Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

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

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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

Effects Of Augmentative And Alternative Device On Echolalia In Autism, Cynthia Valenzuela

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study was a systematic replication of Mueller and Forbes (n.d.), which evaluated the effects of a high-tech and low-tech augmentative alternative communication (AAC) device on reducing echolalia in a verbal child with autism during conversational speech. The participant for this study was a verbal eleven-year male, who was diagnosed with autism prior to the study. A single subject alternating treatment research design was used to evaluate the effect of a high-tech speech generating AAC device (Proloquo2go) on echolalia. The participant was seen periodically twice a week for two months and periodically for one month. A functional analysis(Prizant & Rydell, …

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

Research outputs 2013

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

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

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

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

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

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

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

Addressing The Higher Level Language Skills For The Common Core State Standards In Kindergarten, Ashley Bourque Meaux

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Kindergarten is a critical year, providing a foundation for children’s success in school. With a common set of standards, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), finalized and made available to states for adoption critical skills in numeracy and literacy will be uniformed from kindergarten through high school. Some children enter school with a sufficient foundation to support success in kindergarten and subsequent years. However, some children either because of lack of exposure during preschool years (e.g., Aikens & Barbarin, 2008; Hart & Risley, 1995; Schacter, 1979; Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998) or because of language delays associated with developmental disabilities …

Does Baby Sign Open The Door To Second Language Learning?, Nicole A. Hulme

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this thesis project is to determine the relationship between an infant's acquisition of Baby Sign and their ability to acquire a second language later in life. An explanation of why infancy is a critical time for language development will be presented and information about the impact of Baby Sign on an infant's development will be provided. There are many research and popular claims regarding Baby Sign that will be discussed, in addition to research findings concerning second language learning. Based on this research, conclusions about the connection between Baby Sign and second language learning will be drawn …

The "Tragedy" Of Down Syndrome: Is It Really So Tragic?, Ashley A. Richardson

Honors Program Theses

All of these factors prove that something needs to be done to educate the general public and medical professionals on the topic of Down syndrome. Because of this misinformation, Down syndrome is not being presented as simply part of the child but rather as the child's identity. Following this diagnosis, many parents question whether or not they would be able to raise a child with Down syndrome and are being forced to decide whether it is best to keep the child, give the newborn up for adoption, or terminate the pregnancy. Such drastic measures result from misinformation. These common misconceptions …

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

Theses : Honours

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

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

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

Theses : Honours

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

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

Theses : Honours

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

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

Writing Supports For Older Students With Significant Disabilities: Examining Two Students' Journeys Towards Becoming Writers, Emily Helen Freeman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study describes the changes in linguistic and social communicative competencies that occurred when two older students with significant disabilities where provided with writing opportunities, instruction, and supports over a semester of the academic year. The goals of the study were to identify themes and patterns in the skills associated with linguistic and social communicative competence as evidenced in writing over time. A second aim of this study was to identify instruction methods and assistive technology supports being used in the classroom and describes the themes and patterns that emerged in the students’ writing given the presence of these curriculum …

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

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

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

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

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

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

Assessing Correlations Between Lingual Movements And Formants, Christopher Dromey, Gwi-Ok Jang, Kristi Hollis

Faculty Publications

First and second formant histories have been used in studies of both normal and disordered speech to indirectly measure the activity of the vocal tract. The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent to which formant measures are reflective of lingual movements during diphthong production. Twenty native speakers of American English from the western United States produced four diphthongs in a sentence context while tongue movement was measured with a magnetic tracking system. Correlations were computed between the vertical tongue movements and the first formant, as well as between the anteroposterior movements and the second formant during …

A Comparison Of Performance On The Wii Basic Balance Test Between Concussed And Non-Concussed Collegiate Students, Vanessa Eileen Fernandez-Vivar

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Wii Board Basic Balance Test has served as a useful tool for assessing balance in concussion management. In the event that an athlete is concussed, baseline data will be useful when managing a concussion. In cases where baseline data is not available, having normative data is useful to refer to in order to make appropriate return-to-play decisions. To date, normative data on the Wii Board Basic Balance Test is not available. Purpose: This study will compare the performance of concussed and nonconcussed individuals on the Wii Basic Balance Test. Method: A between subject design between the two groups of …

The Impact Of Baby Sign On Motor Development In Typically Developing Infants And Toddlers, Melissa Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

"Baby Sign is an augmentative communication approach that teaches babies keyword signing that they can use to communicate before they talk." (Sneddon 2003). Baby sign has become popular among parents of infants as a means to communicate before the child can verbally express wants and needs. Programs and classes are now becoming available in many areas of the country to help teach parents basic signs to use with their children. This study aimed to assess the impact of baby

sign on motor development in typically developing infants. The study found that the impact of baby sign language on motor development …

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

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

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

Relationship Between Listening Comprehension And Signal-To-Noise Ratio Loss In Children, Juli Beth Junkersfeld

Student Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the listening comprehension skills and signal-to-noise ratio hearing loss of third grade children. A pool of potential participants was formed based on their scores earned on the listening comprehension subtest of the Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Examination (GRADE). Twenty-one third grade students were available for participation in this study. In order to accomplish the purposes of this study, the same 21 children were grouped by three separate criteria: listening comprehension scores, sentence comprehension scores, and hearing sensitivity. The instrument used in this study was the Quick Speech In Noise (QuickSIN), an adaptive test that uses a …

Noun Clauses In Clinical Child Language Samples, Christine Beate Scoville

Theses and Dissertations

Noun clauses are grammatical constructions that are of relevance both to typical language development and impaired language development. These clauses have been part of published techniques for the clinical analysis of language samples, and computer software for the automated analysis of clinical language samples has attempted to identify noun clauses, with limited success. The present study examined the development and clinical use of noun clauses as well as the automated identification of these clauses. Two sets of language samples were examined. One set consisted of 10 children with specific language impairment (SLI) whose age ranged from 7;6 to 11;1 (years;months), …