) Analyses Of The Cinderella Story In Latent Aphasia, Janet B. Adams

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Commonly used standardized tests, like the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (WAB-R), are not sensitive to higher level discourse deficits, leading to certain individuals not meeting diagnostic criteria for aphasia. Consequently, individuals with aphasia are excluded from receiving potentially beneficial services and/or from being included in research. In a large sample of persons with stroke-induced aphasia, this study analyzed discourse samples using Main Concept, Sequencing, and Story Grammar (MSSG) Analyses to examine macrostructural discourse characteristics of persons with latent aphasia (PWLAs) compared to persons with no underlying brain injury (PNBIs) and persons classified as having anomic aphasia (PWAAs) by the WAB-R. A …

New Mexican Parents’ Perspectives Regarding Public Schools’ Communication And Language Services For Their Elementary-Aged Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder During Covid-19, Susanna E. Cole

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

This study explored five New Mexican parents’ perceptions of changes to the public school-based communication and language services for their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent advantages and disadvantages of these changes. The parents participated in semi-structured interviews between October 2020 and February 2021. All of the parents reported their children’s services had eventually gone completely remote, but one had secured some in-person instruction time for her child by the time of her interview. Three parents reported reduction in school-based communication and language services for which they sought to compensate through other means. …

The Relationship Between Narrative Informativeness And Psychosocial Outcomes In Chronic Stroke-Induced Aphasia, Eileen Armes, Jessica Richardson, Rick Arenas, Lori Nelson

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Currently there is a gap in the literature in understanding the relationship between the newly categorized primary outcome measure of discourse and secondary outcomes related to psychosocial impact, such as participation, psychological impact, social well-being, or mood. In a large sample of persons with stroke-induced aphasia (N=115), this study analyzed discourse samples using main concept analysis to determine how discourse performance correlates with the secondary outcome measures ALA, CCRSA, GDS, and CIQ. As a secondary research question, the differences in these relationships dependent on severity was also explored. Results showed statistically significant positive correlations between main concepts (MCs) and ALA …

Speech Characteristics Of Professional Fighters, Sofiya Krasilshchikova, Amy Neel Ph.D., Jessica Dawn Richardson Ph.D., Rick Arenas Ph.D., Lauren Bennett Ph.D., Sarah Banks Ph.D., Charles Bernick Ph.D.

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

The aims of this project were to accurately measure and describe speech characteristics of professional fighters; and to analyze the future potential of using speech characteristics as biomarkers for acquired neurogenic decline or chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The Professional Fighters Brain Health Study (PFBHS) is a longitudinal project investigating the effect of repeated head trauma in professional combatants. The PFBHS provided recorded speech samples for this project. This study measured accurate speech characteristics of 102 professional boxers and mixed martial artists and compared these results to a group of 27 age-matched healthy controls. Analysis revealed a significant difference in articulation …

The Impact Of Temporal Resolution On Clinical Decision-Making For Individuals With Dysphagia, Shauna Corinne Murray

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

INTRODUCTION: Dysphagia, or a disordered swallow, affects up to 1 in 25 individuals in the United States. The gold standard for assessing dysphagia is the videofluoroscopic evaluation of swallowing (VFES). This allows the clinician to observe the swallow anatomy in motion via an X-ray movie, which historically was recorded at 30 frames per second. In recent years VFES have been performed at less frames per second due to radiation concern. This project investigates the effect of using lower temporal resolutions on assessment of video-fluoroscopic swallow studies.

METHODS: In this investigation, 30 swallow studies, all acquired at 30 frames per second, …

A Phenomenological Investigation Of The Contextual Variability And Anticipation Of Stuttering, Amanda D. Ortiz-Alvarez

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Stuttering is a neurologically based speech impairment often defined by listener-oriented parameters (i.e., its overt characteristics). These fail to encompass contextual variability and anticipation, two facets of the speaker’s experience which, though frequently encountered by people who stutter (PWS), remain poorly understood and largely under-researched. To better understand the subjective underpinnings of these phenomena, as well as how PWS conceptualize and relate to their stuttering, the present study sought to explore a) the experiences of PWS with the unpredictable and/or variable nature of their stuttering, as well as their beliefs surrounding potential contributors to its variability; b) the experiences of …

The Experience Of Being A Parent Of A Child Who Stutters And Subsequent Involvement In Support Groups: A Narrative Study, Katlyn A. Ferguson, Richard Arenas

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

INTRODUCTION: Developmental stuttering generally begins after a period of typical fluency and is highly variable in its presentation and persistence. This variability along with the lack of a definitive cause and social stigma often negatively impact both children who stutter (CWS) and their caregivers. However, research on the specific effects of stuttering on the caregiver is quite sparse compared to research into the caregiver experience in other disorders. Additionally, although social support has been identified as a primary protective factor for other caregivers, little evidence exists to show how support groups benefit caregivers of CWS.

METHOD: Five parents participated in …

Advantages Of Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastrostomy Tube Placement In Patients With Head And Neck Cancer Who Receive Radiation As Part Of Their Treatment, Nevin Thul

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

The use of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tubes as an intervention strategy in head and neck cancer was investigated in this retrospective chart review. Twenty-five veterans met the inclusion criteria and were categorized into two groups – use of prophylactic percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy and absence of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube placement. Medical charts were reviewed and data extracted included weight, swallow function, swallow exercise compliance, and physical and social quality of life for 2 years post-treatment. Month-to-month data were compared across the two groups with respect to weight, swallow function, swallow exercise compliance, and physical and social quality of life scores. …

The Effect Of Breathy And Strained Vocal Quality On Vowel Perception, Sarah Nieman

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

INTRODUCTION: Research into speech intelligibility in dysarthria historically focuses on articulation deficits. However, voice quality deficits associated with motor speech disorders may also impact speech perception. This study investigates how breathy and strained vocal quality affects vowel identification and ratings of vowel goodness.

METHODS: A healthy speaker recorded vowels with normal, simulated breathy and simulated strained voice quality. Acoustic, physiologic, and perceptual measures confirmed the presence of the desired voice deficits. 16 volunteer listeners participated in three perceptual tasks: vowel identification, vowel goodness ratings, and voice quality ratings.

RESULTS: In the voice quality rating task, listeners detected voice quality deficits …

Discourse Changes Following Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Longitudinal Study, Elizabeth Young

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Purpose: There are few longitudinal data charting recovery of discourse skills following severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Limited knowledge about the trajectory of discourse recovery and the best tools for assessing communication abilities in persons with TBI (PWTBIs) restricts detection of communication impairment and the ability to make informed prognostic judgments following TBI. This study sought to contribute longitudinal data to the research base, using clinically efficient measures that are sensitive to communication deficits associated with TBI and that use nuanced scoring systems to provide detailed characterization of discourse.

Methods: Twenty-three PWTBIs completed picture description tasks at 3 (or 6) …

Estimating The Impact Of Assessment And Treatment Fidelity On Aphasia Treatment Outcomes, Trisha L. Tanaka

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Purpose: Calls for treatment and assessment fidelity strongly suggest the need to reduce treatment provider and assessor variance surrounding intervention research. The extent to which these sources of variance influence treatment outcomes in aphasia treatment research has yet to be examined. This simulation study sought to explore the relationships between quality of fidelity methods, sample size, power to detect treatment effects, and aphasia treatment effect sizes.

Methods: Individual participant outcomes collected from previous aphasia treatment research studies were used to simulate 200,000 participant outcomes, from which 8,000 sample treatment trials were simulated. Effect sizes were calculated for treatment outcomes related …

The Impact Of Dysphagia On Quality Of Life And Stigma In Hispanic New Mexicans, Aaron Padilla

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

INTRODUCTION: Eating is a function of daily life and is the centerpiece of family gatherings, business meetings, and holiday/religious traditions. Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing), can abolish the pleasure of mealtimes, which can negatively impact quality of life (QOL) and result in stigma. These variables may be influenced by cultural perceptions and/or acculturation, which is a measure of the impact that one cultural group has on another. The purpose of this investigation was to: a) identify the relationship between level of acculturation and QOL and stigma for Hispanics, b) measure the relationship between dysphagia severity and QOL and stigma, and c) explore …

A New Articulation Test Applied To A Selected Group Of Children Living In The State Of New Mexico, Robert Edwin Burkhalter

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Bilingualism is much more prevalent in the United States than is commonly believed. Goodykoontz points out that "one child in every five, aged fourteen years or under, is of foreign born or mixed parentage." Since our country is still a melting pot of the world where large numbers of citizens converse in other tongues and where many children still enter our schools without speaking a word of English, the problem of bilingualism and foreign dialect will frequently be encountered by the school teacher.

The Application Of Automated Programmed Instruction To The Modification Of Auditory Processing In The Aphasic Patient, Cara Anderson

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

A review of the literature suggests that treatment of the aphasic patient, particularly in the area of auditory input has been and is inadequate at this time. Improved methods of diagnosing and evaluating the levels of communicative ability of aphasic patients, indicate that newly developed techniques would seem to be appropriate for the treatment of auditory input deficits.

The present study, therefore, was designed to investigate two questions: (1) is operant conditioned, programmed instruction as designed and instrumented in this study, a useful and mechanically feasible approach to the treatment of aphasia and (2) are operant conditioned programmed instruction methods …

Ear Lateralization For Time Compressed Rhymed Word Sequences: Primacy And Recency Effects, Janet Lee Patterson

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Primacy and recency effects for lateralized time compressed rhyme sequences were investigated. Subjects were forty normal hearing, right handed, young adult listeners. Stimuli were 0% and 60% time compressed five word rhyme sequences presented with no masking and contralateral multitalker masking. Item errors and order errors were counted for each position in the rhyme word sequences. A series of analyses of variance were computed for paired differences of positions in the sequences for each ear and error type to assess differential primacy and recency effects.

An Examination Of The Clinical Efficiency Of Three Indexes Of Functional Hearing Loss, Debra Jane Giomi

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

In an investigation of the efficiency of typical Type V criteria (Rintelmann and Harford, 1967), atypical Type V criteria (Rotondi, 1976), and LOT-Bekesy audiometry (Rattler, 1970), Rotondi (1976) found atypical Type V Bekesy criteria to be the most efficient in the detection of functionality. Increasing the attenuation rate and sweep speed, and reducing the sweep frequency range em­ployed by Rotondi (1976) reduces total bilateral Bekesy testing time from 24 to eight minutes, still allowing for application of atypical and typical Type V criteria. It was one objective of this study to determine if a clinical­ly significant change was effected on …

A Comparison Between Modality Acquisition In Children And Modality Reacquisition In Adult Aphasic Patients, Marina Kartas

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

A review of the literature reveals speculation as to whether the communicative behaviors of adult aphasic patients bear some relationship to the communicative performances displayed by children. It has been purported that adult aphasic patients may regress to earlier levels of language behavior. These earlier levels have been likened to the communicative abilities of children. Although a variety of methods of assessing language abilities exist, this information is confined either to the description of adult language ability or to children's language ability but not to both. The present study, therefore, was designed:

1. to investigate the relationships between overall ability …

Processing Demands During Auditory Learning Under Degraded Listening Conditions, David Wayne Downs

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Recent research has demonstrated that auditory learning can be adversely affected when performed under degraded listening conditions. Perhaps the most common of these degraded listening conditions are environments of moderate intensity noise, such as found in the class­room or in the home. A second degraded listening condition occurs when the speech signal is heard at a reduced intensity. This situation is experienced by the hearing impaired individual. That reduced speech intensity and/or noise can have detrimental effects upon learning has been almost exclusively attributed, by audiologists, to impaired signal intelligibility. The present study (which controlled for high speech intelligibility) investigated …

Inter- And Intra-Judge Reliability Of Four Articulation Tests, Lydia Pearl Evans

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Assessment of articulatory productions is usually accomplished with picture stimuli to elicit responses from young subjects. The levels of scoring phonemes on articulation tests are two-way (correct/incorrect), four-way (correct, distortion, substitution and omission) or by narrow phonetic transcription. The stimuli presented range from scoring one phoneme in a one word response (Templin Darley Test of Articulation, 1960) to scoring one phoneme in different contexts across word boundaries (McDonald Deep Test of Articulation, 1964) to scoring several phonemes in a one word response (Goldman-Fristoe Test of Articulation, 1969) to scoring several phonemes as the subject repeats a story to the examiner …

Bekesy Audiometry In The Detection Of Nonorganic Hearing Loss, Paula Elizabeth Rotondi

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Numerous investigators have utilized Bekesy audiometry in the detection of nonorganic hearing loss. The efficiency with which Bekesy audiometry detects nonorganicity has varied according to the method of Bekesy test administration and the definition of the Type V nonorganic pattern. Rintelmann and Harford’s Type V definition and the LOT- (Lengthened Off-Time) Bekesy test have emerged as valuable nonorganicity detectors. However, more recent research (Citron & Reddell, 1976; Sedge, 1974) has found these methods to be considerably less worthwhile than originally reported, The first purpose of this study was to devise an efficient means for utilizing Bekesy audiometry in the detection …

Shared Perceptions Between College Teacher And Student, Mary West Otero

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

The Problem. Previous research concerned with teacher-student relationships indicates that teacher accuracy of perception about students facilitates effective teaching; however, most studies focused exclusively on teacher perceptions of students' affective dimension. Given college professors' interest in students' cognitive dimension, the purpose of this investigation was to compare the accuracy of perceptions between professors and students at the University of New Mexico about students' cognitive and affective dimensions. Procedure. Twenty-one male professors and 180 students at the University of New Mexico completed a questionnaire based on the Interpersonal Perception Method (IPM) adapted from Laing, Phillipson, and Lee (1966). The 21 professors, …

Oral Sensation And Related Vocal Parameters As A Function Of Age, Jayne P. Merrill

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Previous research has established relationships between chronological age and performance on an oral stereognostic task and between chronological age and perceived age estimates. Based on these findings, it is plausible that a relationship may exist between perceived age estimates and performance on an oral stereognostic task. The present study was designed to investigate the relationship, if any, between perceived age estimates and oral stereognostic performance. In addition, as all previous research in these two areas had utilized male subjects only, male vs. female performance on oral stereognosis was also examined. To substantiate previous findings, the relationship between perceived age estimates …

A Comparison Of Language Delayed And Non-Language Delayed Children On A Dichotic Cv Syllable Listening Task, Mary Sharon Nilson

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Numerous investigations have reported that normal listeners show a right ear preference for dichotically presented speech stimuli. This preference depends on the fact that the left hemisphere is dominant for speech. Performances of non-language delayed children tend to reveal the expected right-ear advantage, even though inter-subject variability is observed. Language delayed subjects exhibit rather unpredictable performances ranging from a lack of ear preference to a left-ear advantage. The primary purpose of this investigation was to compare the performance of a group of language delayed children with a group of non-language delayed children, on a dichotic CV syllable listening task. The …

Test-Retest Performance Of Males And Females On A Verbal Dichotic Listening Task, Linda Kay Johnson

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Previous research has established that when two speech signals are presented dichotically, normal listeners tend to report those stimuli presented to the right ear more accurately than those presented to the left. This has generally been interpreted as reflecting the primacy of contralateral auditory pathways and left hemisphere dominance for language function. Although many dimensions of the dichotic listening procedure have been subjected to experimental manipulation, little attention has been directed toward the investigation of performance differences between males and females or the reliability with which listeners perform. The present study was designed to examine these two areas more closely, …

The Effect Of Favorable Video Feedback On A Person's Self Concept., Antonio B. Rey

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Previous research concerned with the relationship between video feedback and self concept indicates that video feedback can affect a person’s perception of self. Based on self concept theories which suggest that positive or negative evaluations from others tend to become self-evaluations, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of video feedback, self-appraised as favorable, on o person's self concept.

Right-Left Visual Field Performances Of Congenitally Deaf And Normal Hearing Subjects, Merle Applebaum-Rosenberg

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

The notion of cerebral dominance has been explored since the time of Broca. Two non-invasive techniques designed to assess hemispheric dominance have subsequently been developed. These two methods are commonly referred to as dichotic listening (simultaneous auditory stimulation) and rapid visual field stimulation (tachistoscopic viewing).

It has been found in dichotic listening studies that when verbal material is presented simultaneously to both ears, the stimuli are correctly identified most often in the right ear. Similar results have been found in tachistoscopic studies, with verbal material eliciting a right visual field advantage. Collectively, these findings have been used to support a …

A Comparison Of Aphasic And Non-Brain Injured Adults On A Dichotic Cv-Syllable Listening Task, Janet E. Shanks

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Normal listeners traditionally show a right ear preference for dichotically presented speech stimuli, and a left ear preference for dichotically presented non-speech stimuli. Although some inter-subject variability is observed within and between groups of non-brain damaged subjects, the performance of the group as a whole is rather predictable and homogeneous. However, results from experiments in which brain damaged subjects have been studied have been less straightforward. Although left brain damaged subjects have consistently shown a bilateral deficit in reporting dichotic speech stimuli, a great deal of variability in performance is observed within the groups. Further study of brain damaged individuals, …