Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Assessing Parental Conversational Overlap In A Museum Setting And Its Correlation With Child Language Skills, Madison Gould

Honors Theses and Capstones

Research has identified the importance of quality interactions with parents, caregivers, and peers in the promotion of language acquisition. We question how certain aspects of parental language, primarily repetition, expansion, and extension, correlate with child language skills. There is limited research available regarding the impact of conversational overlap on a child’s language development at a singular time point, with most studies being longitudinal, especially when assessing conversations between children and their caregivers in different settings, such as a museum exhibit. Our findings suggest that children need less parental recasting as they age and as their language skills are bolstered.

Language Development And Poverty: Considerations And Applications For Speech-Language Pathologists, Samantha Lynn Ehler

Honors Program Theses

Economics is one vital variable that can support or hinder the successful development and acquisition of language. A large body of research has shown that conditions of poverty often negatively impact a child’s language learning environment and brain development, resulting in poor language development and a high risk of speech and language disorders. Language development is a dynamic process that begins during the first years of life and is contingent on social interactions and safe predictable routines. A thorough examination of the relationship between familial financial standing and language development is the foundation for developing interventions that will minimize the …

Exposure, Adaptation And Expectations: How They Affect Perception Of Foreign Accented Speech, Isabella Huddleston

Honors Program Theses

Understanding accented speech is becoming more and more prevalent in today’s society. The world is connected through technology allowing us to reach further than we ever have before. One challenge this presents is the necessity to communicate across languages. Even if an individual has learned another language proficiently, the speech they produce is influenced by their native language resulting in foreign accented speech (FAS). There now exists the need for understanding how FAS affects speech perception and uncovering ways to improve communication situations between native and nonnative communication partners.

The Effects Of Inspiratory Muscle Training On Exercise-Induced Laryngeal Obstruction In Young Adults, Allison Lyman

Murray State Theses and Dissertations

Exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction (EILO) is a condition that results from abnormal vocal fold adduction upon inspiration (Abdel-Hamid, 2018). Symptoms of this ailment include dyspnea, choking sensations, an audible stridor, and/or coughing during physical exertion (Marcinow et al., 2014). These symptoms affect an individual’s ability to breathe adequately during exercise. A review of current literature suggests that there are a variety of interventions that can be used to reduce perceived dyspnea in individuals who suffer from EILO. One such intervention is known as inspiratory muscle training (IMT), which works to reduce dyspnea by strengthening the primary muscle of inspiration: the posterior …

Acoustic-To-Articulatory Speech Inversion Features For Mispronunciation Detection Of/ɹ/In Child Speech Sound Disorders, Nina R. Benway, Yashish M. Siriwardena, Jonathan L. Preston, Elaine Hitchcock, Tara Mcallister, Carol Espy-Wilson

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Acoustic-to-articulatory speech inversion could enhance automated clinical mispronunciation detection to provide detailed articulatory feedback unattainable by formant-based mispronunciation detection algorithms; however, it is unclear the extent to which a speech inversion system trained on adult speech performs in the context of (1) child and (2) clinical speech. In the absence of an articulatory dataset in children with rhotic speech sound disorders, we show that classifiers trained on tract variables from acoustic-to-articulatory speech inversion meet or exceed the performance of state-of-the-art features when predicting clinician judgment of rhoticity.

Revisiting The Rainbow: Culturally Responsive Updates To A Standard Clinical Resource, Angela M. Dietsch, Richard Mocarski, Debra A. Hope, Nathan Woodruff, Miechelle Mckelvey

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose

Cultural responsivity is essential for efficacious and affirming clinical relationships. This may be especially important with historically marginalized clients, such as transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people seeking behaviorally based affirming communication services. We recommend modifications to standard tools for diagnostics and training that otherwise might undermine our efforts to create an inclusive and affirming environment.

Method

Modifications to the Rainbow Passage, a standardized paragraph utilized for eliciting speech samples in clinical settings, focused on nongendered terminology and the elimination of content with religious connotations.

Results

The recommended edits to the Rainbow Passage maintain similar length, cadence, and phonetic balance …

Brain Activity Associated With Taste Stimulation: A Mechanism For Neuroplastic Change?, Angela M. Dietsch, Ross M. Westemeyer, Douglas H. Schultz

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: Neuroplasticity may be enhanced by increasing brain activation and bloodflow in neural regions relevant to the target behavior.We administered precisely formulated and dosed taste stimuli to determine whether the associated brain activity patterns included areas that underlie swallowing control.

Methods: Five taste stimuli (unflavored, sour, sweet-sour, lemon, and orange suspensions) were administered in timing-regulated and temperature-controlled 3 mL doses via a customized pump/tubing system to 21 healthy adults during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Whole-brain analyses of fMRI data assessed main effects of taste stimulation as well as differential effects of taste profile.

Results: Differences in …

Accent Services: Considering The Perspectives Of Non-Native Speakers Of English For A Culturally Affirming Practice, Kristopher Kilgallon

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Accent “modification” is a type of service offered by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) that is intended to, among other things, help speakers improve their intelligibility in a target second language. This area of practice has been, and continues to be, a controversial topic amongst scholars and practitioners. To explore and understand the perspectives of non-native speakers of English regarding their participation in accent services, the present study employed a qualitative research design using individual, semi-structured interviews. Ten adult non-native speakers of English (female: n = 7; male: n = 3), with ages between 28 and 47 years old (M = …

The Impact Of Bowl Feeding On Infant Muscle Activity And Kinematics - An Executive Summary, Kendall Steer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Addressing difficulties with swallowing is a small, yet critical portion of a speech-language pathologist’s role. Infants often experience challenges associated with swallowing safely, yet the ability of SLPs to prescribe effective interventions is limited by the lack of knowledge on how anatomy and physiology interact to drive these challenges. The goal of my Honors Research Project is to address this lack of knowledge by determining how the infant pig tongue moves during feeding from a bottle versus drinking from a bowl, as well as how the muscles controlling the tongue differ in these behaviors. I used infant pigs for this …

Comparison Of Machine Learning Methods For Classification Of Alexithymia In Individuals With And Without Autism From Eye-Tracking Data, Furkan Iigin, Megan A. Witherow, Khan M. Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Alexithymia describes a psychological state where individuals struggle with feeling and expressing their emotions. Individuals with alexithymia may also have a more difficult time understanding the emotions of others and may express atypical attention to the eyes when recognizing emotions. This is known to affect individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) differently than neurotypical (NT) individuals. Using a public data set of eye-tracking data from seventy individuals with and without autism who have been assessed for alexithymia, we train multiple traditional machine learning models for alexithymia classification including support vector machines, logistic regression, decision trees, random forest, and multilayer perceptron. …

Corticosteroid-Laba Inhalers Increase Phonation Threshold Pressure (Ptp) And Flow (Ptf) In Rabbits, Christopher Dromey, Kristine Tanner, Heidi J. Robison, Maya Elena Stevens, Ray M. Merrill, Julie Barkmeier-Kraemer, Ben Christensen

Faculty Publications

Objectives: This study examined the effects of a combination corticosteroid plus long-acting beta2-adrenergic agonist inhaler (IC) on rabbit phonation. Methods: White New Zealand male rabbits were assigned randomly to experimental and control groups (n = 11 per group). The experimental group received twice-daily doses of Advair HFA™ (fluticasone propionate 45 mcg and salmeterol 21 mcg) via a veterinary facemask with 1-way valve and spacer; the control group received aerosolized saline. After 8 weeks, animals were euthanized, larynges excised, frozen, and subsequently thawed and mounted on a standard bench apparatus. Phonation was elicited during 15 successive trials, and phonation threshold pressure …

Investigation To Examine The Profile Of Auditory Brainstem And Hearing Thresholds Using Tone Burst Audiometry Brainstem Response In A Preclinical Migraine Model, Megan Huelsing

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Migraine is a disabling neurological disease that is characterized by prominent auditory symptoms, including hyperacusis, which is defined as extreme sensitivity to sounds. The goal of this study was to investigate changes in hearing sensitivity and neural changes in the brainstem by measuring neural activity of the auditory brainstem in an established preclinical model of chronic migraine. To induce a chronic migraine state within the trigeminal system, male and female Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to three known human risk factors including neck muscle tension and REM sleep deprivation that promote latent sensitization, and exposure to a pungent odor, which …

Autism For The Professions: One University, Three Colleges And One Undergraduate Course, Mary E. Carlson, Wendy Krueger, Amy V. Van Hecke

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

This paper discusses the elements of successful university-level, cross-disciplinary course development using best practices to foster richer relational networks and to meet the complex demands of education and treatment for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Design/methodology/approach

The three authors created and taught a class on best practices in autism nine times. The authors assessed the knowledge base and attitudinal changes of undergraduates (most in psychology, speech pathology and audiology, and education) for two of the nine cohorts who were being prepared to work with individuals with ASD.

Findings

Pre- and postmeasures indicated significant improvement in knowledge and a …

Pressure Induced By Roll-Down Foam-Earplugs On Earcanal, Ahmed Dalaq, Luiz Melo, Franck Sgard, Olivier Doutres, Éric Wagnac

Études primaires

Physical discomfort of earplug is a common complaint, so much so it jeopardizes the health and safety of workers, resulting in frequent noncompliance to proper wearing of earplugs. A pressing need thus arises to understand the underlying mechanics for the interaction of earplugs with earcanal walls. An idealized cylindrical geometry of earcanal is first treated with computational and analytical modeling to predict the pressure induced by roll-down cylindrical PVC foam earplugs. In order to predict representative pressure values and distribution, we estimated the hyperelastic properties of foam-based earplugs and characterized their behavior using a stent testing machine (J-Crimp^TM machine) …

An Exploration Of Quality Of Life Perceptions Of Cochlear Implant Recipients And Their Frequent Communication Partners, Jessica L. Bishop, Ashley G. Flagge

Ashley Flagge Publications

Purpose: Quality of life (QoL) after cochlear implantation has been investigated using a variety of QoL questionnaires. However, few studies have examined the perceived QoL of cochlear implant (CI) recipients compared between the recipient and a frequent communication partner (FCP) using both hearing-related (hearing-specific), and health-general (health-general) measures.

Method: For this multiple case study, five participant pairs were recruited, consisting of five adult recipients who were implanted at least six months prior to the time of evaluation, and five adult frequent communication partners who lived with the recipient at the time of evaluation. All ten participants (five pairs) completed a …

Association Of Hearing Loss And Tinnitus Symptoms With Health-Related Quality Of Life Among Long-Term Oropharyngeal Cancer Survivors, Puja Aggarwal, Marc-Elie Nader, Paul W Gidley, Raj Pratihar, Shirin Jivani, Adam S Garden, Frank E Mott, Ryan P Goepfert, Christopher Wallace Ogboe, Camille Charles, Clifton D Fuller, Stephen Y Lai, G Brandon Gunn, Erich M Sturgis, Ehab Y Hanna, Katherine A Hutcheson, Sanjay Shete

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the association of hearing loss and tinnitus with overall health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among long-term oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) survivors.

METHODS: This study included OPC survivors treated between 2000 and 2013 and surveyed from September 2015 to July 2016. Hearing loss and tinnitus were measured by asking survivors to rate their "difficulty with hearing loss and/or ringing in the ears" from 0 (not present) to 10 (as bad as you can imagine). Hearing loss and tinnitus scores were categorized as follows: 0 for none, 1-4 for mild, and 5-10 for moderate to severe. The primary outcome …