Communication Sciences and Disorders Commons^™

The Effects Of Dyslexia In College-Aged Students Studying Special Education, Kailah Hardy

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

This project focused on the disadvantages students with dyslexia face in college as a result of the still present deficits in reading and writing. One-to-one interviews revealed gathered participant information such as demographic information, their history with dyslexia (such as the social, academic, and personal struggles each individual experiences and how they cope with these struggles), and their present challenges/difficulties related to dyslexia, but also with college-level writing. The findings of this study detailed the lingering effects of three college students who still struggle with dyslexia and in what ways it has affected their life.

Preliminary Investigation Of An Aphasia-Friendly Version Of The Patient Health Questionnaire – 8 (Phq-8) Compared To Other Patient And Proxy Reported Outcome Measures Of Depression, Kaylee Marie Walter

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Persons with aphasia (PWA) experience post-stroke depression more frequently than stroke survivors who do not have aphasia. Currently, no patient reported outcome measures that screen for depression have been created specifically for PWA or modified to be aphasia friendly for PWA. The purpose of this preliminary study is to modify the Patient Health Questionnaire- 8 (PHQ-8) to an aphasia friendly format and to assess the feasibility of administering the modified assessment compared to other patient-reported and proxy-reported outcome measures used to screen depression. This retrospective analysis examined pre- and post-treatment outcome measures of depression for seven stroke-survivors with aphasia. The …

The Role Of Gender In The Perception Of Lipreading, Emma Richards

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The experiment examines the gender differences in lipreading ability. We tested 25 fluent English-speaking adults with normal hearing and vision. Each participant was asked to watch four videos testing their lipreading ability with matched and nonmatched gendered speakers. The participants were asked to transcribe 40 sentences, which were scored on the number of target words correct. It was found that participants who watch the videos with matched genders perceived more target words than in the mismatched gender videos. The results could explain previous inconsistencies in earlier research of whether ability to lipread is improved by the gender of the speaker.

English Morpheme Accuracy, Diversity, And Productivity Measures In School-Aged Bilingual Children, Gabrielle Raab

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The identification of meaningful language measures for bilingual children has important clinical implications in the diagnosis of impairment. Given the shortage of bilingual speech-language pathologists, informative English measures are invaluable. This study extends current research to examine the utility of widely accepted English grammatical measures in bilingual school-aged children with differing levels of English exposure. The language sample analyses implemented have shown repeatedly to discriminate between typical and language impaired monolinguals, and more recently were considered in the assessment of developing bilinguals. Measures were taken from the language samples of thirteen school-aged bilingual Spanish-English speaking children who told a story …

Perceived Harm Level Of Personal Listening Devices And Effects On Task Performance, Laura White

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This study aimed to examine if people know what intensity level of white noise or music will harm hearing with prolonged exposure. Each of the 25 college students were surveyed to find their perceived harm level in white noise and music, then completed a comprehension test while listening to each sound at that intensity level. The participants did not have perceived harm levels above the NIOSH-recommended 85 dB-A and there were no significant differences between the sound conditions. This showed that using personal listening devices while completing daily tasks is highly variable and may not cause harm.

Language-Deprived Environments: Neonatal Intensive Care Units And Hearing Loss, Margaret Caesar

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Adequate language exposure is crucial for speech-language development in children. Previous research suggests that decreased language exposure leads to an increased risk for speech-language developmental delays. This study aims to explore the language exposure of two arguably language-deprived environments: Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) and severe-to-profound hearing loss. This is a two-part study that examines caregiver-infant interactions through the analysis of infant-directed speech (IDS). In the first part of the study, researchers transcribed and analyzed pre-recorded Language Environment Analysis (LENA) audio recordings of five (5) infants with severe-to-profound hearing loss (6-months post cochlear implantation). These LENA recordings collected speech, language, …

Emergent Shift To Telepractice During The Covid-19 Pandemic By School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists, Charlotte May Hilker

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Purpose: Schools across America closed abruptly and indefinitely starting March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working in these schools turned to telepractice to meet the needs of their clients. Telepractice is a relatively new service delivery model in the field of speech-language pathology. Challenges related to telepractice include clinicians’ limited hours of training for telepractice, clients’ lack of access to telehelpers during therapy, and both clinician and client beginning to work from home, and issues with working from home. The aim of the current study was to assess how these issues affect telepractice …

The Influence Of Music Training And Bilingualism On Speech And Music Perception, Allison Marie Smith

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This case study investigates the role that bilingualism and/or music training plays on the pitch perception of non-native speech and musical pitch contrasts in 6- to 7-year-old children. This study aimed to investigate two research questions. First, does the infant bilingual advantage in pitch perception persist through childhood? Second, does music training lead to an advantage in pitch perception? There were 4 participants with the following criteria: a monolingual non-musician, monolingual musician, bilingual non-musician, and a bilingual musician. The participants performed a series of perception tasks, including English minimal pairs, Mandarin pitch contrasts, and violin pitch contrasts. It was found …

A Patient-Centered Ethnographic Interview And Measurement Of Intelligibility In Spastic-Ataxic Dysarthria For People With Multiple Sclerosis, Courtney Marie Leppek

Wayne State University Theses

Multiple sclerosis (MS) produces neurological impairments that are variable in duration and severity, and that are unique to each case of MS. In addition to variability of symptoms, the length of the MS diagnostic process often affects quality of life. In this mixed qualitative and quantitative study, we used ethnographic interviews to investigate the underlying thoughts and feelings of two very different individuals with MS and Spastic-Ataxic Dysarthria. The results contribute to the understanding of MS as a multi-faceted condition that has implications that are both internal and external to the person with MS. Further, the results reflect the clinical …

Morphological Production Accuracy Patterns In Younger And Older Spanish-English Bilingual Children, Isabel Angelica Cano

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Clinicians require a model of typical bilingual language development. Morphological production accuracy patterns vary in Spanish-English (S-E) bilingual children considering differences in the exposure and use of their two languages compared to their monolingual peers. The purpose of the current study was to examine morphological production accuracy patterns in thirty younger (3- to 4-years old) and older (5- to 6-years old) S-E bilingual children utilizing English and Spanish Morphosyntax subtests from a bilingual language screener. Across development, older bilingual children were more accurate on all forms in both English and Spanish than younger bilingual children. Across languages, all S-E bilingual …

School-Based Speech-Language Pathologist Collaborative Practice: A Literature Review, Kaija R. Elenko

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Background: School-based speech language pathologists (SLPs) are increasing collaborative engagement with educators and other professionals in school settings. Collaborative practice in the general education classroom increased student’s awareness of literacy concepts. The push-in model of service delivery reached students with varied levels of literacy understanding. There is insufficient empirical evidence regarding school-based interprofessional practice (IPP) available to clinicians. Systemic reviews provide a model for educators and SLPs to follow; many professionals hesitate to engage in IPP because there is a deficiency in evidence of success.

Aims: Investigation of the necessary components for successful IPP and the impacts of collaboration on …

Experiences Of Adolescents In The General Education Setting Interacting With Peers With Intellectual Disability, Katie Goldey

Theses and Dissertations--Rehabilitation Sciences

Social interaction is critical to health, quality of life, and linguistic and cognitive development. However, young people with intellectual disabilities are unlikely to have equitable opportunities for social interaction. This may be particularly true of adolescents. This study used qualitative phenomenological methods to examine the lived experiences of students in the general education setting interacting with their peers with intellectual disability. Twenty participants engaged in one on one interviews with the author. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed for overarching themes. Four main themes emerged from the data including: (1) Teens just don’t have many opportunities to interact with …

The Effects Of Three Service Delivery Models On Vocabulary Learning By Second-Grade Children, Laura Stone

Theses and Dissertations--Rehabilitation Sciences

Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) provide services to children in schools across the United States primarily in a direct small group service delivery model outside of the regular education classroom. To date little research exists to indicate that direct pull-out service delivery is an effective model in elementary schools for students requiring speech and language therapy. One area that has been studied is the effectiveness of vocabulary intervention among service delivery models. Preliminary findings suggest that students with language and literacy deficits learn vocabulary well within a regular education environment with SLP support. However, there is little consensus on how service delivery …

Using Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation To Improve Naming Ability In Post-Stroke Aphasia: Evaluating Evidence And Optimizing Outcomes, Mohammed Alharbi

Theses and Dissertations--Rehabilitation Sciences

Introduction. Aphasia is a devastating acquired language disorder that affects about one third of stroke survivors. Aphasia can severely affect quality of life and can be associated with economic burdens due to the need for long-term communication rehabilitation. Traditional aphasia therapies are known to be effective; however, progress is often slow and limited in severe cases – full restoration of communication abilities is rarely achieved. Thus, there is a critical need for therapeutic solutions that can reduce the associated burden of aphasia. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive and inexpensive neuromodulation technique that has the potential to boost …

Assessing Attitudes And Knowledge Regarding Voice Modification In Transgender People Among Practicing Speech Language Pathologists (Slps) In Texas, Iliana Renee Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to examine the attitudes and knowledge of voice modification in TG persons among practicing SLPs in the state of Texas. Thirty-nine individuals completed the 10-minute survey with 38 questions. SLPs in Texas who responded are professionally and personally comfortable working with transgender individuals. Most respondents did not know what was targeted in voice modification services, however are willing to learn. Respondents' attitudes, knowledge and comfort were impacted most by personal values, graduate school education and personal relationships. The results from this study support the need for education and clinical training on cultural competence …

Cyberbullying, Digital Citizenship, And Youth With Autism: Lis Education As A Piece In The Puzzle, Abigail Phillips, Amelia Anderson

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Librarians are beginning to address the lack of services for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by providing flexible and tailored programming and services. One important need among youth with ASD is a better understanding of how to navigate the online environment safely and responsibly. Given different engagement styles with social interaction and communication, youth with ASD may be more susceptible to cyberbullying and misinterpretations during online communications than their peers. This study investigates whether librarians can (or should) play a role in digital citizenship education for youth with ASD and provides suggestions for LIS educators preparing future librarians on …

Dissimilar Phonemes Create A Contextual Interference Effect During A Nonword Repetition Task, Kimberly Michelle Meigh, Elisabeth Kee

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Purpose: The contextual interference effect is a motor learning phenomenon where conditions that decrease overall learning during practice enhance overall learning with new tasks. In the limb literature, this effect is observed when different practice conditions are used (e.g., blocked vs. random practice schedules). In speech motor learning, contextual interference effects are mixed. The differences observed during speech motor learning may be due to the stimuli used. We hypothesized that dissimilar phonemes might create interference during speech motor learning, such that training accuracy would decrease. However, generalization accuracy would increase compared to practice with nonwords containing similar phonemes.

Method …

Impact Of Nicu Design On Feeding-Related Outcomes In Preterm Infants, Emma Kate Calvert

Theses and Dissertations--Communication Sciences and Disorders

Many NICUs around the country are moving away from traditional open-bay designs in favor of single-family rooms (SFRs) as more is understood about the impact of the sensory environment on neurodevelopment in preterm infants. SFRs house one infant and their family for the length of the infant’s stay and are associated with improvements in numerous outcomes, including increased milk intake and weight gain and earlier transition to enteral feeding. Oral feeding remains a critical requirement for NICU discharge; however, the impact of NICU design on feeding outcomes remains unknown.

The purpose of this study was to compare feeding outcomes between …

Legibility Of Communicative Writing And Drawing In Aphasia: Does The Orthographic Medium Matter?, Nicole Waugaman

Theses and Dissertations--Communication Sciences and Disorders

Expressive language difficulties are commonplace in aphasia and are often further complicated by co-occurring motor speech disoders. Therefore, many people with aphasia (PWA) are unable to meet all their communication needs by speaking, and they may compensate with the use of communicative writing and drawing. Communicative writing and drawing can be defined as preserved, but imperfect, orthographic skills that PWA use to compensate for expressive language deficits resulting from aphasic and/or motor speech difficulties. The purpose of this study was to determine if the orthographic medium used by a PWA to write and draw influenced the legibility of their writing …

Outcome Measures For Chronic Cough: A Literature Review, Sarah Campbell

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Background: Approximately 9-10 percent of adults experience chronic cough. Chronic cough is a cough that lasts greater than eight weeks, with significant impacts on an individual's quality-of-life in social, psychological, and physical domains. Current treatment is not successful for all patients, and a lack of validated outcome measures makes it challenging to determine the efficacy of experimental chronic cough interventions.

Aims: The purpose of this review is to determine the optimal protocols for outcome measures needed to ascertain the efficacy of chronic cough treatment.

Main contribution: Inconsistent correlations were found between objective and subjective outcome measures. The strongest outcome measure …