Seminars in Speech and Language最新文献

The study aimed to cross-linguistically adapt the Sydney Swallow Questionnaire in Malayalam (MSSQ) and to determine its psychometric properties. The objectives of our study were to document the test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and discriminant validity of MSSQ. The SSQ was translated from English to Malayalam, and was administered to 55 Malayalam-speaking participants with oropharyngeal dysphagia and 55 age- and gender-matched Malayalam speakers with normal swallowing ability. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov normality test was performed to check the normality of the data. Cronbach's alpha was used to measure the test-retest reliability. Internal consistency was measured through split-half reliability using the Spearman-Brown correlation coefficient. The discriminant validity was documented using the Mann-Whitney U-test. The Cronbach's alpha value for the total MSSQ scores was 0.99, indicating a strong positive correlation between the test and retest scores. The Spearman-Brown correlation coefficient was 0.97, indicating that the MSSQ had excellent internal consistency. Mann-Whitney U-test revealed that Group 1 participants had significantly higher MSSQ scores than Group 2 participants, exhibiting excellent discriminant validity. It was concluded that the MSSQ was a valid and reliable tool to assess the symptoms of dysphagia among Malayalam speakers.

Pre-primary and primary school teachers rely heavily on their voices for communication. This study investigates phonatory efficiency differences among these teachers in Kosovo, focusing on gender-based differences and the impact of lifestyle behaviors. We recruited 100 teachers from pre-primary and primary levels in four municipalities. Data collection included maximum phonation measurements for the phonemes /a/, /s/, and /z/; the s/z ratio; sociodemographic data; and a self-reported questionnaire on lifestyle behaviors. Significant differences in phonatory efficiency were found, with pre-primary teachers showing reduced efficiency. Surprisingly, the mean s/z ratio was higher for primary teachers, though the results were not significant. Among primary teachers, females exhibited lower vocal efficiency than males. Correlation analysis revealed significant associations between maximum phonation time and lifestyle behaviors, including age, smoking, and loud cheering. Multiple regression analysis indicated that smoking and age significantly affected vocal efficiency. Gender also contributed to variance in vocal function, with females generally showing lower efficiency. Alcohol consumption had a marginally negative effect on vocal efficiency. This study provides insights into phonation differences among educators, marking a pioneering effort in the Southeast Balkan region, and underscores the need for policies and interventions to enhance vocal well-being.

Multilingualism is the norm, not the exception, with most children speaking more than one language daily. These factors have motivated an increased need to better understand language use in the growing population of children whose cultural and linguistic background evidence language variation by way of Creole languages and dialects of American Englishes. Within speech-language pathology in the United States, however, a cultural and linguistic mismatch exists with only 8% of speech-language pathologists self-identifying as multilingual service providers. A variety of publications have documented speech-language development and disorders in speakers of majority language pairings (such as Spanish-English) to address this mismatch and the potential for misdiagnosis of speech-language function. However, there is a shortage of information on speakers of minority language pairings (such as a Creole language and its lexifier) for supporting culturally responsive practices in speech-language pathology. This clinical seminar considers multilingualism for speech-language pathology with the goal of offering a historical context. In so doing, this clinical seminar aims to address the need for distinguishing between dialect and disorder, and offer practical considerations that reduce the risk of misdiagnosis in children who speak minority languages such as Creoles (e.g., Gullah/Geechee, Jamaican Creole) and dialects of American Englishes (e.g., African American English), as examples in the context of the United States.

The authors evaluated the ability of typically developing preschool children to acquire the phonemic awareness skill of first sound fluency (FSF) when trained through an explicit modeling treatment paradigm. Three preschool children participated in a single-case A-B-A research design in which the independent variable was shared book reading between professional and child with embedded modeling of first sounds in words and the dependent variable was the participants' ability to produce first sounds in words in response to the professional's auditory probes. A baseline phase included sessions without intervention. An intervention phase followed with sessions of explicit modeling of first sounds with hierarchal cueing and a follow-up phase. All three participants demonstrated immediate behavior change in an accelerating trend direction for FSF performance which was achieved after five sessions. However, the children's accuracy in producing first sounds in words was not maintained at levels expected for any of the participants. Suggestions are provided for how this strategy can be used and adapted by clinicians and educators to prepare preschool children for phonologically based emergent literacy skills needed to succeed in kindergarten.

Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) exhibit a variety of impairments in nonmotor symptoms including emotional processing and cognitive control that have implications for speech production. The present study sought to investigate whether impairments in cognitive processing in individuals with PD impact emotional sentence production as indicated by changes in speech rate. Thirty-six individuals (20 individuals with PD, 16 healthy controls) completed subtests 8A and 8B of the Florida Emotional Expressive Battery (FEEB) to elicit speech samples in five different emotional tones (happy, sad, angry, fear, and neutral). Sentences contained either semantically emotional or neutral information, resulting in conditions of congruency (same semantics-tone) and incongruency (different semantics-tone). Speech rate was impacted by the emotional tone of all participants. Individuals with PD demonstrated faster speech rates under conditions of conflicting semantic information than healthy older adults. Changes in speech rate under emotional conditions were not influenced by global measures of cognition or depression. The results of this study indicate that individuals with PD struggle to manage irrelevant information present during emotional speech production. Speech rate is a simple, easy-to-measure metric that may reflect cognitive processing impairments in PD.

The Progressive Masked Voice Exercises (PMVE) with an innovative semioccluded ventilation mask fitted and adjustable positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) valve was evaluated. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the PMVE with the PEEP device and the Vocal Function Exercise (VFE) program on acoustic, auditory-perceptual, aerodynamic, and self-report measures. Twenty-five participants diagnosed with voice disorders met the criteria. Participants were randomly assigned to either the PMVE or the VFE group for a 6-week home therapy program. Pre- and post-data were analyzed with parametric and nonparametric statistics. Acoustic and aerodynamic measures showed no between-group or interaction group × time effects; however, a main effect of time was observed for all but one of the eight acoustic variables, indicating that both groups improved. Additional within-group analysis showed improvements in two of the eight variables for the PMVE program and four for the VFE program. No between-group differences were observed for the auditory-perceptual judgments using the GRBASI scale; however, the strain was improved for the VFE group. No differences in self-report measures were also seen, except for the VFE group. This study provides preliminary evidence for the PMVE therapy program. Further research is needed in large and diverse samples and clinical application is invited.

The purpose of the investigation was to determine the feasibility of motivational interviewing (MI) to increase caregiver facilitation of articulation home practice. The number of completed caregiver-facilitated practice sessions was collected daily throughout the investigation. MI was introduced to three caregivers who all identified feelings of ambivalence surrounding home practice. All caregivers participated in at least two MI sessions. There were three demonstrations of an increase in the percentage of home practice facilitation when MI was introduced, which suggests a functional relationship between MI and home practice facilitation. Overall, the data suggested that MI may improve caregiver facilitation of home practice. The results of this investigation demonstrated that all participants improved their ability to facilitate articulation home practice with their children after participating in MI sessions, compared to baseline. Additionally, results indicated that this guiding style of communication may be useful for resolving ambivalence surrounding articulation home practice facilitation.

This clinical tutorial draws on a case study to demonstrate how researchers can design studies that access the voices of even the youngest children. The case study explored young children's perceptions of reading at a time when government policy directs that reading should be taught through a systematic synthetic phonics "first and fast" approach and assessed using the phonics screening check. This collective case study, set within a single primary school, used a range of tools designed within a listening framework, to explore the views of seven 5- to 6-year-old children. By reflecting carefully on the methodology used in this study, this article demonstrates how children can be skilled and insightful participants in research provided they are given activities that allow them to engage, respond, and communicate in ways appropriate for their age. This tutorial has implications for all those interested in conducting participatory research with young children.

Racially and ethnically minoritized (minoritized) autistic individuals face intersectional disparities in service access in the transition to adulthood. Our understanding of disparities is limited by systematic exclusion from research and inadequate approaches to characterizing services. To address these gaps and effect advocacy, this study (1) examined services received, unmet service needs, and barriers in minoritized autistic adolescents and adults and (2) determined if language, NVIQ, and autism traits predict services when deployed as binary or continuous variables. Academic and community partners tailored community-based participatory research (CBPR) to a local context. Participants (N = 73, ages 13-30) completed a behavioral assessment protocol. Participants and caregivers provided information on services received, unmet service needs, and barriers to services. Data were analyzed using descriptive and regression. Participants received multiple services yet had multiple unmet service needs and barriers. Effects of services differed by approach. Language impairment, but not language scores, predicted receiving more services. High levels of autism traits and autism trait scores predicted more unmet service needs. While the number of services and unmet service needs was similar to prior work, differences in individual service variables and effects support attention to heterogeneity. Findings support intersectional approaches to CBPR and autism research.