Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

The Effect Of Rate Change On The Relative Timing Of Speakers With Multiple Sclerosis, Brandlynn N. Reister

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Relative timing ratios are a useful measure for determining the temporal regularities of speech. The timing intervals that make up these ratios are thought to be important when creating the motor plan for an utterance (Weismer & Fennell, 1985). In fact, these ratios have been shown to be remarkably stable, even when speakers deliberately increase their rate (Tuller & Kelso, 1984; Weismer & Fennell, 1985). The constancy of these ratios also has been demonstrated in speakers with known speech timing disturbances, like the dysarthrias associated with Parkinson's and Huntington's disease (Goberman & McMillan; Ludlow, Connor, & Bassich, 1987; Weismer & …

Examining The Effectiveness Of Intensive Language Action Therapy In Individuals With Nonfluent Aphasia, Rachel A. Goff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Background: Individuals with nonfluent aphasia may have significant difficulties with functional spoken communication tasks in their daily life. Aphasia treatment held in a group setting may provide an enriched communicative context wherein the requirements of spoken language are similar to those within functional day-to-day communicative situations. Thus engaging in a spoken language activity in a group setting may directly target generalization of trained skills to those required in real-life, social communication situations. The present study is concerned with an aphasia group treatment that requires focused practice of spoken language during a social-functional communication task. Intensive Language Action Therapy (ILAT) …

Brain Electrophysiological Correlates Of Masked Picture Priming In Fluent And Stuttering Adults, Kalie B. Morris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate mechanisms of real-time language production of adults who stutter.

Method: Data were analyzed for 19 typically fluent young adults (TFA) and 19 young adults who stutter (AWS). Participants performed a masked picture priming task where priming stimuli consisted of two conditions 1) Identity- a masked printed prime word identical to the picture target label, and 2) Unrelated- a masked printed prime word unrelated to the picture target label. Brain event-related potentials (ERPs), time-locked to pictures eliciting spontaneous naming, were recorded, as well as naming accuracy and reaction times.

Results: …

Facilitation Of Language Acquisition Viewed Through An Interpretative Lens: The Role Of Authenticity, Melanie Ann Harper

Wayne State University Dissertations

A paradigm is the conceptual framework or lens one uses to view reality. The field of speech-language pathology is traditionally rooted in the empirical paradigm, which believes that language can be fragmented into isolated skills and taught in a hierarchal fashion. This belief has resulted in service delivery models that remove students from naturalistic contexts for decontextualized exercises. Progress in language acquisition is measured objectively. The empirical belief is exemplified by the accountability requirements in special education law (e.g., IEP). It is compounded by the realities of public school speech-language pathologists (SLPs), such as high caseload numbers, multiple buildings, and …

The Impact Of Baby Sign On The Development Of Pragmatic Skills In Typically Developing Children, Lyna Marie Sullivan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of Baby Sign on the pragmatic development of typically developing children. The participants for the study were 11 typically developing children. A one group pretest posttest case study design was used to evaluate the impact of baby sign. Prior to parents and caregivers attending a 5 week course on baby sign language, each child was administered the Developmental Assessment of Young Children (DAYC). Although, measurements were taken of the child's social, cognitive, physical, adaptive, and communication skills, standard scores of only the social subtests from the pretest to the posttest …

Self-Ratings Of Communication Style And Discourse Performance Of Healthy Aging Adults, Hayley E. Besten

Theses and Dissertations--Communication Sciences and Disorders

This study investigated the accuracy of healthy aging adults‟ self-rating of communication style, as measured by quantifiable measures of discourse performance. Ninety cognitively healthy adults participated and comprised three age cohorts (20s, 40s, 60s). Participants completed discourse tasks that included recounting a vacation, telling a story, and describing a picture. Participants also self-rated their communication style, placing them in a talkative or reserved cohort. Communication style was measured by discourse performance variables of interest: length of output (TNW) and informativeness (%IU). When presented with an unconstrained task (recounting a vacation), talkative and reserved groups, regardless of age, produced a similar …

Personalizing Aac For People With Aphasia: The Role Of Text And Pictures, Aimee R. Dietz, Kristy S.E. Weissling, Julie Griffith, Miechelle L. Mckelvey

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Over time, and with intensive instruction, people with aphasia (PWAs) can learn to use grid-based, categorically organized, high-technology AAC layouts during structured tasks (e.g., Hough & Johnson, 2009). In an effort to reduce the training intensity required to teach PWAs to use AAC; researchers developed visual scene displays (VSDs), designed to complement the residual cognitive and linguistic abilities of PWAs by tapping their intact episodic memory. VSD interfaces incorporate personally relevant (PR) photos, text, and speech output (Dietz, McKelvey, & Beukelman, 2006; Weissling & Beukelman, 2006). VSDs appear to facilitate improved communication success (e.g., McKelvey, Dietz, Hux, Weissling, & Beukelman, …

Supporting Narrative Retells For People With Aphasia Using Aac: 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

People with aphasia (PWAs) have demonstrated the ability to learn augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices that employ traditional grid layouts to enhance their communication; however, the process is typically lengthy and yields limited generalization (Fox & Fried-Oken, 2001; Koul & Harding, 1998). In response, researchers have begun to investigate the use of visual scene displays (VSDs) to support the communication interactions of PWAs by capitalizing on their relatively intact episodic memory (Beukelman, Dietz, McKelvey, Hux, & Weissling, in press; Dietz, Beukelman, & McKelvey, 2006a; Dietz, McKelvey, Beukelman, Weissling, & Hux, 2006b; McKelvey, Dietz, Hux, Weissling, & Beukelman, 2007). High-technology …

There Is A Continued Need For Empirical Data Supporting The Treatment Of People With Aphasia In The Acute Care Setting Including The Use Of Modified Melodic Intonation Therapy, Miechelle L. Mckelvey, Kristy S.E. Weissling

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Abstract from & commentary on: Conkly, D., Novac, E., Boissy, A. Bethoux, F., & Chemali, K. (2012). The effects of modified melodic intonation therapy on nonfluent aphasia: A pilot study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 55, 1462–1471.

Q: What are the immediate effects of Modified Melodic Intonation Therapy (MMIT) on the modified repetition and responsive subtests of the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) in stroke patients with Broca’s aphasia?

While this study had several limitations, the basic premises—the exploration of the effectiveness of changes to traditional MIT and the exploration of treatment in very acute stages—were valuable. Further systematic …

Electropalatography As An Adjunct To Nonspeech Orofacial Myofunctional Disorder Assessments: A Feasibility Study, Alana Mantie-Kozlowski, Kevin M. Pitt

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine if electropalatography (EPG) would be a useful adjunct and feasible option for those conducting clinical assessments of individuals with suspected nonspeech orofacial myofunctional disorders (NSOMD). Three females (two adults, one child) were referred by their orthodontist for assessment of suspected NSOMD. Three adults and one child without NSOMD were recruited for the purpose of evaluating methodological construct, and to provide comparisons for participants with NSOMD. Using EPG, lingual-palatal timing and contact patterns of 105 saliva swallows (45 with NSOMD, 60 without NSOMD) were analyzed by compartmentalizing the sensor display and tracking the …

Structural Processing Of Language Components: Detection And Comprehension, Samantha Rose Crow

Wayne State University Theses

Although music and language share many perceptually functional characteristics, research endeavors are still focusing on the underlying neural circuitry. Past research has indicated a distinction of hemispheric lateralization between music and language processing. Recently, efforts have shifted to the notion of an initial general shared pathway in the brain with auditory stimuli differentiated in later processing to specialized regions. Therefore, both linguistic and musical components have been examined in numerous experiments to discern the possible influence of music and language components on auditory perception and comprehension, including their potential interaction. However, the effects of sentential prosody on early language structural …

Social Story Intervention For Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard-Of-Hearing, Kaylee Mccollum

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Originally developed for children with mild autism, a Social Story is a short story that describes an ambiguous or troublesome situation and provides an appropriate response to that situation. Several research studies have confirmed the effectiveness of Social Stories in decreasing undesirable behaviors in children with mild, moderate, and severe autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, limited research has been conducted to determine the efficacy of Social Stories in modifying behaviors of children who do not have autism. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Social Stories in decreasing undesirable behaviors in children who are deaf or …

Using Multisensory Input To Supplement Articulation Intervention, Caitlin A. Maxheimer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of multisensory input on the discrimination and production abilities of a preschool aged child with a speech sound disorder. The study examined the effect of Van Riper's traditional articulation intervention approach supplemented with multisensory cues taken from the Sound Strategies for Sound Production resource (Treatment B), in contrast to Van Riper's traditional articulation intervention approach alone (Treatment A). One male child, aged 4 years, 4 months, diagnosed with a mild-moderate speech sound disorder, participated in this single subject, alternating treatment study. Treatment was provided for 30 minutes, 3 days a …

A Comparison Of Intervention Approaches Using The Ipad, Meredith Healy

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Research has indicated that an interactive, naturalistic style of instruction facilitates vocabulary learning (Armbruster, Lehr, & Osborn, 2010; Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2005; Brett, Rothlein, & Hurley, 1996). Evidence also suggests that direct instruction is effective for children with language impairment (Jenkins, Pany, & Schreck, 1978; Boehm, 1986; Siefert & Schwarz, 1991). A reduced fast-mapping ability is characteristic of children with language impairment (Rice, Buhr, & Nemeth, 1990), necessitating additional support when providing vocabulary instruction (Steele & Mills, 2011) . As many forms of technology are being integrated into educational settings, it is imperative to consider the effects of technology …

Executive Functions As Rated By Teachers Of Preschool Children With Language Impairment And Typical Language Skills, Karissa Genenbacher

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Executive functions (EFs) comprise an array of higher order cognitive skills which are important for the development of self-control and effective participation in home and school environments. Research has begun to identify executive function deficits in children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and in children who are at-risk for language impairment. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in executive functioning skills of children with SLI, children demonstrating at-risk language, and children with typical language, based on teacher ratings of the Behavioral Rating inventory of Executive Function- Preschool (BRIEF-P). The relationships between executive functions and language skills …

Graduate Bulletin, 2013-2014, Minnesota State University Moorhead

Graduate Bulletins (Catalogs)

No abstract provided.

Language Of Intervention In Bilingual Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Alejandra Carrillo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Over the last few decades the United States has seen a heavy increase in the incidences of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Also increasing in the United States is the increase in multicultural and multilingual groups. Although both of these populations are increasing there is very limited information regarding the language abilities of bilingual individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, the language used for intervention, and those servicing them. A survey was developed to gather information regarding the current practice trends used by Speech-Language clinicians with bilingual children with ASD. The study was conducted in El Paso, Texas a city located on the …

Benefits Of Baby Sign On Cognitive Development In Infants, Clarissa Navedo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research in the area of baby sign language has increased dramatically over the past several years, however there is still a lack of research regarding baby signs effects on typical infant development, specifically in the area of cognition. The hypothesis of this study was that instruction of baby sign would be correlated with a significant increase in the development of cognition and language acquisition for infant participants. This study provided a five-week instructional course on baby sign for parents/caregivers to implement with their typically developing infants (n=11). The course provided instruction of baby signs, methods of implementation and encouragement to …

Treatment For Children With High Functioning Autism: A Comparison Of Social Stories To Musically Adapted Social Stories, Veronica M. Torres

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The incorporation of music and social stories has been seldom tested, thus a study which uses a single-subject, alternating treatment design assesses the effects of standard social stories versus musically adapted social stories on the pragmatic abilities of an individual with high-functioning autism is presented. The goal of this project was to determine whether read social stories versus musically adapted social stories would be more beneficial in reducing problem behaviors in a child with high-functioning autism. Both types of social stories were implemented with the participant and the data supported the effectiveness of both treatments. Though the musically adapted social …

Bilingual Adult Nonword Repetition Performance Patterns In English And Spanish, Gabriela Villaneda

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Nonword repetition (NWR) is known to assess phonological working memory. During NWR, the individual listens to made-up words and repeats them back. This study evaluated NWR performance patterns, and the relationship between NWR and language recall tasks among forty English and Spanish bilingual adults. Bilingual adults' ages ranged from 18-67 years. Four language recall tasks were administered, including NWR tasks (assessed by PPC), language questionnaire to assess participants' language usage in English and Spanish, sentence repetition task (assessed by raw score), and a story retell (assessed by NDW). All recall measures were administered in a counterbalanced manner across English and …

Experiences Of Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Students: An Exploratory Phenomenological Study, Anysia J. Ensslen

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

Within the past decade little research has been conducted in the United States to examine the preparedness of beginning speech-language pathologists; the seminal article used for this research study comes from the United Kingdom (Horton, Byng, Bunning, & Pring, 2004). Literature from the past few decades indicates that there may be deficiencies in the way that beginning speech-language pathologists are being trained clinically.

The review of the literature suggests that the field may lack a clear and broadly supported learning theory or framework for the clinical supervision and training of speech-language pathology graduate students. The literature further supports the importance …

Acoustic And Perceptual Measurements Of Prosody Production On The Profiling Elements Of Prosodic Systems In Children By Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Joshua John Diehl, Rhea Paul

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Prosody production atypicalities are a feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), but behavioral measures of performance have failed to provide detail on the properties of these deficits. We used acoustic measures of prosody to compare children with ASDs to age-matched groups with learning disabilities and typically developing peers. Overall, the group with ASD had longer utterance durations on multiple subtests on a test of prosodic abilities, and both the ASD and learning disabilities groups had higher pitch ranges and pitch variance than the typically developing group on one subtest. Acoustic differences were present even when the prosody was used correctly.These …

Neurophysiological Indices Of The Effect Of Cognates On Vowel Perception In Late Spanish-English Bilinguals, Carol A. Tessel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The field of research in bilingualism and second language (L2) acquisition has yielded overwhelming evidence that acquiring a second language later in life will result in less accurate production and perception of consonants and vowels in the second language. These effects, in part, are a result of interference from the already formed phonetic categories shaped by early exposure to the L1 (Iverson, 2007). Phonetic categories from the L2 will, at least initially, be mapped onto phonetic categories from the L1 (Flege, 1995). Shared storage of similar lexical items from L1 and L2 may also take place resulting in differences in …

The Effects Of Practice On The Concurrent Performance Of A Speech And Postural Task In Persons With Parkinson Disease And Healthy Controls, Christopher Dromey, K Bo Foreman, Stuart Sondrup, Eon Jarvis, Shawn Nissen, Leland E. Dibble

Faculty Publications

Purpose. Persons with Parkinson disease (PD) demonstrate deficits in motor learning as well as bidirectional interference (the performance of one task concurrently interferes with the performance of another task) during dual-task performance. Few studies have examined the practice dosages necessary for behavioral change in rehabilitation relevant tasks. Therefore, to compare the effects of age and PD on motor learning during dual-task performance, this pilot study examined persons with PD as well as neurologically healthy participants during concurrent performance of postural and speaking tasks. Methods. Seven persons with PD and 7 healthy age-matched and 10 healthy young control subjects were tested …

Communication Disorders And Indigenous Australians : A Synthesis And Critique Of The Available Literature, Jasmyn Hall

Theses : Honours

Purpose: To synthesise and critique the available diverse literature related to communication disorders experienced by Indigenous Australians. This is in order to provide health professionals with a resource guide for evidence based decision making. The review has a specific focus on prevalence, assessment and effective treatment of communication disorders and explores these across the lifespan.

Method: A three phase systematic search process was adopted. A number of key databases, speech pathology journals and grey literature sources were searched to obtain articles relevant to the research aims. Two researchers independently rated articles for inclusion as well as methodological quality using the …

Speech And Language Processes In Children Who Stutter Compared To Those Who Do Not Within An Oral Narrative Task, Sarah Pillar

Theses : Honours

Background and Purpose: Language ability in children who stutter has been linked to the occurrence of stuttering, however, the validity of research supporting this connection has been recently questioned. Previous research, within this area, has been limited by methodological confounds, such as lack of appropriately matched comparison groups, and the use of measures with insufficient sensitivity to potentially examine the subtle differences between children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS). Frequent hesitations or pauses are defining characteristics of the speech of people who stutter. However, little is known about the nature and frequency of the pauses …

The Use Of The Communication Checklist - Adult (Cc-A) For Assessing The Communication Abilities Of Individuals Post Traumatic Brain Injury, David B. Fitzgerald

Theses : Honours

Background and aims: Standardised and non-standardised assessments are used in speech pathology to evaluate an individual’s communication abilities post traumatic brain injury (TBI; e.g. Turkstra et al., 2005b). However, valid, reliable and norm-referenced standardised assessments that examine functional communication abilities of individuals post TBI outside of the clinical environment are limited. This study sought to investigate the validity of the Communication Checklist - Adults (CC-A; Whitehouse & Bishop, 2009), a caregiver questionnaire that assesses the communication abilities of individuals post TBI.

Method: The project recruited 14 participants post TBI with varying communicative impairment severities. Each participant completed a routine communication …

Interprofessional Education: A Pilot Study Of Rehabilitation Sciences Students Participating In Interdisciplinary International Service-Learning, Celia Pechak, Eugenia Gonzalez, Connie Summers, Stephanie Capshaw

Faculty Publications

Various models of interprofessional education, including service-learning, are used to teach students how to be effective members of healthcare teams. The purpose of this study was to examine pilot data related to the impact of an elective one-credit global health course with an international service-learning experience (ISL) on the student participants. An interdisciplinary team of 3 faculty accompanied 4 students representing occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology programs for an 8-day ISL experience. Students responded to faculty-developed reflection questions pre-travel, during travel, and 2-weeks and 4-months post travel. Content analysis was used to analyze themes that emerged from the …

The Effect Of Dialect On Speech Audiometry Testing, Shawn L. Nissen, Richard W. Harris, Ron W. Channell, Nathan E. Richardson, Jamie A. Garlick, Dennis L. Eggett

Faculty Publications

Purpose: In this study, the authors examined the validity of using materials from 2 nonregional yet mutually intelligible dialects to evaluate an individual’s speech recognition threshold (SRT) and word recognition (WR) abilities and whether a speaker of 1 dialect could accurately administer and score materials in the other dialect. Method: Previously created SRT and WR materials were presented to 32 Mandarin listeners with normal hearing:16 speakers of Mainland Mandarin and 16 speakers of Taiwan Mandarin. Hearing abilities were examined using SRT and WR materials created for speakers from 2 different regional dialects. Presentation of the materials occur red during 2 …

Reflective Practice: What Is It And How Do I Do It?, Abigail V. Lewis

Research outputs 2013

Reflective practice holds importance for health and education practitioners in Australia, as demonstrated by increased prominence in the revised Competency based Occupational Standards for speech pathologists. This paper explores the topic of reflective practice, in the clinical context, by addressing the following questions: What is reflective practice? Why is it an important skill for speech pathologists? What is the evidence base for reflective practice? How do practitioners and students engage in the process of reflection? In addressing the final question, four methods of facilitating reflection are outlined: journal reflection, reflection on a critical incident, reflection following professional development, and reflection …