Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Preserved Artificial Grammar Learning In Individuals With Parkinson’S Disease: A Systematic Review, Sarah I. Cranna

Honors Theses and Capstones

Abstract

            Implicit statistical learning is a crucial cognitive function that is highly involved in the learning and processing of language. Since both language and implicit statistical learning are supported by the basal ganglia through cortico-striatal networks, disruptions to this network could result in their impairment. Parkinson’s Disease (PD) can therefore be used to model disruptions to this system as it is primarily characterized by dysfunction in the basal ganglia. Thus, this review aims to examine the current literature studying the performance of individuals with PD on artificial grammar tasks in order to investigate the impact of impaired basal ganglia function …

From Policy To Practice In Deaf Education: American Sign Language And Spoken English Outcomes Of Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Children In Kansas, Jena Mcdaniel, Shreyas Teegala, Rebecca Maloney, Angie Walker, Mary S. Dietrich, Matthew L. Hall, Leah C. Geer, Julie Bustos

Journal of Early Hearing Detection and Intervention

Purpose: In the context of the recent expectation for state Early Hearing Detection and Intervention programs to track language milestones of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children, we examine how to leverage statewide assessment programs for improving language outcomes of DHH children. We present the degree to which DHH children in Kansas are meeting their language milestones for American Sign Language (ASL) and English and the influence of two measurement features.

Method: Performance on the ASL/English Language Milestones for 198 children who were DHH (aged 1 to 8) was analyzed for attainment of age-expected language skills and …

An Observational Study Of Discourse Tasks And Running Speech Sampling In The Assessment Of Paediatric Voice Quality, Victoria Reynolds, Kristin Scavo-Smith, Kate Oteng-Bediako, Sophie Scanlon

Speech-Language Pathology Faculty Publications

Introduction

Running speech sampling is an essential component of a paediatric voice evaluation, in that it should provide the examiner with a representative vocal sample of the child's everyday voice use outside of the clinic setting. Current speech sampling practices, consisting of reading tasks, informal conversation sampling and the voice question ('Tell me about your voice problem'), may not elicit consistent samples or samples of sufficient length to allow the examiner to make a reliable and valid judgement about vocal quality. The aim of this study is to compare the voice quality of children produced in response to existing running …

Elementary-School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists’ Perspectives On Implementing Literacy, Samantha Kadian

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores elementary-school-based speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs) perspectives about implementing literacy. Though the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) standards specify literacy is within their scope of practice, many school-based SLPs may not be addressing reading and writing competencies. The literature indicates that several constraints may contribute to this lack of involvement, including a lack of preparation, varied expectations, and ambiguous definitions. The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the perspectives of elementary-school-based SLPs. Three SLPs were interviewed in a semi-structured format, and the data from the interviews was examined using qualitative analysis. The findings indicated that SLPs …

Assessment Of Multilingual Children By Western Australian Speech-Language Pathologists: A Survey Of Practices, Barriers And Facilitators, Emily Frances Hunt, Charn Nang, Suzanne Jacqueline Meldrum, Elizabeth Armstrong

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Purpose: In the past decade, diagnostic criteria for developmental language disorder, guidelines for assessment of multilingual children, and reviews of the diagnostic utility of dynamic assessment have been published. It is unknown how Australian speech-language pathologists currently assess multilingual children or how local factors influence assessment. Method: A mixed-method anonymous online survey of Western Australian speech-language pathologists explored the frequency and perceived usefulness of assessment practices recommended for multilingual children, elements of dynamic assessment used, and the utility of specific client factors for diagnosis. Confidence ratings and descriptions of barriers and facilitators that affect assessment of multilingual children were also …

How Speech-Language Pathologists Can Collaborate With A Well-Meaning Judiciary To Improve Jury Instructions, Lillian N. Stiegler, Rebecca L. Parker

Journal of Interprofessional Practice and Collaboration

Abstract

Purpose: Many U.S. adults are called upon to fulfill civic responsibilities through jury duty. Jury participation is a responsibility, but it is also a privilege that ensures the balance of power between government and citizens. Problems arise when jury instructions are presented using complex language that challenges the comprehension of laypersons with and without language and literacy differences, negatively influencing the juror’s participation experience and trial outcomes. In spite of plain language mandates and clear findings regarding the average literacy abilities of U.S. adults, much of the legal community persists in the use of difficult jury instructions.

Method: Academic …

Lcd 106: Introduction To Communication Sciences And Disorders, Yael Neumann

Open Educational Resources

This course will provide an introduction to the development and disorders of speech, language, and communication in children and adults. Disorders such as autism, aphasia, stuttering, and learning disabilities will be discussed. Differences noted in culturally and linguistically diverse communities will also be addressed. The course activities will give students an experiential appreciation of the experience of communication challenges and supporting people with those challenges. Information about the professions of Speech-Language Pathology (SLP), Audiology, and Speech and Hearing Science will be reviewed as potential career paths.

Exploring Speech Experiences, Cpib Scores, And Aac Assessment Experiences Of Autistic Aac Users With Intermittent, Unreliable, Insufficient, And/Or Expensive Speech, Karina Rayl, Pang Lee Herr, Brandon Eddy, Amy Donaldson, Stephanie Fuller, Alyssa Zisk

Student Research Symposium

There is growing evidence from the perspectives of speaking autistic people that augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) supports their self-expression and communicative agency. Despite the evidence supporting the communication effectiveness of AAC, autistic adults have reported that professionals often prioritized speech as the ideal communicative method rather than offering AAC as a communication option. This study will investigate autistic adults’ AAC assessment experiences and explore whether a modified version of the Communication Participation Item Bank (CPIB) self-rating questionnaire could be an effective tool to document the internal states of intermittent, unreliable, insufficient, and/or expensive speech. Surveys will be distributed to …

Impact Of Testosterone Therapy On Voices In Trans-Masculine People: A Scoping Review, Samuel E. Hedine, Jeff Conn, Deanna Britton

Student Research Symposium

Treatment of trans people by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) dates back to at least the 1980s. However, the majority of early research on the voices of trans people focused on trans-women. More recently, the field of speech-language pathology has garnered more interest in the effects of testosterone therapy in trans-masculine individuals. The goal of this project is to review current research, and compile the known effects of testosterone therapy in the trans-masculine population on common acoustic indices of voice production, including fundamental frequency (pitch), decibels/sound pressure level (dB SPL; loudness) and cepstral peak prominence (voice quality). A scoping literature search was …

Exploring Early Language Acquisition Through English And French, Rebecca C. Aguilar

Honors Capstones

Knowing that there is no singular event that leads to learning a language, and factoring in the extent an individual’s culture can affect language learning, this study emphasizes the importance of a cross-linguistic approach to continue to broaden the scope of language acquisition research. The primary objective is to identify and analyze the critical commonalities in the initial stages of learning English and French as first languages through two major categories: speech/language and culture. This project carried out an analytical review of 24 pieces of relevant literature, in both languages, in an effort to highlight key findings. Those findings include: …

Toward Generalizable Machine Learning Models In Speech, Language, And Hearing Sciences: Estimating Sample Size And Reducing Overfitting, Hamzeh Ghasemzadeh, Robert E Hillman, Daryush D Mehta

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Many studies using machine learning (ML) in speech, language, and hearing sciences rely upon cross-validations with single data splitting. This study's first purpose is to provide quantitative evidence that would incentivize researchers to instead use the more robust data splitting method of nested

METHOD: First, the significant impact of different cross-validations on ML outcomes was demonstrated using real-world clinical data. Then, Monte Carlo simulations were used to quantify the interactions among the employed cross-validation method, the discriminative power of features, the dimensionality of the feature space, the dimensionality of the model, and the sample size. Four different cross-validation methods …

Do High School Students Understand Their Miranda Rights? A Preliminary Investigation, Emma K. Hinds

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Background: Numerous studies have established that the linguistic complexity of the Miranda warning often results in poor comprehension, particularly for adolescents. Several studies have shown that persons with language disorders are overrepresented in U.S. prisons. Additionally, a few studies have shown a strong positive correlation between language scores and scores on Miranda assessments. These findings suggest that individuals with language disorders are at risk for poor comprehension of their Miranda rights, placing them at greater risk of waiving those rights, which can lead to incarceration.

Aims: The goal of this preliminary investigation is to examine how well adolescents with typical …

Telling Stories In Noise: The Impact Of Background Noises On Spoken Language For People With Aphasia, Tyson G. Harmon, Brenna Scadden Nelson, Christopher Dromey, Kirsten Dixon Clawson

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Determine how different background noise conditions affect the spoken language of participants with aphasia during a story retell task.

Method: Participants included 11 adults with mild to moderate aphasia and 11 age- and gender-matched controls. Participants retold stories in a silent baseline and five background noise conditions (conversation, monologue, phone call, cocktail, pink noise). Dependent measures of speech acoustics (fundamental frequency, mean intensity), speech fluency (speech rate, disfluent words), and language production (correct information units, lexical errors, lexical diversity, and cohesive utterances) were compared between groups and across conditions.

Results: Background noise resulted in higher fundamental frequency (F_{0 …}

Non-Negative Matrix Factorization Improves The Efficiency Of Recording Frequency-Following Responses In Normal-Hearing Adults And Neonates., Fuh-Cherng Jeng, Tzu-Hao Lin, Breanna N Hart, Karen Montgomery-Reagan, Kalyn Mcdonald

Ambulatory and Primary Care Articles

OBJECTIVE: One challenge in extracting the scalp-recorded frequency-following response (FFR) is related to its inherently small amplitude, which means that the response cannot be identified with confidence when only a relatively small number of recording sweeps are included in the averaging procedure.

DESIGN: This study examined how the non-negative matrix factorisation (NMF) algorithm with a source separation constraint could be applied to improve the efficiency of FFR recordings. Conventional FFRs elicited by an English vowel/i/with a rising frequency contour were collected.

RESULTS: The improvements of FFR recordings, defined as the correlation coefficient and root-mean-square differences across a sweep series of …

Benefit Of Visual Speech Information For Word Comprehension In Post-Stroke Aphasia, Anna Krason, Gabriella Vigliocco, Marja-Liisa Mailend, Harrison Stoll, Rosemary Varley, Laurel J. Buxbaum

Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Papers

Aphasia is a language disorder that often involves speech comprehension impairments affecting communication. In face-to-face settings, speech is accompanied by mouth and facial movements, but little is known about the extent to which they benefit aphasic comprehension. This study investigated the benefit of visual information accompanying speech for word comprehension in people with aphasia (PWA) and the neuroanatomic substrates of any benefit. Thirty-six PWA and 13 neurotypical matched control participants performed a picture-word verification task in which they indicated whether a picture of an animate/inanimate object matched a subsequent word produced by an actress in a video. Stimuli were either …

Telepractice-Based Language Intervention Training For Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Sarah Bryan

Honors Theses

This study closely examined the progression and fidelity of strategy implementation of parents undergoing an ASD language intervention training program. This instructional, interactive program was designed for parents of children with autism, thus catering to the needs of participants involved. This study assessed the use of parent comments and redirects, two kinds of parent strategies, during each parent-child interaction to provide more information about the impact of training sessions. The researchers hypothesized that by the end of training, parent participants would increase their fidelity of strategy implementation, increase their use of comments rather than redirects, and employ more open-ended questions …

Communication In Phelan-Mcdermid Syndrome: Assessment And Genotype-Phenotype Correlation, Sarah Quadri

All Dissertations

Phelan McDermid Syndrome (PMS) is a rare genetic disorder caused by deletions or mutations of the SHANK3 gene on chromosome 22q13.3. Language and communication impairment are hallmark features of PMS, and this dissertation aims to address the lack of consensus on appropriate methods for assessing these abilities and genotype-phenotype correlations of language and communication impairments in PMS.

The first chapter introduces PMS and associated language and communication impairment, identifies gaps in the literature, and shows how this research fills those gaps to advance our understanding of this rare genetic disease. The second chapter identifies and analyzes practices for assessing speech, …

The Effects Of Exercise On Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Julia Hofacker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This Honors Research Project will look at the impact of various types of exercise on the speech, language, and behavior of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. The goal of this research project is to determine how exercise can be implemented into speech and therapy programs in order to better improve the communication skills of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. To accomplish this, recent studies and publications will be analyzed to compare traditional therapy methods and therapy methods that include exercise. These studies will provide data on how various types of exercise impacted adolescents with autism spectrum disorder speech, language, behavior, …

Contributions Of Semantic And Phonological Working Memory To Narrative Language Independent Of Single Word Production: Evidence From Acute Stroke, Rachel Zahn, Tatiana T Schnur, Randi C Martin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Neuropsychological case studies have provided evidence that individuals with semantic, but not phonological, working memory (WM) deficits have difficulty producing phrases containing several content words. These findings supported the claim of a phrasal scope of planning at the grammatical formulation stage of production, where semantic WM supports the maintenance of lexical-semantic representations as they are inserted into slots in phrasal constituents. Recent narrative production results for individuals at the acute stage of stroke supported the role for semantic WM in phrasal elaboration while suggesting a role for phonological WM at a subsequent phonological encoding stage in supporting fluent, rapid speech. …

Implications For Cross-Training Between Applied Behavior Analysis And Speech-Language Pathology, Katherine Lynn Isaacson

Speech and Hearing Sciences Publications

This paper is to provide clarity about the overlaps between the fields of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and speech-language pathology, including evaluation, assessment, intervention planning, and treatment of language development, nine articles were selected for a review of terms and definitions, philosophical and theoretical underpinnings, and licensure/certification requirements pertaining to both scopes of practice. Behavior analysts and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are likely to provide intervention alongside one another due to their frequent provision of intervention with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite broad, initial overlaps between the professions, the required educational coursework, supervised fieldwork and clinical practicums, and …

The Impact Of Background Noise On The Communicative Experience Of People With Mild To Moderate Aphasia: A Qualitative Study, Riley Robertson Hegewald

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how retelling stories with a variety different background noise conditions affected the communicative experiences of people with aphasia (PWA). Participants included 11 adults with mild to moderate aphasia and 11 age- and gender-matched controls. Participants participated in a semi-structured interview immediately following the experimental measure where they were asked open-ended questions regarding their experience retelling stories and how those experiences related to their everyday lives. Results revealed three themes related to how participants responded to communicating in noise: (a) cognitive reactions, (b) emotional reactions, and (c) social reactions. The findings suggest that PWA exert more effort when …

Like, It’S Important: The Frequency And Use Of Like In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rebekah Jones

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Background & Aims: Discourse markers, such as well or like serve a variety of functions to support conversational reciprocity: filling pauses, aiding word-finding, holding conversational turns, and providing information about pause length. Previous research shows that individuals with ASD use discourse markers less frequently than neurotypical (NT) peers; however, the discourse marker like has been left out of that research, despite its ubiquitous use by NT individuals, and despite the fact that like serves important pragmatic functions that are not encoded by any other discourse marker. Specifically, like signals to the listener that the content of upcoming speech is 1) …

Early Intervention Access And Use: The Impact On Outcomes, Brooklynn Schelling

Communication Sciences and Disorders: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The purpose of this research paper was to investigate the factors that influence a person’s access to and use of early intervention (EI) services. In the literature, there are demonstrated short- and long-term benefits for populations with disorders or delays associated with EI. Speech-language pathologists are one of many professionals that may work with EI clients, and they should be especially interested in ensuring that all individuals receive necessary services. Previous research suggests that race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status impact access to EI. This study examines possible methods of increasing access to EI for populations that are less likely to …

Effects Of Parent Intervention Via Tele-Practice On Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder In Rural Mississippi, Erin Bowens

Honors Theses

Background

The present study explored the use of parent intervention via tele-practice for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and how effective that intervention was in increasing the child’s language and communication skills and the parents’ strategy use in the rural state of Mississippi.

Methods

Two dyads of participants were used. Dyad 1 included a mother and her 4-year-old son with high-functioning ASD, and Dyad 2 included a mother and her 4-year-old daughter with severe ASD. Standardized tests were administered to gather data about the children’s diagnoses. The study included four phases across four months, including pre-test, intervention, post-test, and …

Comparing Measures Of Phonological Development For Bilingual Speech Sample Analysis: A Descriptive Study, Julianna Ciccarelli

Honors Projects

The present study analyzed two common measures of phonology for use within a bilingual (Spanish-English) preschool population. The utilized measures include Percentage of Consonants Correct-Revised (PCC-R) and Phonological Mean Length of Utterance (pMLU) and were selected to avoid sources of bias, often found in standardized, norm-referenced assessments. The scores calculated from these measures were analyzed across language.

Comparison Of Maintenance Gains From Two Treatment Approaches For Patients Diagnosed With Apraxia Of Speech And Broca’S Aphasia: A Critically Appraised Topic, Kalli B. Whiting

The Graduate Review

Three peer-reviewed research articles demonstrated benefits in using the articulatory-kinematic approaches of sound production treatment (SPT) and speech motor learning (SML) for intervention of patients diagnoses with apraxia of speech (AOS) concomitant with aphasia over the age of 50. This CAT was intended to review and compare the treatment maintenance between the two approaches using a specific search question; however, there was limited evidence for the specified population in that question. Although both approaches warranted positive outcomes, the SML approach may demonstrate a stronger linkage to the underlying features of apraxia of speech based on the method’s rationale. Through the …

Parent And Child Characteristics Impacting Identification Of Children With Developmental Language Disorder (Dld), Sarah E. Floyd

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Purpose: Previous research has shown that children with developmental language disorder (DLD) and dyslexia are under-identified in the general population. Parent or caregiver concern is a primary referral tool for these conditions, but may fail to accurately align with the actual presence of a disorder. The purpose of this study was to examine child and parent characteristics related to a child’s likelihood of receiving a diagnosis of DLD.

Methods: Within a large, 5-year, longitudinal study, kindergartener performance on a battery of speech, language, and literacy measures was examined to identify children with and without DLD and possible risk of dyslexia. …

Stimming Expresses Empathy, Not To Be Masked Or Persecuted: A Scoping Review And Case Study Of The “Double-Empathy Problem” Solved By Recognizing The Autism Language, Kathryn Haas

Student Capstone Papers

This article critically examines autism and autistic stimming through the lenses of neurotypicals and autistics, evaluates confines currently imposed upon autistics by neurotypical society, and synthesizes what autistic leaders have expressed about their experiences striving for inclusion (Gernsbacher, 2017; Milton, 2012). Autistic-led studies are now at the forefront of the neurodiversity movement and are growing in fervor. The following themes were identified: (a) prevalence of autism, (b) the interpretation and measurement of empathy, (c) discovery of genetic factors transformed autistics’ identity, (d) publication of non-genetic factors such as vaccines undermined the legitimacy of the autism language, (e) the problem with …

Language Variation In The Writing Of African American Students: 6 Factors Predicting Reading Achievement, Lisa Fitton Ph.D., Lakeisha Johnson, Carla Wood, Christopher Schatschneider, Sara A. Hart

Faculty Publications

Purpose

This study aims to examine the predictive relation between measures obtained from African American students' written narrative language samples and reading achievement, as measured by standardized academic assessments.

Method

Written language samples were elicited from 207 African American students in Grades 1–8. The samples were examined for morphosyntactic variations from standardized written Generalized American English (GAE). These variations were categorized as either (a) specific to African American English (AAE) or (b) neutral across AAE and standardized written GAE (i.e., considered ungrammatical both in AAE and in standardized written GAE). Structural equation modeling was employed to then examine the predictive …

Tinnitus Effects And Correlations Between Capd, Language Processing, And Asd: A Capstone Case Series, Kristin Williford, Antony Joseph

AuD Capstone Projects - Communication Sciences and Disorders

Introduction: Some people with tinnitus have normal audiometric hearing thresholds. Even when hearing is within normal limits, patients can suffer a myriad of symptoms from tinnitus, including depression and other mental health problems. Case Presentation: A male adult presented to the clinic with complaints of bothersome tinnitus, asymmetric hearing loss, and a long history of environmental noise exposure, including both occupational and recreational noise. Discussion: Audiologists should determine the primary concerns of their tinnitus patients and how the condition affects their health and wellbeing. To do this, a thorough case history, audiologic assessment, outcome measures, and empathetic listening should be …