Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

Three Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Programs, One Model: Using Systematic Instruction To Develop Students’ Clinical Decision-Making Skills, Bryan M. Ness, Therese O'Neil-Pirozzi, Peter Meulenbroek

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

To prepare graduate students to implement evidence-based practice effectively, educators must integrate instruction on rational clinical decision-making into course curricula. Three faculty members at different universities adopted an educational approach derived from the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System (RTSS) to teach and assess clinical decision-making in the context of treating acquired cognitive-communication disorders for people with traumatic brain injury. Using treatment theory illustrated in the RTSS, the authors piloted instruction and assessment materials to examine potential usefulness of the approach and effects on student knowledge and confidence in clinical decision-making. The results indicated that the instructional approach effectively bolstered students’ knowledge …

A Capstone Course In Speech-Language Pathology, Linda C. Murdock, Carson M. York

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Capstone courses are considered a high impact practice with the potential to positively affect student learning. This article describes the design and implementation of a capstone in speech-language pathology designed to round out the undergraduate experience by shifting the learning focus away from disorder characteristics and onto individuals living with disabilities. The course is designed to teach students compassion, self-evaluation, and strategies for personal growth.

Interprofessional Experience For Future Education Professionals: School Psychology And Speech-Language Pathology Students, Shari L. Deveney, Brian Mckevitt

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Educational training programs are tasked with addressing potential barriers to interprofessional practice through experiences that promote interprofessional collaborations. The present study of interprofessional experiences (IPE) had both research and pedagogical purposes. The research purpose was to describe graduate student self-perceptions related to interprofessional teaming/collaboration before and after an IPE involving two educational training programs, school psychology and speech-language pathology. The pedagogical purpose was to convey a detailed description of a case-based IPE offered as a course assignment and offer implementation suggestions. Participants in this course-based IPE were 109 students in the school psychology and speech-language pathology graduate programs at a …

Creating A Theoretical Framework To Underpin Discourse Assessment And Intervention In Aphasia, Lucy Dipper, Jane Marshall, Mary Boyle, Deborah Hersh, Nicola Botting, Madeline Cruice

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Discourse (a unit of language longer than a single sentence) is fundamental to everyday communication. People with aphasia (a language impairment occurring most frequently after stroke, or other brain damage) have communication difficulties which lead to less complete, less coherent, and less complex discourse. Although there are multiple reviews of discourse assessment and an emerging evidence base for discourse intervention, there is no unified theoretical framework to underpin this research. Instead, disparate theories are recruited to explain different aspects of discourse impairment, or symptoms are reported without a hypothesis about the cause. What is needed is a theoretical framework that …

Adhd Performance On Nonverbal Measures Of Set Shifting And Working Memory, S. Hans Stoltzfus

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The relationship between language and cognition is an area of inquiry among many psychologists (Pellicano, 2010; Russel, 1996). The connection between thoughts, verbal language, and nonverbal communication turned researchers towards the relationship between language and executive functioning. Executive functioning (EF) is described as tasks involving working memory, inhibition, and set shifting (Miyake and Friedman (2012)). Despite studies demonstrating the correlation between language deficits and lower executive functioning there is not consensus on the directionality of the relationship (Kuhn, et al 2014; Boting et al., 2017). Data from the Leiter International Performance Scale, Third Edition (Leiter-3) (Roid, et al., 2013) were …

Encoding And Perception Of Voicing And Aspiration In Native And Non-Native Listeners In Quiet And In Background Noise, Reethee Antony

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The perception and encoding of voice cues in consonants have been well studied, whereas there has been relatively little research on aspiration. The current study examined the encoding and perception of aspiration and voicing in Hindi, American English, and Tamil listeners when relevant cues were and were not degraded by noise. This study is novel because of the inclusion of aspiration, the language groups, inclusion of noise masking, and inclusion of auditory evoked potentials (in addition to behavioral testing).

The first aim was to determine whether language groups for whom aspiration and/or voicing is phonemically contrastive show better perception and …

Voice-Related Experiences Of Nonbinary Individuals (Veni) Development And Content Validity, Grace Shefcik, Pei-Tzu Tsai

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Transgender individuals may seek a variety of gender-affirming health and educational services, including voice modification from speech-language pathologists. Measuring the client's self-perception of their communication experiences is crucial for providing client-centered services and measuring outcomes. However, there is currently no validated assessment tool for the nonbinary population, a part of the transgender population. This study explores the voice-related concerns and experiences among the nonbinary population to create a valid measure of their self-perception of voice. Ten nonbinary individuals were surveyed about their voice-related concerns and experiences. A thematic analysis of the responses led to the development of the questionnaire, titled …

Auditory Brainstem Responses To Successive Sounds: Effects Of Gap Duration And Depth, Fan-Yin Cheng, Craig A. Champlin

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Temporal acuity is the ability to differentiate between sounds based on fluctuations in the waveform envelope. The proximity of successive sounds and background noise diminishes the ability to track rapid changes between consecutive sounds. We determined whether a physiological correlate of temporal acuity is also affected by these factors. We recorded the auditory brainstem response (ABR) from human listeners using a harmonic complex (S1) followed by a brief tone burst (S2) with the latter serving as the evoking signal. The duration and depth of the silent gap between S1 and S2 were manipulated, and the peak latency and amplitude of …

Abnormal Nutritive Sucking As An Indicator Of Neonatal Brain Injury, Sabrina Shandley, Gilson J. Capilouto, Eleonora Tamilia, David M. Riley, Yvette R. Johnson, Christos Papadelis

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Publications

A term neonate is born with the ability to suck; this neuronal network is already formed and functional by 28 weeks gestational age and continues to evolve into adulthood. Because of the necessity of acquiring nutrition, the complexity of the neuronal network needed to suck, and neuroplasticity in infancy, the skill of sucking has the unique ability to give insight into areas of the brain that may be damaged either during or before birth. Interpretation of the behaviors during sucking shows promise in guiding therapies and how to potentially repair the damage early in life, when neuroplasticity is high. Sucking …

Expanding The Educational Network For Students With Autism: Partnering With School Librarians, Selena J. Layden, Amelia Anderson

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

School librarians play an important role in our public schools by supporting students through both formal and informal learning opportunities. All students have access to library services, including those who receive additional support through special education. Students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), in particular, may benefit from both the library environment and the knowledge and training specific to school librarians. Yet, school librarians frequently are not included as part of these students' educational teams. This study utilized a survey to discover the extent to which school librarians report providing services and supports to students with ASD, as well as the …

Using Dialogic Reading To Facilitate Intergenerational Interactions In Persons With Aphasia: A Feasibility Study, Gillian I. Anderson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching dialogic reading (DR) strategies to patients with aphasia (PWA) as measured by DR strategy use during virtual training sessions. The secondary purpose was to improve psychosocial factors, including communicative participation, perceived stress, and confidence. A single subject multiple baseline across behaviors research design was employed via a telehealth model to examine a training program in DR strategies on expressive linguistic abilities and aspects of quality of life (QoL) in a PWA. Treatment was given four to five times a week and the session length varied based on the …

Language Abilities Of Children Who Qualify For Both Speech Therapy And Play Therapy, Rylee Atkins

2021 Honors Symposium

• Interprofessional collaboration in the educational setting is vital to a holistic approach to addressing a child’s individual needs. Despite the benefits of interprofessional practices (IPP), collaboration in the educational setting can be challenging. Some challenges that impede IPP from occurring in the school setting include time constraints and awareness of roles; however, interprofessional practice can be an effective way to set a child up for success (Kerins, 2018). There is substantial evidence that supports the idea of collaboration within services for the well-being of the child (Choi & Pak, 2006; Ellis et al., 2005; Johnson, 2016). Counselors and speech-language …

Bimodal And Bilingual: Language Characteristics Of Asl And English Users In Deaf Education, Caitlin Bumpass

2021 Honors Symposium

Background:
• Understanding how language develops in children who are learning two languages can provide a better understanding of language development in general.
• There is an abundant amount of research regarding language skills of children who are deaf or hard of hearing (d/hh); however, it is unclear if researchers are using a similar definition when describing the characteristics of bimodal/bilingualism.
• Bimodal bilingualism is the use of both an oral language and a sign language, which in the U.S. often includes the ability to perceive and produce both American Sign Language (ASL) and spoken and/or written English.

Purpose:
• …

The Diffusion Of Augmentative And Alternative Communication: A Qualitative Application Of Everett Rogers’S Theory Of Diffusion To Aac Refusal And Abandonment Literature, Foster Ellis

2021 Honors Symposium

INTRODUCTION
• Empirical evidence demonstrates benefits of AAC communication for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities
• However, trends of refusal and abandonment of AAC systems by these populations have been documented
• Diffusion of Innovations by Everett Rogers introduces a framework conceptualizing why some innovations encounter uptake while others suffer abandonment or refusal
• The framework includes four factors that are cited as contributing to uptake: the innovation, communication channels, time, and the social system
• This study examines the characteristics important to the innovation factor in order to provide data specific to the innovation of AAC systems
• …

Analysis Of Social Skills In Children With Autism And Asperger’S Through Child And Parent Responses To Ssis And Brief-Sr T Testing, Kailey Fender

2021 Honors Symposium

This study provides an in-depth analysis of the results from the Social Skills Improvement System (SSIS) and Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function - Self Report Version (BRIEF-SR T) tests taken by twenty-eight children and their parents through self-reporting the children's social behaviors.

Aac Intervention In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: The Experts’ Perspective, Elizabeth Fulton

2021 Honors Symposium

INTRODUCTION
• There is a lack of research on augmentative and alternative communication in low- and middle income (LAMI) countries. Without research, people in LAMI countries with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are left without effective services.
• Currently, there are high levels of disparities in speech intervention for individuals with IDD in LAMI countries.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS
• What do you see as the most pressing disparities limiting communication outcomes for individuals with IDD who require AAC in LAMI countries?
• What do you see as the largest barriers precluding LAMI countries from addressing those disparities?
• What do you …

The Effect Of Screen Time/Technology On Children With Hearing Loss, Alexa Goodwin

2021 Honors Symposium

Introduction
The use of technology is often promoted as an impactful educational tool, but research often fails to link to these positive outcomes. Negative impacts of “screen addiction” on children whose brains are still developing is an oftenexpressed concern. This is due to excessive screen exposure correlating with increases in disorders such as depression, ADHD, anxiety, and aggression. However, some consider technology use to be valuable for social skills and connection. This study explores the correlation of screen exposure on the executive functioning and social skills of children with hearing loss between the ages 8-12. Executive functioning includes mental skills …

Prevailing Theories Of Over-Imitation, Christa Griffith

2021 Honors Symposium

Imitation is a naturally occurring process of human development where individuals can learn different skills and behaviors by mimicking those around them. Imitation plays a vital role in the development of cognitive and social communication behaviors such as language and joint attention. Although imitation appears to have a clear positive utilization there are instances where its utility is reduced. Over-imitation is the process of an individual imitating actions even when those actions are not causally relevant to the objective to the task. Whiten et al. (2016) said that “the occurrence of overimitation in the real world, maximizes the power of …

How Music Shapes Our Identities And Why It Matters: Case Studies Of Professional Musicians, Annabelle Linker

2021 Honors Symposium

Brain research has demonstrated that music uniquely contributes to neural functioning, but little is known about how losing the ability to produce music, which may be inherent to personal identity for professional singers,impacts quality of life. The results of this study may provide insight for enhancing the use of music as a therapeutic tool that bridges identity and quality of life. Findings are discussed in relation to claims that awareness of personal identity in speech-language interventions can contribute to patient centered discussions about quality of life. Thisstudy explored identity and music in the lives of five well-known vocal music professionals …

Noise Exposure And Hearing Protection In Marching Band Students, Emily Myers

2021 Honors Symposium

Musicians, marching band students in particular, are at risk for Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NlHL) as they are frequently exposed to sound levels ranging from 85-114dB (Dinakaran, & Rejoythadathil, 20 I 8; Jansen et al., 2008; Libbin, 2008). It is recolillilended that those exposed to loud sounds wear ear protection regularly (Audiological Services for Musicians and Music Industry Personell, 2019.; Loud Noise Dangers, n.d.). Musicians are often reluctant to wear hearing protection for various reasons (Jin et al., 2013). Standard earplugs are typically offered to marching band members.

The purpose of this study was to determine how many band members …