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Purpose: To investigate the effect of a voice and communication training program for oral presentations on higher education students., Methods: The proposed training program was based on the areas of social skills, voice projection techniques, and neurolinguistic programming. Thirty-eight students participated in the training with active learning methodologies at the university. Before and after the intervention, the participants recorded a short oral presentation on a topic of their choice. The recording was presented to the other participants and to a panel formed by three examiners (two articulation therapists and a psychologist), who evaluated the oral presentation performances. Moreover, each individual self-assessed their communication. The evaluation criteria covered the linguistic aspects, formal and non-formal, verbal and non-verbal communication, planning, and elaboration of the presentation., Results: All participants improved their performance in oral presentations regarding verbal and para-verbal aspects, ability to keep the audience, emotional control, planning, objective, content, approach, organization, visual resource, form of presentation, language, and general elements (general presentation)., Conclusion: The proposed training program is effective in improving the performance of university students in oral presentations.

Purpose: Compare the psychoeducational profiles of children with verbal and non-verbal Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)., Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted with a sample of 30 children with a medical diagnosis of ASD (15 verbal and 15 non-verbal) aged 2-9 years. The Psychoeducational Profile-Revised (PEP-R) scale was applied to assess the children's development. The data were analyzed quantitatively and comparatively. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to evaluate the compatibility between the groups regarding the scores obtained in each PEP-R area, with chronological age as the covariate, and Student's t-Test was used for the independent samples (p≤0.001)., Results: The scores in the different areas of the PEP-R were higher in the verbal group, with associations between language development and cognitive and social adaptive skills in the studied sample. Comparison between the groups showed a lower profile of the non-verbal group, with statistically significant differences in the areas of imitation, perception, gross and fine motor coordination, eye-hand coordination, cognitive performance, and verbal performance., Conclusion: The goal of comparing the psychoeducational profiles of verbal and non-verbal ASD children was reached, and statistically significant differences were observed. The children with non-verbal ASD presented a lower psychoeducational profile compared with that of verbal ASD children. Further studies with larger samples, delimited age groups, and more specific tests in each developmental area are suggested.

Purpose: Reading requires the activation of several cognitive processes, some of which are basic, e.g. recognizing letters and words, whereas others are complex, such as working memory and ability to think about one's own learning strategies. One condition for fulfilling a complex cognitive task, such as understanding a text, is the ability to maintain and process information, which depends on working memory., Objective: To analyze the ability of using metacognitive strategies for reading, the phonological working memory of school children with learning disabilities, and also determine if there is relation between these skills and reading comprehension., Method: The sample consisted of 30 school-age children and teenagers of both genders, aged 8 to 12 years, who were enrolled in primary school. They were divided in two groups, experimental (EG) and control (CG). All children were subjected to evaluation of reading comprehension, phonological working memory, and use of metacognitive skills for reading. The results were compared between groups through the Mann-Whitney test, and correlation between variables was analyzed through Spearman correlation test., Result: Statistical comparison between EG and CG showed statistically significant difference. Positive and effective correlation was observed between reading comprehension, phonological working memory and metacognitive tests., Conclusion: children with learning disabilities presented deficits in phonological working memory and use of metacognitive strategies. The positive and effective correlation between the abilities analyzed suggests that failure in the phonological working memory and use of metacognitive strategies interfere with reading comprehension.

Purpose: To identify and describe the speech rate and fluency of children with phonological disorder (PD) with and without speech-language therapy., Methods: Thirty children, aged 5-8 years old, both genders, were divided into three groups: experimental group 1 (G1) — 10 children with PD in intervention; experimental group 2 (G2) — 10 children with PD without intervention; and control group (CG) — 10 children with typical development. Speech samples were collected and analyzed according to parameters of specific protocol., Results: The children in CG had higher number of words per minute compared to those in G1, which, in turn, performed better in this aspect compared to children in G2. Regarding the number of syllables per minute, the CG showed the best result. In this aspect, the children in G1 showed better results than those in G2., Conclusion: Comparing children's performance in the assessed groups regarding the tests, those with PD in intervention had higher time of speech sample and adequate speech rate, which may be indicative of greater auditory monitoring of their own speech as a result of the intervention.

Introduction Childhood is a critical period for language development and maturation of the central auditory system. Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) is considered a minimal impairment, and little is discussed regarding its impact on the development of language, communication, and school performance. Objectives A bibliographical survey of scientific articles published from 2001 to 2011 was performed to verify which language disorders can occur in children with UHL and which tests were performed to identify them. Data Synthesis Three databases were used: PubMed, Lilacs, and The Cochrane Library. As inclusion criteria, the articles should have samples of children with UHL, without other impairments, aged between 3 months and 12 years, and reference to language tests applied in this population. Out of 236 papers initially selected, only 5 met the inclusion criteria. In the articles studied, 12 tests were used for language assessment in children with UHL, out of which 9 were directed toward expressive language, and 3 toward receptive language. Children with UHL demonstrated lower scores on receptive and expressive language tests when compared with children with normal hearing. However, they obtained better scores on expressive language tests than children with bilateral hearing loss. Conclusion The findings of this survey showed that only a small number of studies used language tests in children with UHL or addressed language alterations resulting from this type of impairment. Therefore we emphasize the importance of investments in new studies on this subject to provide better explanations related to language difficulties presented by children with UHL.

Background: The creation of new educational strategies based on technology is the essence of telehealth. This innovative learning is an alternative to promote integration and improve the professional practices in speech-language pathology (SLP). The objective of this study was to evaluate an SLP technology designed for distance learning., Materials and Methods: The survey selected fourth-year SLP students (n=60) from three public universities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The experimental group (EG) contained 10 students from each university (n=30), and the remaining students formed the control group (CG). Initially, both groups answered a preprotocol questionnaire, and the EG students received the technology, the recommendations, and the deadline to explore the material. In the second stage all students answered the postprotocol questionnaire in order to evaluate the validity and the learning of the technology contents., Results: The comparison between the CG students showed that their performance worsened in the majority in comparison with the EG students, who showed an improved performance., Conclusions: Therefore, this study concluded that the technology instrument actually responded to the population studied and is recommended to complement traditional teaching.

The aim of the current study was to investigate verbal communication skills in children with typical language development and ages between 6 and 8 years. Participants were 10 children of both genders in this age range without language alterations. A 30-minute video of each child's interaction with an adult (father and/or mother) was recorded, fully transcribed, and analyzed by two trained researchers in order to determine reliability. The recordings were analyzed according to a protocol that categorizes verbal communicative abilities, including dialogic, regulatory, narrative-discursive, and non-interactive skills. The frequency of use of each category of verbal communicative ability was analyzed (in percentage) for each subject. All subjects used more dialogical and regulatory skills, followed by narrative-discursive and non-interactive skills. This suggests that children in this age range are committed to continue dialog, which shows that children with typical language development have more dialogic interactions during spontaneous interactions with a familiar adult.

The aim of this study was to verify the moment with more reliable data to survey children's pragmatic profile. Participants were five children with typical language development and ages between 7 years and 1 month and 8 years and 11 months. Data collection involved a 150-minute recording of a child-researcher interaction, divided into five 30-minute individual sessions. Data were later analyzed according to a verbal communicative abilities protocol, and the individual pragmatic profiles of each 30-minute sample and the whole 150-minute sample were outlined for comparison (sessions 1 through 5 x overall total of sessions) of reliability indexes (RI) and reliability status (RS). Inter and intra-observer analyses were performed to calculate the RI and RS, respectively. The results presented by children 1 and 2 reached the larger RI in session 2; the child 3 showed similar RI values in sessions 3, 4 and 5; the child 4 had the largest RI in sessions 1 and 3; and the child 5 reached the same RI value in all sessions. Regarding the RS, session 2 presented the largest percentage of high reliability for most children, followed by session 3. On the analysis performed by category of verbal communicative abilities, session 3 presented the largest RS for dialogic and narrative-discursive abilities, and also for the overall total of verbal communicative abilities. In general, it was observed that sessions 2 and 3 allowed the largest RI and RS on the analysis performed to outline the children's pragmatic profile.

The oral language development depends on the effective development of the hearing system. In cases of children presenting with hearing loss, a cochlear implant is an electronic device indicated to (re)habilitate the hearing function. Thus, it is of paramount importance to assess and follow the oral language development of children fitted with a cochlear implant (CI) to measure the effectiveness of the electronic device and support the therapeutic planning of these children. Questions are currently being raised about the instruments to assess the oral language of children using a CI, and, seeking the answers, this systematic review aimed at surveying these instruments. Searches were performed in three different databases utilizing six different descriptors to select articles published from 2004 to 2009 that performed an oral language assessment of children with a CI. Initially, 373 articles were found, and, after the application of inclusion criteria, 47 articles were analyzed, resulting in a survey of 74 instruments for oral language assessment, including tests, questionnaires and inventories. In analyzing the articles, it was realized that the studies included in this systematic review presented varied methodologies and low levels of evidence, with a greater concentration of instruments assessing receptive and expressive language, emphasizing the survey of the child's vocabulary and questionnaires. Thus, it can be verified that other linguistic skills, such as morphosyntactic, semantic, and narrative-pragmatic ones that are important in structuring speech and language for the effectiveness of the child's speech, are not being focused on. Just one of the instruments cited, a questionnaire, was specific for the oral language assessment of children with cochlear implants.

Background: interrelation of phonetics, phonology and auditory processing in English Language Teaching., Aim: to determine whether prior contact with English phonetics favors general learning of this language (L2), i.e. second language, in Portuguese speakers; to verify performance of these individuals in an auditory processing test prior to and after being taught L2., Method: participants of the study were eight college students who had only studied English in high school. These participants were divided into two groups: control group - were only enrolled in English classes; experimental group - were enrolled in English phonetic classes prior to their enrollment in English classes. Participants were submitted to an auditory processing test and to an oral test in English (Oral Test) prior to and after the classes. Data were analyzed in the same way, i.e. prior to and after the classes., Results: these were expressed statistically by T-Student's test. Analyses indicated no difference in performance between groups. Scores indicated better performance of the control group for answering questions in English in the Oral Test. The experimental group had better performance in the auditory processing test after being enrolled to English phonetic classes and English course., Conclusion: prior basic knowledge of English did not enhance general learning (improvement in pronunciation) of the second language, however, it improved the ability of temporal processing in the used test.

Background: high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger Syndrome (AS) are pervasive developmental disorders that present alterations in the communicative and social skills., Aim: to use verbal communicative skill strategies (VCS) to increase the mean length of utterance (MLU) produced by individuals with HFA and AS., Method: participants were three 12-year-old males with HFA or AS. Data was collected from videotape recordings of structured verbal interaction sessions with the researcher and each participant during eight months. In order to verify the effects of the intervention, a multiple baseline research design across the participants was used, being composed by two phases: baseline (BL) and intervention (I). In the BL phase, spontaneous interaction situations occurred between the researcher and each participant. In the first phase of I, the intervention sessions occurred twice a week and gradually worked their way to once a week, but only after each participant had reached the goal of increasing the MLU. The number of sessions decreased gradually to avoid any drop in performance. The strategies which were used were divided in blocks of activities: spontaneous conversation; activities involving specific language difficulties; games with rules; story/report telling; and meta-linguistic activities., Results: the application of the proposed strategies for verbal communicative abilities achieved the purpose of increasing the MLU of all three participants., Conclusion: suggestions are made for further researches that investigate the maintenance of the results in other environments and during the interaction with different communication partners.