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I decided to study meteorology after a frightening encounter with a severe thunderstorm in the spring of 2011. I declared a physics major the next fall, despite never having taken precalculus. Alon...

The concept of evidence-based education (EBE) enshrines the use of well-designed, clearly reported, scientific studies to establish which education practices are most efficient and effective; it is a relative newcomer to the education literature in general and to inclusive education. When implemented well, EBE impacts all aspects of education practice, from policymaking to classroom practice. It facilitates evidence-based teaching, evidence-based learning, and reflective practice in initial and lifelong professional learning. Barriers to EBE include a largely unresolved debate over “what counts as evidence”, teachers’ capacity to access, understand and evaluate scientifically derived evidence, and time constraints. The objective of this policy is to guide a specified school community to assess new and “old” evidence, end practices found wanting or that are outdated, retain those with adequate levels of evidence and/or adopt practices with stronger scientific credentials, and justify their choices based on sufficient professional development, on-site coaching, and necessary support for teachers to implement best practices.

Purpose The aim of this tutorial is to support speech-language pathologists (SLPs) undertaking assessments of multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders, particularly children who speak languages that are not shared with their SLP. Method The tutorial was written by the International Expert Panel on Multilingual Children's Speech, which comprises 46 researchers (SLPs, linguists, phoneticians, and speech scientists) who have worked in 43 countries and used 27 languages in professional practice. Seventeen panel members met for a 1-day workshop to identify key points for inclusion in the tutorial, 26 panel members contributed to writing this tutorial, and 34 members contributed to revising this tutorial online (some members contributed to more than 1 task). Results This tutorial draws on international research evidence and professional expertise to provide a comprehensive overview of working with multilingual children with suspected speech sound disorders. This overview addresses referral, case history, assessment, analysis, diagnosis, and goal setting and the SLP's cultural competence and preparation for working with interpreters and multicultural support workers and dealing with organizational and government barriers to and facilitators of culturally competent practice. Conclusion The issues raised in this tutorial are applied in a hypothetical case study of an English-speaking SLP's assessment of a multilingual Cantonese- and English-speaking 4-year-old boy. Resources are listed throughout the tutorial.

Purpose In this descriptive study, phonological processes were examined in the speech of children aged 5;0–7;6 (years; months) with mild to profound hearing loss using hearing aids (HAs) and cochlear implants (CIs), in comparison to their peers. A second aim was to compare phonological processes of HA and CI users. Method Children with hearing loss (CWHL, N = 25) were compared to children with normal hearing (CWNH, N = 30) with similar age, gender, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Speech samples obtained from a list of 88 words, derived from three standardized speech tests, were analyzed using the CASALA (Computer Aided Speech and Language Analysis) program to evaluate participants’ phonological systems, based on lax (a process appeared at least twice in the speech of at least two children) and strict (a process appeared at least five times in the speech of at least two children) counting criteria. Results Developmental phonological processes were eliminated in the speech of younger and older CWNH while eleven developmental phonological processes persisted in the speech of both age groups of CWHL. CWHL showed a similar trend of age of elimination to CWNH, but at a slower rate. Children with HAs and CIs produced similar phonological processes. Final consonant deletion, weak syllable deletion, backing, and glottal replacement were present in the speech of HA users, affecting their overall speech intelligibility. Conclusions Developmental and non-developmental phonological processes persist in the speech of children with mild to profound hearing loss compared to their peers with typical hearing. The findings indicate that it is important for clinicians to consider phonological assessment in pre-school CWHL and the use of evidence-based speech therapy in order to reduce non-developmental and non-age-appropriate developmental processes, thereby enhancing their speech intelligibility.

PACT (parents and children together) is a broad-based intervention approach for children with phonological impairment, which involves the participation of caregivers in therapy. Its components are: Parent Education; Metalinguistic Training; Phonetic Production Training; Multiple Exemplar Training (minimal pair therapy and auditory bombardment); and Homework. Accommodating to the gradual nature of phonological change in typical development, PACT therapy is delivered in planned therapy blocks and breaks from therapy attendance, during which parents continue aspects of the therapy. A review of literature relevant to the theoretical underpinning, development and evaluation of PACT is provided, and unique features of the approach are highlighted. The processes of speech assessment using parent-observed screening, independent and relational analyses, treatment planning and scheduling, and target selection and goal-setting are presented and discussed in the context of Jarrod, a 7 year old boy with a severe, inco...

Developed in Australia, Parents and Children Together (PACT) is a broadbased, family-centred phonological therapy. It is a treatment approach for developmental phonological disorders in the course of whose implementation speech and language therapists enlist the active participation of parents and significant others. It requires family members to learn technical information and develop novel skills to use, with professional guidance, in relation to their own child and his or her specific speech clarity issues. In this paper we review the ‘family education’ and ‘homework’ aspects of PACT and explore, with brief case illustrations, the participation of 13 families involved in its administration. In preschool-aged and younger school-aged children, developmental phonological disorders are manifested as difficult-to-understand speech. They affect the organization of children’s speech sound systems, and have been argued to occur at the (underlying) phonological level (for example, Grunwell, 1987; Ingram, 1989). Developmental phonological disorders are obvious to the listener because of the use, by children, of abnormal (surface) speech patterns, which impair general intelligibility. Provided that children with the disorder receive effective therapy, the prognosis for normal speech intelligibility is good (Gierut, 1998).

Developmental phonological disorders are a group of developmental languagelearning disorders of unknown aetiology, occurring at a phonological level, andmanifested in the use of abnormal speech patterns, by children, impairing theirgeneral intelligibility. This is one of a series of papers arising from an e

The focus here is a detailed case description of a broad-based model for treat ing developmental phonological disorders. Successful treatment comprising 27 consultations over 17 months, of a girl aged 4;4 at the outset, with a mod erate phonological disability, is examined in detail. The model’s strength is in its combination of family education, metalinguistic tasks, phonetic produc tion procedures, multiple exemplar techniques and homework. Treatment is administered in planned alternating therapy blocks and breaks from therapy attendance.

A major challenge for the speech-language pathology profession in many cultures is to address the mismatch between the “linguistic homogeneity of the speech-language pathology profession and the linguistic diversity of its clientele” ( Caesar & Kohler, 2007 , p. 198). This paper outlines the development of the Multilingual Children with Speech Sound Disorders: Position Paper created to guide speech-language pathologists’ (SLPs’) facilitation of multilingual children's speech. An international expert panel was assembled comprising 57 researchers (SLPs, linguists, phoneticians, and speech scientists) with knowledge about multilingual children's speech, or children with speech sound disorders. Combined, they had worked in 33 countries and used 26 languages in professional practice. Fourteen panel members met for a one-day workshop to identify key points for inclusion in the position paper. Subsequently, 42 additional panel members participated online to contribute to drafts of the position paper. A thematic analysis was undertaken of the major areas of discussion using two data sources: (a) face-to-face workshop transcript (133 pages) and (b) online discussion artifacts (104 pages). Finally, a moderator with international expertise in working with children with speech sound disorders facilitated the incorporation of the panel's recommendations. The following themes were identified: definitions, scope, framework, evidence, challenges, practices, and consideration of a multilingual audience. The resulting position paper contains guidelines for providing services to multilingual children with speech sound disorders ( http://www.csu.edu.au/research/multilingual-speech/position-paper ). The paper is structured using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: Children and Youth Version ( World Health Organization, 2007 ) and incorporates recommendations for (a) children and families, (b) SLPs’ assessment and intervention, (c) SLPs’ professional practice, and (d) SLPs’ collaboration with other professionals. Learning outcomes: Readers will 1. recognize that multilingual children with speech sound disorders have both similar and different needs to monolingual children when working with speech-language pathologists. 2. Describe the challenges for speech-language pathologists who work with multilingual children. 3. Recall the importance of cultural competence for speech-language pathologists. 4. Identify methods for international collaboration and consultation. 5. Recognize the importance of engaging with families and people within their local communities for supporting multilingual children in context.

Persilylation of nucleoside hydroxyls was effected in quantitative yields under solvent-free conditions using a ball mill. In addition, one-pot persilylation and acylation of cytidine was performed as an exemplar reaction demonstrating the utility of solvent-free approaches to nucleoside chemistry.

Persilylation of nucleoside hydroxyls was effected in quantitative yields under solvent-free conditions using a ball mill. In addition, one-pot persilylation and acylation of cytidine was performed as an exemplar reaction demonstrating the utility of solvent-free approaches to nucleoside chemistry.

The speech-language pathology management of children with developmental phonological disorders has been influenced by a paradigm shift. Traditional articulation therapy is being supplanted by linguistically based therapies, which take into account the systematic nature of phonology (Ingram, 1989a). Increasingly, therapy approaches (Fey, 1992) aim to change phonological patterns (Grunwell, 1995), but to date there have been no studies of phonological therapy with treated and untreated groups. Fourteen randomly selected children were treated with a multifaceted phonological therapy, comprising: family education, metalinguistic tasks, traditional phonetic production procedures, multiple exemplar techniques (minimal contrast and auditory bombardment activities), and homework; administered in alternating blocks and breaks, each of approximately 10 weeks duration. In a longitudinal matched group design their progress was compared with that of 8 untreated control children. Analysis of Variance of the initial and probe Severity Ratings of the phonological disabilities, 3 to 11 months apart, showed highly significant selective progress in the treated children only (F(1,20) = 21.22, p =