Search

This survey addressed a twofold need: first, research into speech sound productions in children with visual impairments and, second, evidence upon which speech-language pathologists might base interventions for children with visual impairments. Fifteen speech-language pathologists responded to a survey about speech sound productions in caseload children with visual impairments. Respondents reported the speech characteristics of 46 children, their coexisting medical diagnoses and developmental conditions, the nature of their visual impairments, and therapy approaches used. Children and teens with visual impairments demonstrated speech sound production errors. It is not conclusive that errors resulted from having visual impairments. Respondents reported effective speech treatment techniques. This study contributes a detailed report of speech sound productions in children who, despite a diversity of coexisting diagnoses, had visual impairment in common. Findings provide a point of reference regarding speech sound productions in children with visual impairments, as well as efficacious treatments.

The purpose of this study was to investigate if intervention based on a mobile application would improve the print knowledge and vocabulary of preschool children with and without hearing loss. This was a multiple baseline study that included four preschool children. Two of the children had hearing loss and utilized cochlear implants, while the other two had normal hearing. Clinicians utilized a mobile application to facilitate print knowledge (i.e., sound-symbol relationships) and to acquire new vocabulary. By the end of the study, all four children demonstrated improved familiarity with the targeted letter sounds and improved knowledge of the vocabulary words that were utilized during the study. The results of this study indicate that the mobile application, in combination with clinician scaffolding, was an effective tool for facilitating early literacy skills in preschool children. Prior print knowledge and vocabulary development appeared to be stronger indicators of response to treatment than hearing status.

Clinical experiences involving an interdisciplinary approach to service provision and supervision have been shown to contribute to supervisee knowledge and skill. These interdisciplinary experiences may hold additional benefits for the supervisor and to the process of supervision. The current article discusses the benefits to both supervisors and supervisees experienced through an interdisciplinary clinical approach involving the professions of audiology and speech language pathology and the contributions of an interdisciplinary clinical approach to effective supervision.

We conducted a survey to investigate student perceptions of an interdisciplinary clinical practicum and to identify beneficial interdisciplinary supervisory practices. Seven speech-language pathology and audiology graduate students participated in an interdisciplinary clinical practicum supervised by 1 speech-language pathology faculty member and 1 audiology faculty member. During this experience, students collaborated with others outside of their department to plan and provide aural habilitation at a university speech and hearing clinic. Students’ responses to Likert-scale and open-ended questions indicated that the interdisciplinary practicum experience enhanced the students’ clinical knowledge and ability to work as a member of an interdisciplinary team. The results of the study provide support for increasing interdisciplinary practicum experiences within graduate clinician training, as well as conducting future research to identify best practices when providing cross-disciplinary supervision.

This study compared the writing motivation of students with language impairments (LI) and their typically developing (TD) peers. For the study 272 students (33 students with language impairments, 242 TD peers) aged 8–10 years, in 11 elementary schools, were sampled. The two groups completed self-report measures of writing motivation and 20 grade-appropriate spelling words from a standardized measure. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the hypothesis that perceived writing competence – a self-evaluative judgment of writing competence – mediates the relationship between LI status (LI or TD) and intrinsic forms of writing motivation. Statistical analyses indicated that (1) students with specific language impairments reported lower levels of perceived writing competence and intrinsic writing motivation; (2) LI status was a significant predictor of perceived competence after spelling, grade and gender were controlled; and (3) when spelling, grade and gender were controlled, perceived writing competence was a significant predictor of intrinsic writing motivation, but LI status was not. Future research is necessary to further describe external influences on the writing motivation of students with LI and appropriate motivational supports.

The purpose of this study was to compare participants’ quantitative and qualitative judgments of various forms and frequencies of stuttering, during either audiovisual or audio-only presentation modes. A total of 64 participants voluntarily agreed to participate in the study. Each participant was randomly assigned and exposed to only one of the four conditions of varying stuttering severity levels. The assigned speech sample was presented to the participant in either the audiovisual or audio-only mode. After watching or listening to the sample, participants completed a six-item Likert scale and were asked four open-ended questions. Comments made by listeners were developed into positive and negative comments as well as sorted into five theme clusters. The data analyses revealed a number of non-significant differences across mean Likert scale ratings for the six statements and for the number of positive and negative comments between the two presentation modes. However, the results provided partial support for the notion that as the frequency of stuttering increases, listeners tend to make increasingly more negative comments about the speaker. Additionally, there were no clear differences in comments across the five theme clusters between the two presentation modes. The findings suggest that the type of presentation mode does not appear to affect listeners’ perceptions of stuttering to the same extent that stuttering severity does. Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (1) describe how listeners perceive and react to various frequencies of stuttering; (2) explain how audiovisual versus audio-only samples impact listener perceptions of stuttering and (3) provide examples of the ways in which qualitative data can enhance the understanding of how listeners react to various levels of stuttering.