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Background: Treatment outcome data for children with severe speech sound disorders with motor speech involvement (SSD-MSI) are derived from Phase I clinical research studies. These studies have demonstrated positive improvements in speech production. Currently there is no research examining the optimal treatment dose frequency for this population. The results of this study, which is the first of its kind, will inform the delivery of effective services for this population. Aims: To investigate optimal treatment dose frequency for the Motor Speech Treatment Protocol (MSTP) for children with SSD-MSI. Methods & Procedures: A total of 48 children (aged 43-47 months) with SSD-MSI participated in the study. Participants received 45-min MSTP intervention sessions either once per week (lower dose frequency) or twice per week (higher dose frequency) for a 10-week period. Blinded outcome assessments were carried out at pre- and post-intervention. Outcomes & Results: Treatment-related change was assessed at body structures, functions and activities participation level as per the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning framework: Children and Youth Version (ICF-CY) framework WHO (2007). These measures are related to articulation, functional communication and speech intelligibility. Conclusions & Implications: Overall, the MSTP intervention approach in conjunction with home practice led to significant positive changes for all measures in children with SSD-MSI. No statistical differences between high- and low-dose-frequency groups were observed for any of the variables. Clinical effects were examined using effect sizes, as well as changes in articulation, speech intelligibility and functional communication; these differed marginally between the two dose frequencies. This suggests limited benefits of 10 additional sessions per block. Thus, it is recommended that caregivers, speech-language therapists and policy-makers perform a cost-benefit analysis before determining the dose frequency, when considering additional sessions per block.

This paper presents responses from Donna Frazier, Robert J. Kroll, O.F.M., and Jeffery M. Boetticher to John Huber's research article entitled "The Accessibility of American Catholic Secondary Schools to the Various Socioeconomic Classes of Catholic Families." Frazier stresses that the accessibility of Catholic education at the secondary level is an important issue to consider. Parents have identified the cost of secondary Catholic education as the primary factor in choosing public over Catholic schools. The problem will require the resources and commitment of the local churches and the dioceses to fund Catholic education for all children. While aggressively searching for ways to make Catholic education accessible to all socioeconomic classes, Catholic schools can capitalize on the opportunity to make a difference in the world through shaping individuals whose actions and decisions may ultimately lead to a more ethical and just society. Kroll says Huber's research affirms what seems to be the attitude and trend in Catholic secondary schools as well as elementary and middle schools. He adds that he is a product of Catholic school education--kindergarten through graduate school--and was influenced by the educational mission and core values of the School Sisters of Notre Dame (Mequon Wisconsin Province) and the Franciscan Friars (Assumption BVM Province) which established a culture of learning. He attributes three of his Catholic education core values, which he discusses in this paper, to these cultures. Boetticher suggests that Huber's (2007) findings are a restatement of the major financial challenge facing all Catholic school administrators. He discusses two main issues in Huber's article that are particularly relevant to the challenges facing Catholic schools. By combining development strategies that have both a long- and short-term outlook, he believes that Catholic schools can effectively increase their available financial assistance both now and in the future, and open the doors of Catholic education to families of all economic backgrounds.

The design and performance of a miniaturized reverse modulation loop (RML) for a 120-Mbit/s coherent quadrature phase shift keying (CQPSK) modem for on-board satellite applications are presented. Analysis of time delays within the RML circuit indicates that any differential time-delay errors can adversely affect the associated BER and should be minimized. The RML circuit, consisting of a modulator, demodulator, and comparator circuit, has been fabricated using quasi-monolithic techniques with dimensions of 1.65 x 4 cm. The relative phase for all four states of the modulator is in close agreement with design values of 90 [degrees] [+ or -] 1 [degrees] over a 200-MHz bandwidth at 3.95 GHz. The demodulator and comparator circuits of the RML have successfully recovered a 120-Mbit/s bit stream. The RML circuit is capable of recovering higher bit rates because of relatively uniform amplitude and phase performance over the 3.7- to 4.2-GHz communications satellite band.

This study incorporates a solution preference dimension into the consumerism supporter/nonsupporter analysis in order to help resolve past identification anomalies and to suggest a theoretical explanation for diverse orientations. More specifically, a two-dimensional theory of consumerism orientations is developed and tested. (Author/CT)

Over the last decade positron emission tomography (PET) has been used extensively for the study of language and other cognitive and sensorimotor processes in healthy and diseased individuals. In the present study, [[sup.15]O][H.sub.2]O PET scanning was used to investigate the lateralization and functional distribution of cortical and subcortical activity involved in single word reading in stuttering and nonstuttering individuals. Ten right-handed male stuttering adults and matched nonstuttering individuals were instructed to read individually presented single words either silently or out loud. Subtraction of functional brain images obtained during each of the two reading tasks, and during a non-linguistic baseline task, was used to calculate within-group and between-group differences in regional cerebral blood flow by means of statistical parametric mapping. Increased activation in the left anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was observed during silent reading in the stuttering speakers but not in the nonstuttering group. Because of the hypothesized role of the ACC in selective attention and covert articulatory practice, it is suggested that the observed increased ACC activation in the stuttering individuals reflects the presence of cognitive anticipatory reactions related to stuttering. During the oral reading task, within-group comparisons showed bilateral cortical and subcortical activation in both the stuttering and the nonstuttering speakers. Between-group comparisons showed a proportionally greater left hemisphere activation in the nonstuttering speakers, and a proportionally greater right hemisphere activation in the stuttering individuals. The results of the present study provide qualified support for the hypothesis that stuttering adults show atypical lateralization of language processes. KEY WORDS: stuttering, positron emission tomography, word reading, neuro-imaging, adults, Ever since the formulation of the Cerebral Dominance Model of stuttering by Travis early this century (Travis, 1934), numerous hypotheses have been formulated concerning the role of the central nervous [...]

Purpose:This study measures the reliability and sensitivity of a modified Parent–Child Interaction Observation scale (PCIOs) used to monitor the quality of parent–child interaction. The scale is part of a home-training program employed with direct motor speech intervention for children with speech sound disorders. Method:Eighty-four preschool age children with speech sound disorders were provided either high- (2×/week/10 weeks) or low-intensity (1×/week/10 weeks) motor speech intervention. Clinicians completed the PCIOs at the beginning, middle, and end of treatment. Inter-rater reliability (Kappa scores) was determined by an independent speech-language pathologist who assessed videotaped sessions at the midpoint of the treatment block. Intervention sensitivity of the scale was evaluated using a Friedman test for each item and then followed up with Wilcoxon pairwise comparisons where appropriate. Results:We obtained fair-to-good inter-rater reliability (Kappa = 0.33–0.64) for the PCIOs using only video-based scoring. Child-related items were more strongly influenced by differences in treatment intensity than parent-related items, where a greater number of sessions positively influenced parent learning of treatment skills and child behaviors. Conclusion:The adapted PCIOs is reliable and sensitive to monitor the quality of parent–child interactions in a 10-week block of motor speech intervention with adjunct home therapy.Implications for rehabilitationParent-centered therapy is considered a cost effective method of speech and language service delivery. However, parent-centered models may be difficult to implement for treatments such as developmental motor speech interventions that require a high degree of skill and training.For children with speech sound disorders and motor speech difficulties, a translated and adapted version of the parent–child observation scale was found to be sufficiently reliable and sensitive to assess changes in the quality of the parent–child interactions during intervention.In developmental motor speech interventions, high-intensity treatment (2×/week/10 weeks) facilitates greater changes in the parent–child interactions than low intensity treatment (1×/week/10 weeks).On one hand, parents may need to attend more than five sessions with the clinician to learn how to observe and address their child’s speech difficulties. On the other hand, children with speech sound disorders may need more than 10 sessions to adapt to structured play settings even when activities and therapy materials are age-appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]