Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Introduction To N-Adaptive Fuzzy Models To Analyze Public Opinion On Aids, Florentin Smarandache, W.B. Vasantha Kandasamy

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

“AIDS is not simply a physical malady, it is also an artifact of social and sexual transgression, violated taboo, fractured identity—political and personal projections. Its key words are primarily the property of the powerful. AIDS: Keywords – is my attempt to identify and contest some of the assumptions underlying our current ‘knowledge’. In this effort I am joined by many AIDS activists including people living with AIDS— Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. “A syndrome is a pattern of symptoms pointing to a “morbid state” which may or may not be caused by infectious agents; a disease, on the other hand is, …

The Macarthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory As An Assessment Tool For Low-Income, African American Children, Elizabeth Waters Wooden

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the usefulness of the MacArthur- Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) as an assessment tool for low-income, African American (AA) children. The data were from eighty-seven typically developing AA children, aged 8 to 30 months; these children were recruited from childcare centers that served low-income populations in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Each participant’s primary caregiver completed a biographical sketch and a CDI inventory. Two analyses were completed. The first analysis examined the distribution of the CDI scores relative to the child’s age, gender, birth order, and level of maternal education. The second analysis involved …

Validity Of The Reflux Symptoms Index For Post-Pubescent Female Vocalists, Natalie Herpin Overall

LSU Master's Theses

The Reflux Symptoms Index (RSI), a nine-item self-rated questionnaire, has been suggested as a way of monitoring severity of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) symptoms during treatment. However, limited research has been conducted to assess the validity of the RSI as a way of identifying severity of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) symptoms as differentiated from gastroesophageal reflux (GER) symptoms. Twenty-five post-pubescent female vocalists participated by completing a one-hour voice evaluation, including a Voice Handicap Index (VHI), an RSI, a Reflux Finding Score (RFS) completed with videostroboscopy for visualization of the laryngeal cavity, and analysis of an acoustic sample with the Multi-Dimensional Voice Profile …

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 …

Examining Middle School Students Learning Language Arts Skills In Context, Erica L. Dinkins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the embedded language approach is effective in teaching the traditional language arts curriculum, and whether it holds any advantages over the more traditional approach. Twelve teachers in ten different schools taught language skills using the embedded language approach, while twelve matched teachers explicitly taught the same skills using traditional workbook practice activities for six weeks. Treatment efficacy was assessed using gain scores between pretest and posttest using a battery of informal and standardized measures. In addition, weekly comprehension probes were administered to examine whether language arts skills taught during the week …

Comparing Discourse Performance According To Elicitation Procedure, Aimee Wheat

Masters Theses

Four adolescents with closed head injury (CHI) and four matched controls provided speaking and writing samples using the following four elicitation procedures: pictured activity description, story retelling, procedural narrative, and personal narrative. The purpose of the current study was to compare discourse performance according to various elicitation tasks for adolescent with CHI and matched controls using measures of productivity, efficiency, and coherence. Additionally, the relationship between cognitive skills and discourse performance was assessed.

Results indicated that there was a significant difference between the participants with CHI and controls for oral productivity during the story retelling task. During this task, the …

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 …

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 …