Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

The Effect Of High School Disability-Based Peer Mentoring On Perspectives Toward People With Disabilities, Caroline Jacobs

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Negative perspectives towards people with disabilities have been shown to lead to discrimination, prejudice, and an overall decreased quality of life. One way to possibly improve attitudes and interactions with students with disabilities could be implementing peer mentoring programs for special education students in high school. Research presented in this thesis examines the difference in perspectives toward people with disabilities between people who have or have not participated as a mentor in a disability-based peer mentoring program in high school. Data were collected through an online survey that assessed peer mentoring experiences as well as a scale to measure comfort …

Comparison Of High-Tech Augmentative And Alternative Communication Interfaces: Do Age And Technology Experience Matter?, Surani Gopika Nakkawita

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated that individuals with stroke-induced aphasia can use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) when they cannot meet their communication needs using spoken language (Dietz, Weissling, Griffith, McKelvey, & Macke, 2014; Purdy & Van Dyke, 2011). Of the various interfaces found in the different AAC systems, the grid display and the visual scene display (VSD) have been used by individuals with aphasia (Hough & Johnson, 2009; Dietz et al., 2018). However, there is a scarcity of research examining the comparative usefulness of these interfaces.

This prospective study attempted to understand how neurologically healthy individuals of different ages and …

Promoting Reading Achievement In Children With Developmental Language Disorders: What Can We Learn From Research On Specific Language Impairment And Dyslexia?, Suzanne M. Adlof

Faculty Publications

Purpose Specific language impairment (SLI; see also developmental language disorder) and dyslexia are separate, yet frequently co-occurring disorders that confer risks to reading comprehension and academic achievement. Until recently, most studies of one disorder had little consideration of the other, and each disorder was addressed by different practitioners. However, understanding how the two disorders relate to each other is important for advancing theories about each disorder and improving reading comprehension and academic achievement. The purpose of this clinical focus article is to integrate research on SLI and dyslexia as well as advocate for the consideration of comorbidities in future research …

Simulation-Based Training Improves Student Assessment Of Oral Feeding Skills In Preterm Infants, Courtney K. Broadfoot, Julie M. Estis

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Advancements in medical technology have contributed to increased rates of preterm birth. Prematurity places infants at high risk for feeding difficulties, however. Early identification and assessment of preterm infant dysphagia is critical to maximize nutrition and hydration, feeding safety, and growth and development. The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of a simulation-based training toolto increase non-health care and entry-level clinical student sensitivity to signs of feeding distress in preterm infants. Data were collected from 60 students (20 masters-level Speech-Language Pathology, 20 undergraduate nursing, 20 undergraduate non-health care) in a pre-test/post-test design. All participants completed a …

Assessing Outcomes Of Simulation In Communication Sciences And Disorders, Erin S. Clinard

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Assessment is an ongoing process that is necessary at every stage of designing, implementing, and evaluating simulation-based learning experiences (SBLEs). Designing and aligning a high-quality assessment process provides instructors and researchers with valuable data to understand if students have met the desired simulation learning objectives, where students are in their learning, and opportunities to enhance the SBLE. This reflection discusses the importance of assessing student learning outcomes as well as the effectiveness of all simulation-based learning experiences (SBLEs) in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). While the benefits and effectiveness of simulation have been demonstrated in other health professions, simulation research …

Developing An Acute Care Simulation Lab And Practicum, Erin Clark, Lori Lombard

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

The benefits of simulation-based education have been well-documented in health-related disciplines and are emerging in speech-language pathology. Several clinical training paradigms for acute care speech-language pathology skills have been successful when implemented in high fidelity, nursing simulation labs with price tags that are cost prohibitive for most speech-language pathology programs. Through funding support from a grant and a four-phased simulation development program, the authors developed an acute care simulation lab dedicated to speech-language pathology students for under $9,000 and simultaneously piloted a one-credit, acute care, adult- and geriatric-focused clinical practicum course. The clinical practicum was structured to scaffold student learning …

Standardized Patients In Communication Sciences And Disorders: Past, Present And Future Directions, Richard I. Zraick

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Standardized patients (SPs) are increasingly being used with students in the field of communication sciences and disorders (CSD). The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of SPs with CSD students. Challenges to the clinical education of students are described, and a call is made to expand the use of SPs to facilitate student learning of clinical skills and to assess students’ clinical competency.

Comparing In Vivo Versus Simulation Training For Transnasal Endoscopy Skills, Laura L. Wolford, George W. Wolford

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluations of swallowing (FEES) is as important of a swallowing evaluation as the videoflouroscopic swallow study, but far fewer speech-language pathologists are competent in its use (Ambika, Datta, Manjula, Warawantkar, & Thomas, 2019; Brady & Donzelli, 2013; Pisegna & Langmore, 2016). One hurdle in FEES training is the necessity of practicing transnasal endoscopy on volunteers. The primary aim of this study was to compare the learning effectiveness of practicing transnasal endoscopy via simulation with practice in vivo for a student’s first passes of the endoscope. The end goal of this study was to determine the most cost-effective and …

Infants’ Discrimination Of Consonant Contrasts In The Presence And Absence Of Talker Variability, Carolyn Quam, Lauren Clough, Sara Knight, Louann Gerken

Speech and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

To learn speech‐sound categories, infants must identify the acoustic dimensions that differentiate categories and selectively attend to them as opposed to irrelevant dimensions. Variability on irrelevant acoustic dimensions can aid formation of robust categories in infants through adults in tasks such as word learning (e.g., Rost and McMurray, 2009) or speech‐sound learning (e.g., Lively et al., 1993). At the same time, variability sometimes overwhelms learners, interfering with learning and processing. Two prior studies (Kuhl & Miller, 1982; Jusczyk, Pisoni, & Mullennix, 1992) found that irrelevant variability sometimes impaired early sound discrimination. We asked whether variability would impair or facilitate discrimination …

Empower: An Adaptable Writing Intervention, Carly Dinnes

The Nebraska Educator: A Student-Led Journal

EmPOWER is a six-stage writing intervention designed by speech-language pathologists to improve the expository writings of school-aged children with language learning and executive function disabilities. The intervention uses scaffolded instruction to transform struggling students into independent and self-regulating writers by training the students to use a variety of supports (e.g., graphic organizers, checklists) and strategies (e.g., referring back to the writing prompt) throughout the writing process. Many key features of the EmPOWER approach to writing instruction directly support components described in cognitive models of writing, which indicates that EmPOWER is a theory-guided writing intervention that may benefit a wide range …

The Ongoing Disparity Between Early Intervention Services And Those Who Need Them, Addison Goerl

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Although early intervention (EI) services have been shown to be highly effective and beneficial for young children, only 12% of those who qualify at 24 months receive services (Feinberg et al., 2011). There is a myriad of barriers that impedes access to EI services for those who need them. These barriers include myths about development and intervention, parent’s concerns being ignored, social inequalities limited access to early intervention, systemic barriers within the professional world, unperceived benefits of intervention, and limited communication flow to parents. However, there are some supports that help more families access EI services including doctors, early interventionists, …

The Utility Of Multiplex Closeness Centrality For Predicting Item Difficulty Parameters In Anomia Tests, Khanh L. Nguyen

University Honors Theses

Background: Confrontation naming tests for the assessment of aphasia are perhaps the most commonly used tests in aphasiology. Recently, such tests have been modeled using item response theory approaches. Despite their advantages, item response theory models require large sample sizes for parameter estimation that are often unrealistic when working with clinical populations. As an alternative approach, Fergadiotis, Kellough & Hula (2015) explored automatic item calibration by regressing item difficulty parameters on word length, age of acquisition (AOA), and lexical frequency as quantified by the Log10CD index. Despite the high predictive utility that they achieved, the model’s performance was far from …

Implicit Learning Of Children With And Without Developmental Language Disorder Across Auditory And Visual Categories, Wanchi Yu

Dissertations and Theses

The current study examined implicit sound- and visual-meaning-mappings of children with and without Developmental Language Disorder (DLD).

One child with DLD and 29 children with typical language development (TLD) were included in the study, based on results from a hearing screening and standardized assessments of cognitive and expressive language skills. Participants completed two computer-based experiments, which were designed to investigate: 1) sound discrimination (pitch and duration), implicit mapping of sound stimuli to objects; 2) visual discrimination, implicit mapping of visual stimuli to objects.

The current study showed that children with TLD who implicitly learned pitch categories showed better mapping of …

Variables And Mechanisms Affecting Response To Language Treatment In Multilingual People With Aphasia, Mira Goral, Aviva Lerman

Publications and Research

Background: Despite substantial literature exploring language treatment effects in multilingual people with aphasia (PWA), inconsistent results reported across studies make it difficult to draw firm conclusions. Methods: We highlight and illustrate variables that have been implicated in effecting cross-language treatment effects in multilingual PWA. Main contribution: We argue that opposing effects of activation and inhibition across languages, influenced by pertinent variables, such as age of language acquisition, patterns of language use, and treatment-related factors, contribute to the complex picture that has emerged from current studies of treatment in multilingual PWA. We propose a new integrated model—Treatment effects in Aphasia in …

Zika Virus Infection Causes Widespread Damage To The Inner Ear, Kathleen T. Yee, Biswas Neupane, Fengwei Bai, Douglas E. Vetter

Faculty Publications

Zika virus (ZIKV) has been recently recognized as a causative agent of newborn microcephaly, as well as other neurological consequences. A less well recognized comorbidity of prenatal ZIKV infection is hearing loss, but cases of hearing impairment following adult ZIKV infection have also been recognized. Diminished hearing following prenatal ZIKV infection in a mouse model has been reported, but no cellular consequences were observed. We examined the effects of ZIKV infection on inner ear cellular integrity and expression levels of various proteins important for cochlear function in type I interferon receptor null (Ifnar1^−/−) mice following infection at …

Conversations With Health Care Providers And Parents Before Autism Diagnosis: A Qualitative Study, Norah L. Johnson, Wendy Krueger, Elizabeth Jilek, Kristin Haglund

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to explore communication with health care providers from the perceptions of parents before their child's diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and provide some examples of how communication may contribute to the autism diagnosis.

Method

This study used a qualitative descriptive design with multiple individual structured in-person interviews.

Results

Three themes captured parents’ (n = 8) descriptions of the phases of communication during their children's diagnoses including, (1) anguished questioning, (2) urgently seeking help, and (3) expecting a diagnosis. In addition, three themes characterized the communication style that parents needed, although not always …

Adapting A Picture Description Task For Grammatical Analysis In English–Spanish Bilingual Preschool Children, Vanesa Smith, Isabel Cano, Lisa Lozada, Connie Summers

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to assess the use of an adapted picture description task described by Eisenberg and Guo to explore the morphosyntactic error patterns of English–Spanish preschool simultaneous bilingual learners. Language samples were collected from 28 bilingual preschool children aged 3 to 5 years. Language samples were elicited in both English and Spanish using a series of pictures and elicitation questions/prompts. Twenty-one participants produced a language sample in only one language (16 in English and 5 in Spanish) and seven participants produced language samples in both languages. Language samples were analyzed for grammaticality and error types. There …

Aphasia Friendly Medication Instructions: Effects On Comprehension In Persons With And Without Aphasia, Anna Saylor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Accessible health information supports people to understand and manage chronic medical conditions and is frequently presented via text. Comprehension of written health information becomes more difficult for people with language impairments, such as aphasia. Nine people with aphasia (PWA) and nine people without aphasia (PWoA), participated in this study. Each participant reviewed two unmodified medication instructions and two modified medication instructions using aphasia-friendly principles, then answered eight multiple choice questions and provided their preferences. Results showed that PWA demonstrated improved comprehension given modifications, but PWoA’s comprehension did not improve with modifications. Group comparison in the modified condition demonstrated that PWoA …

Measuring Listening Effort Using Physiological, Behavioral And Subjective Methods In Normal Hearing Subjects: Effect Of Signal To Noise Ratio And Presentation Level, Lakshmi Magudilu Srishyla Kumar

Dissertations, 2020-current

The main objective of the study is to compare the effectiveness of pupillometry, working memory and subjective rating scale —the physiological, behavioral, and subjective measures of listening effort— at different signal to noise ratios (SNR) and presentation levels: when administered together. Eleven young normal hearing individuals with mean age of 21.7 years (SD=1.9 years) participated in the study. The HINT sentences were used for speech perception in noise task. The listening effort was quantified using peak pupil dilation, working memory, working memory difference, subjective rating of listening and recall effort. The rating of perceived performance, frustration level and …

Feeding And Swallowing Development In Children, Lauren Kaiser, Taeok Park

Graduate Independent Studies - Communication Sciences and Disorders

The feeding and swallowing developments are involved in maturation of anatomy, food textures, and utensils. As children grow, the dependence of feeding moves to self-feeding. Understanding and educating individuals about feeding and swallowing development is critical. The knowledge of feeding and swallowing development can help parents support nutrition and growth in their children by learning timelines and normal feeding and swallowing expectations. This project is to provide clinical resources in order to assist in providing proper care for patients, recognizing signs demonstrating difficulty swallowing, and implementing appropriate self-feeding and consistency development timetables. Caregivers and clinicians will benefit from this information.

The Classification Accuracy Of A Dynamic Assessment Of Inferential Word Learning For School-Age Children With And Without Language Disorder, Britney Ann Newey

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: This study examines the classification accuracy and interrater reliability of a dynamic assessment (DA) of inferential word learning designed to accurately identify kindergarten through sixth-grade students with and without language disorder. Method: The participants included 127 school-age children from a mountain west school district who were administered a DA of inferential word learning that entailed a pretest, a teaching phase, an examiner rating of the child's ability to infer word meaning (modifiability), and posttests. Results: Hierarchical logistic regression and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analyses revealed that combining all posttests, the modifiability total, and the final examiner judgement scores from …

The Relationship Between Self-Reported Emotional Intelligence And Emoji Identification Accuracy In College Students, Jessica O'Brian

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

The current study examined the use and interpretation of emojis by neurotypical college students through emotional recognition and social understanding and the implications for their use in supportive communication inside the classroom for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Emotional awareness and reciprocity are essential for establishing friendships and developing social skills. At this point, there remains limited research on the implications of emoji use for individuals with ASD and any boundaries that may be associated with emojis in social understanding and emotional awareness. The specific research questions that will be addressed in this study are as follows: (1) Is …

Application Of Self-Efficacy Training In Group Aural Rehabilitation: An Interprofessional Collaborative Model, Stephen D. Roberts, Nancy A. Delich

JADARA

Few studies have explored self-efficacy training with persons with hearing loss (PHLs), yet alone with their communication partners (CPs). The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine the impact of self-efficacy training as a framework for an Interprofessional Psychosocial Group Aural Rehabilitation (IPGAR) workshop with PHLs and their CPs. Four PHLs and their four CPs consented to participate in the IPGAR workshop that employed interventions including short lectures, psychosocial exercises, communication strategies training, speech perception training, adaptive/stress reduction exercises, and group discussions relevant to mutually established shared goals for each couple. The participants reported improved communication abilities in the …

Using Speech Screening Process For Preschool-Age Children: Do Results Lead To Action?, Autumn Rhoads

Undergraduate Research Journal

In this paper, we will discuss the concerns of a microstrip two patch antenna system. Coupling of the two-port system can be miniaturized using Electromagnetic Bandgap Structures (EBG) or Defected Ground Structures (DGS) centered between the two patch antennas half a wavelength in size. Different miniaturization methods were used in the design of the antenna system to change the properties of the signal. Changing via locations that are not found on EBG strips themselves, rather found on interleaved ledges between EBG strips allowed for further change in shifting the signals frequency.

A Compilation Of Research Experiences, Samantha C. Gotcher

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Multiple projects comprised this thesis requirement. The projects ranged in breadth and depth and included 1) literature reviews across a variety of deaf education topics, including spreadsheets summarizing each literature review, 2) development of over 100 article summaries for the Hear to Learn website, 3) authorship on a manuscript submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, and 4) a peer-reviewed poster presentation at a national conference. My experiences in engaging in these activities immersed me into a greater understanding of the research in the field, resources for services, position papers of various entities, and recommended practices in Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) …

Phonetics Workbook For Students Of Communication Sciences And Disorders, April M. Yorke, Emily Sternad, Carley Shermak, Alyssa Mahler

MSL Academic Endeavors eBooks

This workbook is designed to give students in communication sciences and disorders foundational knowledge in Phonetics. Students will learn to listen and transcribe the speech of typically developing speakers of Standard American English in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Students will also learn how to listen and transcribe the speech of individuals with common speech sound disorders (i.e., residual articulation disorders and phonological disorders). Students will also be introduced to the fundamentals of speech science and spectrograms as they pertain to speech sound production. Written by April M. Yorke, PhD, CCC-SLP with her students.

Factors Influencing Choice Of Communication Sciences And Disorders Major For Students Who Are Culturally And Linguistically Diverse, Joanna Reinders

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore the motivating factors that influenced undergraduate students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds in the West North Central division of the United States to major in communication sciences and disorders (CSD). This was a nonexperimental study that was conducted by sending a quantitative survey on Qualtrics to undergraduate CSD students in schools in the West North Central division of the United States as defined by the U.S. Census (Census Regions and Divisions of the United States, n.d). All states had respondents to the survey except Nebraska and among the responses, 16 …

Using Think-Alouds To Uncover Expert-Novice Gaps In Aac Intervention Planning Skills, Allison M. Sauerwein, Jane R. Wegner

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Because few studies have explored preservice speech-language pathologists’ (SLP’s) learning outcomes in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) coursework and clinical practica, there is a need to investigate student learning in this area. This article represents a portion of a larger study that explored the expert-novice gap in planning for intervention with children who use AAC. The companion article reports clinical reasoning skills, whereas the present study revealed intervention planning skills. The methods are the consistent with those reported in the companion article. In summary, eight novice (i.e. preservice) SLPs and eight expert SLPs completed think-aloud tasks while they developed intervention …

Clinical Reasoning Skills In Aac Intervention Planning: Investigating The Expert-Novice Gap, Allison M. Sauerwein, Jane R. Wegner

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Clinical reasoning skills underlie the decisions speech-language pathologists (SLPs) make during practice. Although clinical reasoning is included in speech-language pathology accreditation standards in the United States, there is limited research on preservice SLPs’ development or use of clinical reasoning skills. Because clinical reasoning skills specific to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) service provision have not been identified or reported in depth, this qualitative study focused on two cases of children with developmental disabilities who used AAC systems. Eight novice (i.e. preservice) SLPs and eight expert SLPs completed think-aloud tasks while they developed intervention plans, which made their clinical reasoning skills …

Communication Sciences And Disorders Faculty Perceptions Of Interprofessional Education, Janine L. Schmedding-Bartley, Courtney Karasinski

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Engagement in interprofessional collaborative practice is critical for communication disorders professionals to provide quality clinical services. Given limited research on implementation of interprofessional education (IPE) within communication disorders pre-professional training programs and research highlighting potential barriers to implementation of IPE, this investigation assessed communication sciences and disorders (CSD) faculty attitudes toward IPE. One hundred fifty-eight CSD faculty from accredited CSD graduate programs completed the Interprofessional Attitudes Scale (Norris, Carpenter, Eaton, Guo, Lassche, Pett, & Blumenthal, 2016). Collectively, the faculty supported CSD students learning from and with students from different disciplines and endorsed IPE as beneficial. Faculty with master’s degrees were …