Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Taking Measure, Janet L. Dodd

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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"And then they—the Common Core State Standards— arrived, with 46 states committed to them by 2010. Now that many states have implemented the language arts and math standards—science standards are still being developed—some of our questions have been answered. But many more have surfaced (see article on page 46). One question still foremost in many of our minds is: How will the standards change speech-language assessment practices--or will they?"

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Training Verb Argument Structure Production In Agrammatic Aphasia: Behavioral And Neural Recovery Patterns, Cynthia K. Thompson, Ellyn A. Riley, Dirk B. Den Ouden, Aya Meltzer-Asscher, Sladjana Lukic

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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Introduction

Neuroimaging and lesion studies indicate a left hemisphere network for verb and verb argument structure processing, involving both frontal and temporoparietal brain regions. Although their verb comprehension is generally unimpaired, it is well known that individuals with agrammatic aphasia often present with verb production deficits, characterized by an argument structure complexity hierarchy, indicating faulty access to argument structure representations for production and integration into syntactic contexts. Recovery of verb processing in agrammatism, however, has received little attention and no studies have examined the neural mechanisms associated with improved verb and argument structure processing. In the present study we trained …

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Lessons Learned From Aac Camp, Janet L. Dodd

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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Children who benefit from augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) need not only the support of individuals knowledgeable in the technologies themselves, but ones who understand the translation of language intervention principles to AAC.

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The Neural Substrates Of Complex Argument Structure Representations: Processing “Alternating Transitivity” Verbs, Aya Meltzer-Asscher, Julia Schuchard, Dirk B. Den Ouden, Cynthia K. Thompson

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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This study examines the neural correlates of processing verbal entries with multiple argument structures using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We compared brain activation in response to “alternating transitivity” verbs, corresponding to two different verbal alternates—one transitive and one intransitive—and simple verbs, with only one, intransitive, thematic grid. Fourteen young healthy participants performed a lexical decision task with the two verb types. Results showed significantly greater activation in the angular and supramarginal gyri (Brodmann areas (BAs) 39 and 40) extending to the posterior superior and middle temporal gyri bilaterally, for alternating compared to simple verbs. Additional activation was detected in …

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Adapted Stories: Creating Accessible Stories For Children With Complex Language Problems, Janet L. Dodd

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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Many children with autism spectrum and other language impairing disorders present with complicated language problems (CLP; Franke & Durbin, 2011). These children exhibit delays across multiple domains of language and often benefit from narrative- and story-based interventions. However, many children’s stories—the vehicle often employed for these types of interventions—are often too complex for them. The purpose of this article is to introduce a strategy for making stories accessible, linguistically and cognitively, for children with CLP.

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Network Modulation During Complex Syntactic Processing, Dirk B. Den Ouden, Dorothee Saur, Wolfgang Mader, Björn Schelter, Sladjana Lukic, Eisha Wali, Jens Timmer, Cynthia K. Thompson

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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Complex sentence processing is supported by a left-lateralized neural network including inferior frontal cortex and posterior superior temporal cortex. This study investigates the pattern of connectivity and information flow within this network. We used fMRI BOLD data derived from 12 healthy participants reported in an earlier study (Thompson, C. K., Den Ouden, D. B., Bonakdarpour, B., Garibaldi, K., & Parrish, T. B. (2010b). Neural plasticity and treatment-induced recovery of sentence processing in agrammatism. Neuropsychologia, 48(11), 3211–3227) to identify activation peaks associated with object-cleft over syntactically less complex subject-cleft processing. Directed Partial Correlation Analysis was conducted on time series …

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Neural Plasticity And Treatment-Induced Recovery Of Sentence Processing In Agrammatism, Cynthia K. Thompson, Dirk B. Den Ouden, Borna Bonakdarpour, Kyla Garibaldi, Todd B. Parrish

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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This study examined patterns of neural activation associated with treatment-induced improvement of complex sentence production (and comprehension) in six individuals with stroke-induced agrammatic aphasia, taking into account possible alterations in blood flow often associated with stroke, including delayed time-to-peak of the hemodynamic response function (HRF) and hypoperfused tissue. Aphasic participants performed an auditory verification fMRI task, processing object cleft, subject cleft, and simple active sentences, prior to and following a course of Treatment of Underlying Forms (TUF; Thompson et al., 2003), a linguistically based approach for treating aphasic sentence deficits, which targeted object relative clause constructions. The patients also were …

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Thinking Outside Of The Assessment Box: Assessing Social Communicative Functioning In Students With Asd, Janet L. Dodd

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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The assessment of a student suspected of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis requires the integration of information collected by a variety of professionals across various domains of functioning. One of the core deficits of students with ASD is a deficit related to social communicative competence (SCC). SCC requires the integration of language, social cognition, and higher order executive functions (Coggins, Olswang, Carmichael Olsson, & Timler, 2003) This article will propose an assessment model of social communicative functioning that was developed based on the SCC framework of Coggins and colleagues as a component of the Comprehensive Multidisciplinary Assessment Protocols for …

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A 21st Century Communication Sciences And Disorders Program, Judith Montgomery, Janet L. Dodd, Sallyann Giess, Kamica Barnes

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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The focus of graduate programs in communication sciences and disorders has changed greatly in the last decade to reflect changes in society in general. Newly formed graduate programs must account for these societal changes as they prepare students for practice in the 21st century. This article will discuss what is expected of new graduates, how teaching philosophies influence course content, and how a new graduate program in communication sciences and disorders came to be.

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Neuroimaging And Recovery Of Language In Aphasia, Cynthia K. Thompson, Dirk B. Den Ouden

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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The use of functional neuroimaging techniques has advanced what is known about the neural mechanisms used to support language processing in aphasia resulting from brain damage. This paper highlights recent findings derived from neuroimaging studies focused on neuroplasticity of language networks, the role of the left and right hemispheres in this process, and studies examining how treatment affects the neurobiology of recovery. We point out variability across studies as well as factors related to this variability, and we emphasize challenges that remain for research.

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Argument Structure Effects In Action Verb Naming In Static And Dynamic Conditions, Dirk B. Den Ouden, Steve Fix, Todd B. Parrish, Cynthia K. Thompson

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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Argument structure, as in the participant roles entailed within the lexical representation of verbs, affects verb processing. Recent neuroimaging studies show that when verbs are heard or read, the posterior temporoparietal region shows increased activation for verbs with greater versus lesser argument structure complexity, usually bilaterally. In addition, patients with agrammatic aphasia show verb production deficits, graded based on argument structure complexity. In the present study, we used fMRI to examine the neural correlates of verb production in overt action naming conditions. In addition, we tested the differential effects of naming when verbs were presented dynamically in video segments versus …

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Speech-Language Pathologists' Opinions On Communication Disorders And Violence, Dixie Sanger, Barbara J. Moore-Brown, Judith Montgomery, Susan Hellerich

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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Purpose: This study investigated the opinions of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) regarding their role, education, and training in serving students with communication disorders who have been involved in violence.

Method: A survey consisting of 26 items was given to 598 SLPs from eight states representing geographic regions of the United States.

Results: Participants acknowledged that violence is an increasing concern. They also recognized the valuable role they have in planning prevention programs and serving on multidisciplinary teams. In contrast, SLPs' opinions suggested that they did not feel well trained to deal with violence, nor did they feel that …

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Action: School Services - Respondent #2, Judy Montgomery, Phd, Ccc-Slp, Associate Professor, Chapman University, Judith Montgomery

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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Presents news briefs related to school health services in the United States, as of April 2000. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's establishment of a professional issues forum on its Web site; Educational opportunities for disabled children resulting from the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act; Documents developed by ASHA as a result of an ASHA 1999 Priority Issue.

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Adolescent Pragmatic Skills: A Comparison Of Latino Students In English As A Second Language And Speech And Language Programs, Alejandro Brice, Judith Montgomery

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

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The purpose of this study was to compare the pragmatic performance of students from two adolescent groups-students receiving English as a second language (ESL) instruction versus bilingual students receiving speech-language (BSL) therapy. A pragmatics Screening scale (i.e., the Adolescent Pragmatics Screening Scale, Brice, 1992a) was used to measure pragmatic performance. The findings of this study indicated that the BSL students differed from the ESL students in expressing themselves, establishing greetings, initiating and maintaining conversations, listening to a speaker, and cueing the listener regarding topic changes. Both groups of students had difficulties regulating others through language. Thus, even language-intact students may …

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