Speech and Hearing Science Commons^™

Using Visual Scene Displays As Communication Support Options For People With Chronic, Severe Aphasia: A Summary Of Aac Research And Future Research Directions, David R. Beukelman, Karen Hux, Aimee R. Dietz, Miechelle L. Mckelvey, Kristy S.E. Weissling

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Research about the effectiveness of communicative supports and advances in photographic technology has prompted changes in the way speech-language pathologists design and implement interventions for people with aphasia. The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of photographic images as a basis for developing communication supports for people with chronic aphasia secondary to sudden-onset events due to cerebrovascular accidents (strokes). Topics include the evolution of AAC-based supports as they relate to people with aphasia, the development and key features of visual scene displays (VSDs), and future directions concerning the incorporation of photographs into communication supports for people with …

Speech-Language Pathologists On Multicultural Counseling Competency, Denise Moore Revel

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite reports of speech-language pathology graduate-level programs focusing on multicultural competence, the literature suggests speech-language pathologists are not adequately educated and trained to be culturally competent. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of public school-based speech-language pathologists' graduate-level academic instruction and the clinical practicum experiences in multicultural competence, specifically in the area of multicultural counseling. Guided by the theory of multicultural counseling and therapy, this study used a phenomenological approach, employing semistructured, in-person interviews with 7 participants. The inclusion criteria used for selecting study participants included: having a master's degree in speech-language pathology, graduation from an …

An Axisymmetric Finite Element Model To Study The Earplug Contribution To The Bone Conduction Occlusion Effect, Martin K. Brummund, Franck Sgard, Yvan Petit, Frédéric Laville, Hugues Nélisse

Études primaires

An axisymmetric linear elasto-acoustic finite element (FE) model of an occluded human external ear is proposed to simulate the bone conduction occlusion effect (OE). The model consists of a cylindrical ear canal cavity surrounded by layers of biological tissues (skin, cartilage and bone) in which an earplug is inserted. Geometrical and material properties are taken from the literature. OEs are predicted for foam and silicone earplug FE-models using COMSOL Multiphysics (COMSOL®, Sweden). The FE-model is shown to predict the experimental OE measured in two healthy human reference groups wearing foam or silicone earplugs, satisfactorily. Deviations between model and experiment are …

Anticipatory Coarticulation And Stability Of Speech In Typically Fluent Speakers And People Who Stutter Across The Lifespan: An Ultrasound Study, Alissa Joy Belmont

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study uses ultrasound to image onset velar stop consonant articulation in words. By examining tongue body placement, the extent of velar closure variation across vowel contexts provides for the measurement of anticipatory coarticulation while productions within the same vowel context provide measurement of extent of token-to-token variation. Articulate Assistant Advanced 2.0 software was used to semi-automatically generate midsagittal tongue contours at the initial point of maximum velar closure and was used to fit each contour to a curved spline. Patterns of lingual coarticulation and measures of speech motor stability, based on curve-to-curve distance (Zharkova, Hewlett, & Hardcastle, 2011), are …

Validity Testing Of A Preschool Reading Screening Device For Pediatricians, Erika Elaine Blue

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite efforts to improve access to early literacy intervention in the United States, there are still children entering kindergarten that are not adequately prepared for school and are unlikely to catch up to their peers (National Education Association, 2014). Preschool programs are actively involved in screening their students for potential literacy difficulties; however, there are children who do not attend preschool and may not have their literacy development assessed. One solution to this problem is to involve other individuals who routinely see preschool age children. Pediatricians are one such group as children come to them for their wellness visits and …

Script Training: The Role Of Written Cues, Hallie Cohen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Script training is a technique that allows persons with acquired speech and language disorders, such as nonfluent aphasia, to have islands of fluent speech during which they can speak about a topic without pausing or having word-finding errors. Scripts relevant to specific functional situations are written and practiced until memorized. Script training delivered verbally has been effective with clients with aphasia but the role of written cues in the training has not been explored. Therefore the purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of script training taught verbally, or verbally with a written script, in persons with aphasia. …

Mindfulness Attributes As Predictors Of Treatment Outcomes In Children Who Stutter, Jenna Lee Graepel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A recent U.S.-based survey (Boyle et al,. 2011) estimated stuttering prevalence in American children ages 3-17 years at 1.6% or 1 in 63 children. In comparison to the reported 1 in 68 school age children living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010), stuttering affects nearly as many. These estimates suggest that Speech-Language Pathologist (SLPs) should increasingly develop their skill sets for identifying and providing interventions for children who stutter.

The evidence base for school-age fluency intervention, while promising, leaves much room for further development (Nippold, 2011). The majority of current interventions revolve around the traditional …

Outcomes Of A Combined Mindfulness, Stuttering Modification, And Fluency Shaping Intervention For Children Who Stutter, Jennifer Kordell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A week-long intervention for five school-age children who stutter was implemented using techniques of fluency shaping, stuttering management, and mindfulness training. The purpose of this study was to investigate if children who stutter stuttered less frequently, stuttered with less struggle, and demonstrated changes in mindfulness measures after the completion of this week-long intervention. Pre- to post-treatment measures were analyzed by individual and group-level results. A comparative analysis between reading and narrative tasks was also performed. Findings indicate that three out of five children reduced the total number of disfluencies during the reading task, and two children reduced this total during …

Hesitation Rate As A Speaker-Specific Cue In Bilingual Individuals, Jamie Lynn Armbrecht

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hesitation use is common among all speakers, regardless of whether they are engaged in their dominant or non-dominant language (Fehringer & Fry, 2007; Reed, 2000). The question is whether a bilingual speaker will engage in the same types of hesitations in both languages. If hesitation patterns can be identified consistently across speakers regardless of language, their use as an acoustic cue for speaker identification may be possible. This study examines differences in hesitation use across languages and speaking contexts (reading vs. conversation) in bilingual speakers.

Twenty Spanish-English bilinguals (ages 19 -31 years) were tested as part of a larger speaker …

Mapping The Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Sensorimotor Integration During The Perception And Performance Of Wallowing, Megan E. Cuellar

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Similar to other complex sequences of muscle activity, swallowing relies heavily upon ‘sensorimotor integration.’ It is well known that the premotor cortex and primary sensorimotor cortices provide critical sensorimotor contributions that help control the strength and timing of swallowing muscle effectors. However, the temporal dynamics of sensorimotor integration remains unclear, even when performed normally without neurological compromise. Recent advances in EEG analysis blind source separation techniques via independent component analysis offer a novel and exciting opportunity to measure cortical sensorimotor activity in realtime during swallowing, concurrently with muscle activity during swallow initiation. In the current study, mu components were identified, …

The Effect Of Hearing Impairment On Word Processing Of Infant- And Adult-Directed Speech, Velma Sue Robertson

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Objective. Little is known about how children with hearing loss (CHL) process words. The Emergent Coalition Model (ECM) of early word learning proposes that multiple cues (e.g., perceptual, social, linguistic) are used to facilitate word learning. Because hearing loss influences speech perception, different word learning patterns may emerge in CHL relative to children with normal hearing (CNH). One perceptual cue used by young children to access word learning is infant-directed-speech (IDS). Specifically, twenty-one month-olds can learn words in IDS but not in adult directed speech (ADS); however, by 27 months children can learn words in ADS. Currently, it is unknown …

Student Training In A University Setting Voice Clinic- How Do We Do It?, Chaya D. Nanjundeswaran (Guntupalli), Celia Bassich, Robin Samlan

ETSU Faculty Works

This presentation will discuss the challenges that clinical supervisors face when trying to balance efficient graduate student training and patient welfare in university voice clinics. We will propose a model in which we seek to balance the needs of the patient, student clinician, and clinical instructor.

Development Of Metalinguistic Awareness: Evidence From Children’S Overt Productions, Laura Kirkby, Mallory Dingess, Jamesa Ewing, Whitney Salvers, Kerry Proctor-Williams

ETSU Faculty Works

This study examined whether metalinguistic frequency increases or utterance type changes with age in children with typical language. Overt metalinguistic productions of 32 children, 3;0-5;7, were collected during recast intervention. Overall, the data showed changes in frequency and proportion of types with age.

Students’ Attitudes And Perceptions Toward Interprofessional Education, Rabia Foreman, Lacey Harris, Kathryn Mcguire, Kerry Proctor-Williams, Katie Baker

ETSU Faculty Works

Three scales were administered to measure attitudes of graduate students in health professions prior to their participation in an interprofessional education (IPE) pilot program. Overall, results indicated that students’ attitudes toward IPE were generally positive, but there is room for improvement. Additionally, medical students’ attitudes differed from the other disciplines.

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes For Infants With Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Implications For Speech-Language Pathologists And Audiologists, Kerry Proctor-Williams

ETSU Faculty Works

The causes and neurodevelopmental outcomes of children exposed to drugs and/or alcohol prenatally are presented. The incidence of this population is rising rapidly and appearing in increasing numbers on the caseloads of speech-language pathologists. Topics include prevalence, common drugs, Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, longer-term neurodevelopmental outcomes, and treatment challenges.

Bilingual Language Assessment: Contemporary Practice Versus Recommended Practice, Graciela Arias

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the increasing number of culturally and linguistically diverse students within American school systems, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in school settings must be prepared to distinguish between typically developing bilingual students and those with language impairments. The purpose of this study was to identify current practices of school-based SLPs for bilingual language assessment and compare them to both American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) best practice guidelines, and mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The study was modeled to replicate Caesar and Kohler's (2007) study to include a nationally representative sample. While the survey was opened over 400 times, …

Classification For Animal Vocal Fold Surgery: Resection Margins Impact Histological Outcomes Of Vocal Fold Injury, Mitsuyoshi Imaizumi, Susan L. Thibeault, Ciara Leydon

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Objective—Extent of vocal fold injury impacts the nature and timing of wound healing, and voice outcomes. However, depth and extent of the lesion created to study wound healing in animal models vary across studies, likely contributing to different outcomes. Our goal was to create a surgery classification system to enable comparison of postoperative outcomes across animal vocal fold wound healing studies.

Study design—Prospective, controlled animal study.

Methods—Rats underwent one of three types of unilateral vocal fold surgeries classified by depth and length of resection. The surgeries were a subepithelial injury, resection of epithelium and superficial layer of the lamina propria …

Vocal Fold Epithelial Barrier In Health And Injury: A Research Review., Elizabeth E. Levendoski, Ciara Leydon, Susan L. Thibeault

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Purpose: Vocal fold epithelium is composed of layers of individual epithelial cells joined by junctional complexes constituting a unique interface with the external environment. This barrier provides structural stability to the vocal folds and protects underlying connective tissue from injury while being nearly continuously exposed to potentially hazardous insults, including environmental or systemic-based irritants such as pollutants and reflux, surgical procedures, and vibratory trauma. Small disruptions in the epithelial barrier may have a large impact on susceptibility to injury and overall vocal health. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad-based review of current knowledge of the vocal …

When Less Can Be More: Dual Task Effects In Stuttering And Fluent Adults, Naomi Nechama Eichorn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study tested the counterintuitive hypothesis that engaging cognitive resources in a secondary task while speaking could benefit aspects of speech production. Effects of dual task conditions on speech fluency, rate, and error patterns were examined in stuttering and fluent speakers based on specific predictions derived from three related theoretical frameworks. Twenty fluent adults and 19 adults with confirmed diagnoses of stuttering participated in the study. All participants completed two baseline tasks: (1) a continuous speaking task in which spontaneous speech was produced in response to given prompts; and (2) a working memory (WM) task involving manipulations of WM …

Consonant Context Effects On Vowel Sensorimotor Adaptation, Jeffrey J. Berry, John Jaeger Iv, Melissa Wiedenhoeft, Brittany A. Bernal, Michael T. Johnson

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

Speech sensorimotor adaptation is the short-term learning of modified articulator movements evoked through sensory-feedback perturbations. A common experimental method manipulates acoustic parameters, such as formant frequencies, using real time resynthesis of the participant's speech to perturb auditory feedback. While some studies have examined phrases comprised of vowels, diphthongs, and semivowels, the bulk of research on auditory feedback-driven sensorimotor adaptation has focused on vowels in neutral contexts (/hVd/). The current study investigates coarticulatory influences of adjacent consonants on sensorimotor adaptation. The purpose is to evaluate differences in the adaptation effects for vowels in consonant environments that vary by place and manner …

Palate-Referenced Articulatory Features For Acoustic-To-Articulator Inversion, An Ji, Michael T. Johnson, Jeffrey J. Berry

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

The selection of effective articulatory features is an important component of tasks such as acoustic-to-articulator inversion and articulatory synthesis. Although it is common to use direct articulatory sensor measurements as feature variables, this approach fails to incorporate important physiological information such as palate height and shape and thus is not as representative of vocal tract cross section as desired. We introduce a set of articulator feature variables that are palate referenced and normalized with respect to the articulatory working space in order to improve the quality of the vocal tract representation. These features include normalized horizontal positions plus the normalized …

Across-Speaker Articulatory Normalization For Speaker-Independent Silent Speech Recognition, Jun Wang, Ashok Samal, Jordan Green

School of Computing: Conference and Workshop Papers

Silent speech interfaces (SSIs), which recognize speech from articulatory information (i.e., without using audio information), have the potential to enable persons with laryngectomy or a neurological disease to produce synthesized speech with a natural sounding voice using their tongue and lips. Current approaches to SSIs have largely relied on speaker-dependent recognition models to minimize the negative effects of talker variation on recognition accuracy. Speaker-independent approaches are needed to reduce the large amount of training data required from each user; only limited articulatory samples are often available for persons with moderate to severe speech impairments, due to the logistic difficulty of …

Production Of Complex/Compounds Sentences In The Spontaneous Speech Of Typically Developing Children And Children With Williams Syndrome, Maureen Boyle

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Literature claims individuals with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare congenital genetic mental retardation syndrome, easily engage in conversation and demonstrate unique and advanced linguistic skills compared to typically developing peers (TDP). These claims are supported by limited empirical evidence, however. One method of judging advanced linguistic skills is to compare the production of complex/compound sentences of children with WS and their TDP. The purpose of the study was to determine whether children with WS use more complex/compound sentences than children who are typically developing. Twelve subjects participated in the study. Six subjects with WS (SWS), mean age 15, and 6 …

The Use Of Paralinguistics In Spontaneous Speech Of Children With Williams Syndrome And Typically Development Children, Kelly Ritter, Evan Panitzke, Emily Kruse

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This project investigated selected aspects of paralinguistics in spontaneous speech of speakers with Williams syndrome. Speakers with Williams syndrome “are noted for their well developed vocabulary, relatively complex and syntactically correct sentences, and their ability to spin a good tale. In contrast, their reasoning usually remains at a pre-operational or preschool level, and they typically have difficulty grasping cause-effect relations” (Semel & Rosner, 2003, p. 5). This research focused on an area of communication called paralinguistics which involved the use of nonspeech sounds for communication. Specifically, we looked at the frequency of laughing and sound effects produced during conversation. Ten …

Accuracy Of /T/ Productions In Children With Cochlear Implants As Compared To Normal-Hearing, Articulation Age-Matched Peers, Terry Gier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children who receive cochlear implants (CIs) demonstrate considerable variability in speech sound production. Investigations focused on speech sound development in children with CIs have shown initial accelerated growth, followed by a plateau where consonant order of acquisition generally mirrors that of NH children, but is slower (Blamey, Barry, & Pascale, 2001; Serry & Blamey, 1999; Spencer & Guo, 2013). A notable exception to this pattern, /t/, has been shown to be acquired later-than normal in several investigations (Blamey et al., 2001; Chin, 2003; Ertmer, True Kloiber, Jongmin, Connell Kirleis, & Bradford, 2012). The primary purpose of this investigation was to …

Spelling Of Derivationally Complex Words: The Role Of Phonological, Orthographic, And Morphological Features, Sofia Benson-Goldberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Spelling ability is not static; rather, as children age, learning how to encode morphophonologically complex words in conventional ways is motivated by the increasingly complex demands imposed by academic experiences with morphologically complex words. Success requires ongoing integration of phonological (P), orthographic (O) and morphological (M) knowledge. However, current research on the development and assessment of spelling has not sufficiently accounted for the way word features and participant characteristics interact with students' POM knowledge in the spelling of derived words. This study used a linear mixed effects regression approach to provide new insights about how both word characteristics and students' …

Psychophysical Auditory Filter Estimates Reveal Sharper Cochlear Tuning In Musicians, Gavin Bidelman, Jonathan Schug, Skyler Jennings, Shaum Bhagat

Faculty Publications

Musicianship confers enhancements to hearing at nearly all levels of the auditory system from periphery to percept. Musicians' superior psychophysical abilities are particularly evident in spectral discrimination and noise-degraded listening tasks, achieving higher perceptual sensitivity than their nonmusician peers. Greater spectral acuity implies that musicianship may increase auditory filter selectivity. This hypothesis was directly tested by measuring both forward- and simultaneous-masked psychophysical tuning curves. Sharper filter tuning (i.e., higher Q10) was observed in musicians compared to nonmusicians. Findings suggest musicians' pervasive listening benefits may be facilitated, in part, by superior spectral processing/decomposition as early as the auditory periphery.

Effect Of Retrieval Practice On Applied Knowledge: Evidence From A Professional Training Program, Jenna Voss

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

A primary goal of deaf education teacher preparation programs is to help students acquire a sufficient body of factual and pedagogical knowledge and retain it for future application while serving children with hearing loss and their families. One potential way to improve teacher preparation is through the implementation of retrieval practice, a strategy to promote learning and retention of material over time. This study examined whether retrieval practice could be used to improve learning in an authentic educational environment, using real content, and real materials. While this study provided important information regarding the implementation of retrieval practice authentic classrooms, it …

The Electromagnetic Articulography Mandarin Accented English (Ema-Mae) Corpus Of Acoustic And 3d Articulatory Kinematic Data, Jeffrey J. Berry, An Ji, Michael T. Johnson

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

There is a significant need for more comprehensive electromagnetic articulography (EMA) datasets that can provide matched acoustics and articulatory kinematic data with good spatial and temporal resolution. The Marquette University Electromagnetic Articulography Mandarin Accented English (EMA-MAE) corpus provides kinematic and acoustic data from 40 gender and dialect balanced speakers representing 20 Midwestern standard American English L1 speakers and 20 Mandarin Accented English (MAE) L2 speakers, half Beijing region dialect and half are Shanghai region dialect. Three dimensional EMA data were collected at a 400 Hz sampling rate using the NDI Wave system, with articulatory sensors on the midsagittal lips, lower …

Sensorimotor Adaptation Of Speech Using Real-Time Articulatory Resynthesis, Jeffrey J. Berry, Cassandra North, Michael T. Johnson

Speech Pathology and Audiology Faculty Research and Publications

Sensorimotor adaptation is an important focus in the study of motor learning for non-disordered speech, but has yet to be studied substantially for speech rehabilitation. Speech adaptation is typically elicited experimentally using LPC resynthesis to modify the sounds that a speaker hears himself producing. This method requires that the participant be able to produce a robust speech-acoustic signal and is therefore not well-suited for talkers with dysarthria. We have developed a novel technique using electromagnetic articulography (EMA) to drive an articulatory synthesizer. The acoustic output of the articulatory synthesizer can be perturbed experimentally to study auditory feedback effects on sensorimotor …