Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Effects Of Rhyming Instruction On Learning The Alphabetic Principle, Phonemic Awareness, And Rhyming Complexity Skills With At-Risk Prekindergarten Students, Crystal Randolph

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

At-risk prekindergarten students (i.e., low SES, speech-language impaired) typically lag behind their peers in phonological awareness and other emergent literacy skills such as letter knowledge and vocabulary (Duursma et al., 2008; Lundberg, 2009). However, there is a limited amount of research that has studied the efficacy of phonological interventions for at-risk children (Ziolkowski & Goldstein, 2008). Because of the long-lived debate concerning the role of rhyme versus the role of phoneme awareness, it is uncertain whether learning rhyming skills will provide the most facilitative context to learn other emergent literacy skills (e.g., letter knowledge, phonemic awareness). The current study investigated …

Enhancing The Application And Evaluation Of A Discrete Trial Intervention Package For Eliciting First Words In Preverbal Preschoolers With Asd, Ioanna Tsiouri, Elizabeth Schoen Simmons, Rhea Paul

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

This study evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention package including a discrete trial program (Rapid Motor Imitation Antecedent Training (Tsiouri and Greer, J Behav Educat 12:185–206, 2003) combined with parent education for eliciting first words in children with ASD who had little or no spoken language. Evaluation of the approach includes specific intervention targets and functional spoken language outcomes (Tager-Flusberg et al., J Speech Lang Hear Res 52:643–652, 2009). Results suggest that RMIA, with parent training, catalyzes development of verbal imitation and production for some children. Three of five participants acquired word production within the DTT framework and achieved milestones …

Acoustic Differences In The Imitation Of Prosodic Patterns In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Joshua J. Diehl, Rhea Paul

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

In research, it has been difficult to characterize the prosodic production differences that have been observed clinically in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Moreover, the nature of these differences has been particularly hard to identify. This study examined one possible contributor to these perceived differences: motor planning. We examined the ability of children and adolescents with ASD to imitate prosodic patterns in comparison to a group with learning disabilities (LD) and a typically developing (TD) comparison group. Overall, we found that both the ASD and LD groups were significantly worse at perceiving and imitating prosodic patterns than the TD comparison group. …

Bridging The Research Gap: Making Hri Useful To Individuals With Autism, Elizabeth Kim, Rhea Paul, Frederick Shic, Brian Scassellati

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

While there is a rich history of studies involving robots and individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), few of these studies have made substantial impact in the clinical research community. In this paper we first examine how differences in approach, study design, evaluation, and publication practices have hindered uptake of these research results. Based on ten years of collaboration, we suggest a set of design principles that satisfy the needs (both academic and cultural) of both the robotics and clinical autism research communities. Using these principles, we present a study that demonstrates a quantitatively measured improvement in human-human social interaction …

Overt Cleft Palate Phenotype And Tbx1 Genotype Correlations In Velo-Cardio-Facial/Digeorge/22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome Patients, Sean Herman, Tingwei Guo, Donna M. Mcdonald Mcginn, Anna Blonska, Alan L. Shanske, Anne S. Bassett, Eva Chow, Mark Bowser, Molly Sheridan, Frits Beemer, Koen Devriendt, Ann Swillen, Jeroen Breckpot, Maria Christina Digilio, Bruno Marino, Bruno Dallapiccola, Courtney Carpenter, Xin Zheng, Jacob Johnson, Jonathan Chung, Anne Marie Higgins, Nicole Philip, Tony J. Simon, Karlene Coleman, Damian Heine Suñer, Jordi Rosell, Wendy R. Kates, Marcella Devoto, Elaine Zackai, Tao Wang, Robert J. Shprintzen, Beverly Emanuel, Bernice Morrow, International Chromosome 22q11.2 Consortium

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Velo-cardio-facial syndrome/DiGeorge syndrome, also known as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) is the most common microdeletion syndrome, with an estimated incidence of 1/2,000 – 1/4,000 live births. Approximately 9–11% of patients with this disorder have an overt cleft palate (CP), but the genetic factors responsible for CP in the 22q11DS subset are unknown. The TBX1 gene, a member of the T-box transcription factor gene family, lies within the 22q11.2 region that is hemizygous in patients with 22q11DS. Inactivation of one allele of Tbx1 in the mouse does not result in CP, but inactivation of both alleles does. Based on these data, …

Newborns With Feeding Issues: Parental Perceptions Of The Hospital Discharge, Transition Home And The Role Of Speech Pathology, Katie Louise Ilich

Theses : Honours

This study explored the perceptions of discharge from hospital and the transition home for mothers of newborns with feeding issues. To gain an understanding of their experiences, mothers were interviewed twice, once at discharge and once up to a month later. Participants had a strong desire for their babies to be discharged from hospital, but felt anxious and underprepared. Once home, more questions typically arose. Mothers found this a highly stressful and emotional experience, especially for those without consistent speech pathology involvement. Mothers valued being involved in the decision-making process, and found this an effective coping mechanism. The value of …

Electropalatographic Measures Of Stop Consonants In Speakers With And Without Apraxia Of Speech On Repeated Sampling Occasions, Christopher Dromey, Shannon C. Mauszycki, Julie L. Wambaugh

Faculty Publications

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is an acquired motor speech disorder characterized by difficulty producing speech sounds caused by deficits in motor planning. Various tools exist to examine the physiologic aspects of articulation. Unfortunately, very few physiologic studies of AOS have been conducted. Electropalatography (EPG) is one method for examining the tongue's role in articulation by measuring tongue-to-palate contact. However, there is limited research examining the articulatory changes that are attributable to repeated exposure with wearing the pseudopalate as well as desensitization to the pseudopalate. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the impact of repeated measurement using EPG with …

The Measure Matters: Language Dominance Profiles Across Measures In Spanish–English Bilingual Children, Lisa M. Bedore, Elizabeth D. Pena, Connie Summers, Maria D. Resendiz, Kai Greene, Thomas M. Bohman, Ronald B. Gillam

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine if different language measures resulted in the same classifications of language dominance and proficiency for a group of bilingual pre-kindergarteners and kindergarteners. Data were analyzed for 1029 Spanish–English bilingual pre-kindergarteners who spanned the full range of bilingual language proficiency. Parent questionnaires were used to quantify age of first exposure and current language use. Scores from a short test of semantic and morphosyntactic development in Spanish and English were used to quantify children’s performance. Some children who were in the functionally monolingual range based on interview data demonstrated minimal knowledge of their other …

Effects Of Two Different Behavioral Swallowing Exercise Protocols Performed During Radiation Therapy On Swallowing Physiology, Function, Quality-Of-Life And Weight Outcomes Following Organ-Preservation Treatments For Head And Neck Cancers, Aneesha Virani

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two different prophylactic behavioral swallowing exercise regimens performed by head and neck cancer/s (HNC) patients during radiation therapy with/without chemotherapy (RT/C) on swallowing physiology, function, quality-of-life (QOL) and weight outcomes at the completion of RT/C. Feeding tube (PEG) status at 3 months post-treatment was also compared. Methods: This study was conducted via a prospective design. 50 patients diagnosed with HNC who were to undergo RT/C were recruited at pre-treatment based on the inclusion criteria: functional swallowing abilities; without prophylactic PEG tubes; ability to comprehend and perform therapy tasks …

A Single-Subject Study Examining The Effects Of A Behavioral Intervention For Verbal Recurrent Perserveration, Jenifer Juengling-Sudkamp

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Approximately 1 million people in the United States suffer from aphasia and > 50% of those people may demonstrate recurrent perseverations. No consensus has been forthcoming on whether (1) a therapy that directly confronts clients with imminent pre-articulatory automatisms (the perseverations) or (2) a more typical neuropsychological therapy that eschews any direct confrontation with automatic behaviors works best. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the treatment efficacy of a non-confrontational picture naming intervention on naming ability in individuals with aphasia and recurrent perseverations. METHODS: This is a prospective single-subject ABAB multiple baseline design replicated across 3 right-handed …

Comparing The Treatment Effect Of Conversational And Traditional Aphasia Treatments Based On Conversational Outcome Measures, Meghan Collins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This prospective Phase I single-subject (ABABA) study repeated across 4 participants with quasi-randomized treatment order investigated the treatment effects of conversation and traditional stimulation treatments on conversational outcomes. Treatment was administered for 10 sessions (2 one-hour weekly sessions) per treatment type. Primary conversational outcomes included 6-minute conversations coded for pragmatic behaviors and percent Correct Information Units (CIUs). Traditional stimulation probes included auditory comprehension, lexical retrieval, and syntax probe performance. Secondary outcome measures represented the domains of the ICF (WHO, 2001) model with the addition of quality of life. These included the Western Aphasia Battery (Kertesz, 2007), the American Speech Language …

Assessment Of Single-Word Production For Children Under Three Years Of Age: Comparison Of Children With And Without Cleft Palate, Nancy J. Scherer, A. Lynn Williams, Carol Stoel-Gammon, Ann Kaiser

ETSU Faculty Works

Background. This study reports comparative phonological assessment results for children with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) to typically developing peers using an evaluation tool for early phonological skills. Methods. Children without clefts (NC = noncleft) and 24 children with CLP, ages of 18–36 months, were evaluated using the Profile of Early Expressive Phonological Skills (PEEPSs) [1]. Children interacted with toy manipulatives to elicit a representative sample of target English consonants and syllable structures that are typically acquired by children between 18 and 27 months of age. Results. Results revealed significant differences between the two groups with regard to measures of …

Brain Maturation In The Adolescent Athlete And It's Implication On Concussion Management, Jacqueline Picone

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As the adolescent brain develops, any event that interrupts the process, such as a concussion, may result in long-term academic and social effects (Dennis & Levin, 2004). To date, there is no specific assessment or protocol published that consider the cognitive and development of the adolescent brain when managing concussion (Patel, et al., 2005). Purpose: to investigate whether there is a statistically significant difference between the composite scores and sub-test scores in the subtests on the ImPACT battery: Word Memory, Design Memory, X's and O's, Symbol Match, Color Match, and Three Letters, of high school male athletes between the ages …

Comparison Of Performance Between Elderly Individuals And Collegiate Athletes On The Immediate Post-Assessment And Cognitive Test, Kevin Van Den Bogaard

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Preventing falls in the elderly population requires a collaborative effort that includes medical treatment, rehabilitation, and environmental modification. Medical assessment of the elderly after a fall is designed to treat the potential conditions associated with the fall, such as broken limbs and trauma to the head resulting in a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Currently, there is no standardized test or protocol accepted across health care facilities to track the cognitive-communicative recovery of elderly patients. A group of elderly individuals deemed healthy and capable of independent living were administered the baseline Immediate Post Assessment and Cognitive Test (ImPACT). This study …

Sensitivity To Probabilistic Orthographic Cues To Lexical Stress In Adolescent Speakers With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Typical Peers, Joanne Arciuli, Rhea Paul

Communication Disorders Faculty Publications

Lexical stress refers to the opposition of strong and weak syllables within polysyllabic words and is a core feature of the English prosodic system. There are probabilistic cues to lexical stress present in English orthography. For example, most disyllabic English words ending with the letters “-ure” have first-syllable stress (e.g., “pasture”, but note words such as “endure”), whereas most ending with “-ose” have second-syllable stress (e.g., “propose”, but note examples such as “glucose”). Adult native speakers of English are sensitive to these probabilities during silent reading. During testing, they tend to assign first-syllable stress when reading a nonword such as …

Assessing Cortical Electrophysiologic And Behavioral Activity In Individuals With Aphasia And Participants With No Brain Damage Responding To Spoken Sentence Length Messages, Patricia Lara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this study, six individuals with aphasia and twelve participants with no brain damage responded to spoken sentence length messages using a modified version of the Revised Token Test (McNeil & Prescott, 1978) while cortical activation was recorded using event related potentials (ERP). ERP is a non-invasive imaging procedure that measures cortical activation reflected in the electrical activity that is produced at the level of the cortex in response to internal or external stimulus.

Participants were presented with a visual display that provided eight different token arrangements per trial that were displayed on the computer screen. Spoken messages that increased …

Phonological Memory Associations Of Language Impairment In Bilingual Children, Marcela Susa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Knowledge-based assessments of language impairments have been found to contain bias for assessing performance in bilingual children from diverse cultural backgrounds. As an alternative, measures related to performance of phonological working memory are becoming more popular for bilingual children. The purpose of the current study was to investigate how bilingual children with language impairment (BILI) would perform on nonword repetition and sentence repetition when compared to typically developing peers (BITD). Also, the current study investigated the extent to which the nonword repetition task and sentence repetition task were associated with each other in bilingual (English-Spanish) children. Results demonstrated that typically …

Frequency Response Of Synthetic Vocal Fold Models With Linear And Nonlinear Material Properties, Stephanie M. Shaw, Scott L. Thomson, Christopher Dromey, Simeon Smith

Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to create synthetic vocal fold models with nonlinear stress-strain properties and to investigate the effect of linear versus nonlinear material properties on fundamental frequency during anterior-posterior stretching.
Method: Three materially linear and three materially nonlinear models were created and stretched up to 10 mm in 1 mm increments. Phonation onset pressure (P_on), fundamental frequency (F₀) at P_on, and F₀ at 0.20 kPa above P_on were recorded for each length. Measurements were repeated as the models were relaxed in 1 mm increments back to their resting …

Spectral Analysis Of Stop Consonants In Individuals With Dysarthria Secondary To Stroke, Trescha S. Kay

LSU Master's Theses

Dysarthria refers to a group of neurogenic speech disorders which result in abnormal strength, speed, range, steadiness, tone, or accuracy of movements required for speech production. Although speech deficits of dysarthria are heterogeneous according to lesion sites and/or etiologies such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease (PD), “imprecise consonants” has been known as one of the most prominent and frequently occurring features of dysarthria, which subsequently contributes to decreased speech intelligibility. The present study points out the paucity of acoustic data on consonants produced by speakers with dysarthria, especially by spectral analysis, and reports four spectral moment …

The Relationship Between Children's Nonmainstream English Dialect Density And Their Emergfent Reading Achievement, Katelyn Danielle Rodrigue

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between children’s use of nonmainstream dialect and their emerging reading ability. The data were from 79 kindergarteners; 39 were AA and 40 were non-AA; 38 were male and 41 were female. All children presented with varying language abilities and dialect densities, as measured by the DELV-ST. Dialect densities ranged from Mainstream American English (MAE), some variation of MAE, and strong variations of MAE. The children’s reading abilities were measured by the DIBELS, which was administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. Preliminary results showed that children’s …