Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools最新文献

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify training gaps and continuing education (CE) needs for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in evaluating and treating children with cleft palate across and among areas of varying population density.

Method: An anonymous 35-question survey lasting approximately 10-15 min was created in Qualtrics based on a previously published study. The survey information and link were electronically distributed to American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)-certified SLPs through ASHA listservs, social media, individual-state SLP organizations, and an e-mail list of publicly listed SLPs. A total of 359 survey responses were collected.

Results: Respondents varied in terms of age, type of certification, practice location, and clinical experience with cleft palate, with the largest percentage (46.7%) of respondents in a school-based setting. Only 28.5% reported currently feeling comfortable treating children with cleft palate. Respondents reported conventions/conferences (25.4%) and webinars (23.2%) were the most helpful resources, but DVDs were frequently not used for CE. Information from the child's cleft team (84.4%) and mentors/colleagues (70%) were considered high-quality resources. Respondents indicated information on treatment of articulation (79.2%) and resonance (78.4%) disorders as well as specific therapy techniques (76.9%) would be very helpful for clinical practice. Population density significantly influenced how respondents ranked the perceived helpfulness and quality of different resources as well as desired topics for future resources.

Conclusions: There is a continued need for adequate training and CE opportunities for SLPs, particularly related to assessing and treating children with cleft palate. Increased access to high-quality CE resources will be key to filling educational gaps present for SLPs, especially in areas of low-population density.

Supplemental material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.24891423.

Purpose: This study investigated the effectiveness of a storytelling-based morphological intervention program on the language and literacy knowledge and reading motivation of kindergarten children from low and mid socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds. It also explored how these groups compared in change scores against a non-intervened high SES group.

Method: Employing a cluster randomization approach, this study included 158 kindergarten children, comprising intervention and comparison groups from low and mid SES backgrounds, as well as a non-intervened high SES group. Assessments were conducted on morphological awareness (MA), print concepts, vocabulary, and reading motivation.

Results: Children in the intervention groups showed better performance in MA and print concept scores than those in their respective comparison groups. The mid SES intervention group also displayed significant improvement in vocabulary and motivation scores compared to its counterpart. When examining the effects of SES on change scores, the low SES intervention group achieved superior results in vocabulary and print concept scores compared to both the mid SES intervention and the non-intervened high SES groups. For reading motivation, the mid SES group outperformed the low SES group.

Conclusions: The morphological intervention program using storytelling positively impacts both the literacy skills and reading motivation of kindergarten children, especially those from low and mid SES backgrounds. This study emphasizes the significance of designing interventions that cater to the distinct educational needs of children from different SES backgrounds.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of two measures derived from spontaneous language samples, mean length of utterance in words (MLUw) and percentage of grammatical utterances (PGU), in identifying developmental language disorder (DLD) in Spanish-English bilingual children. We examined two approaches: best language and total language.

Method: The participants in this study included 74 Spanish-English bilingual children with (n = 36) and without (n = 38) DLD. Language samples were elicited through a story retell and story generation task using Frog wordless picture books in English and Spanish. Stories were transcribed and coded using the Systematic Analysis of Language Samples (Miller & Iglesias, 2020) to extract MLUw and PGU in both languages.

Results: Logistic regression analyses suggested that a model that included PGU, MLUw, and age achieved the best diagnostic accuracy in predicting group membership. Both approaches, best language and total language, had fair diagnostic accuracy.

Conclusions: In combination, PGU and MLUw seem to be useful diagnostic tools to differentiate bilingual children with and without DLD. Clinical implications and usability are discussed.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to obtain preliminary data about the effectiveness of four workload approaches (WAs) that were implemented in public school settings. The WAs were compared to each other and the caseload approach (CA).

Method: Five speech-language pathologists were selected to implement one of the four WAs, and two used the CA. Data were collected in the areas of Individualized Education Program (IEP) progress, classroom performance, delivery of services, workload parameters, and stakeholder perceptions.

Results: The workload and CAs resulted in desirable levels of IEP progress, and all students received the services that were documented on their IEPs. When the data from the workload and CAs were compared, the Workload Management Strategies (WMS) Approach was associated with the most indicators of success in the study. Participants utilized several practices to manage workload, even though some strategies possibly affected compliance with federal special education law.

Conclusions: These initial findings showed that the WMS Approach held the most promise relative to student outcomes, the workload determination, and compliance with federal special education law. Strengths and weaknesses of each approach and implications for practice are provided. Given the small sample size, the results should be viewed with caution as the generalizability of the results is limited. Areas for further research are recommended.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of I'm Determined youth leaders with learning disability who have enrolled in higher education within 1 year of graduating high school to better understand if and how their experience participating in the I'm Determined project led to their participation in their Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings.

Method: The intent of the narrative inquiry methodology applied to this study was to create a unified story of collective experiences that described or explained the factors leading to participation in their IEP meeting. Although each of the eight narratives is unique to the individual, common themes emerged that were reflected in the literature and consistent across the time continuum of life before and life during participation in I'm Determined.

Results: One experience that was consistent was the importance of participating in and leading their IEP meeting. A narrative timeline led to our findings presented here within a continuum of experiences before and during participation in I'm Determined. We made the decision to present the findings in such a way that highlights common themes specific to IEP participation across moments in time while honoring individual narratives through supportive text from the data. This is a study of people's perceptions of their experiences best told by direct quotes from the participants. The IEP experience is just one component of the self-determination experience.

Conclusions: This study provided insight into the educational experiences of the eight I'm Determined youth leader participants and examined the importance of both their participation in I'm Determined and the development of self-determination skills deemed essential to participate and lead their IEP meeting. Their unique perspective documented in this study served to both inform and push the field forward.

Purpose: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act explicitly acknowledges disability as a natural part of the human experience. However, special education services, including speech-language services, often focus on remediating the characteristics of the individual with the disability rather than addressing the disabling conditions of the school environment or leveraging the supports and resources available or potentially available to the student. The purpose of this article is to provide a social model of disability framework to guide Individualized Education Program (IEP) development and change educational paradigms around language and communication.

Method: A discussion of a new theoretical framework, critical inclusion, is situated within the speech-language pathologist's role in the IEP process. An argument for adopting an integrative approach to service delivery through the social model of disability is provided. The Social Communication and Engagement Triad framework is then used to illustrate a social model of disability approach to assessment, IEP goal development, and service delivery case examples.

Conclusions: Speech-language pathologists and all educators have a responsibility for creating a space where all learners belong and diversity in all aspects is celebrated. Embracing a social model of disability approach to the IEP process can support practitioners in their work toward creating a more equitable and inclusive education system.

Purpose: Understanding students' home literacy environments can help speech-language pathologists, teachers, and other educators partner with families to promote language and literacy learning. This study focused on gaining insight into the views of parents of elementary-age students with intellectual and developmental disabilities who had complex communication needs related to supporting children's language and literacy learning in the home.

Method: This qualitative study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many schools were utilizing remote or hybrid learning arrangements. Participants were 37 parents of students with complex communication needs in kindergarten to fourth grade. Most children had either autism or Down syndrome, and they ranged from primarily communicating prelinguistically (e.g., gestures and nonword vocalizations) to using some two to three word phrases in different modes (e.g., speech, sign, and aided augmentative and alternative communication [AAC]). Each parent was interviewed three times over the 2020-2021 school year, and data were analyzed using an inductive qualitative approach.

Results: Findings showed patterns of commonalities and differences in parents' experiences, including related to their (a) goals and values about communication, language, and literacy; (b) perceptions and experiences with roles supporting language and literacy; and (c) satisfaction with supports and progress in these areas.

Conclusion: This study provides important insight into the views of parents related to home literacy that can be used to improve the design and delivery of interventions for school-age students with complex communication needs and their families.

Purpose: The purpose of this case series was to demonstrate a community-based sociolinguistic approach to language sample analysis (LSA) for the evaluation of Spanish-English bilingual preschoolers acquiring Black language (BL). As part of a comprehensive bilingual speech-language evaluation, we examined sociolinguistic variables in the context of the children's English language samples. Specific emphasis is placed on sociolinguistic information to account for all language(s) and dialect(s) in each child's environment, BL feature patterns, and appropriate scoring procedures for characterizing language use.

Method: This case series includes four monolingual English-speaking and four bilingual Spanish-English-speaking 4-year-olds in a linguistically diverse preschool program. Play samples were collected from each child and coded for morphosyntactic features across three categories: BL, Spanish-Influenced English, and shared. Measures derived from the language samples include percent grammatical utterances, mean length of utterance in words, and number of different words. The children's language is characterized within a community-based sociolinguistic approach that combines three culturally responsive methods for assessment found in the speech-language pathology literature in addition to a novel sociolinguistic questionnaire.

Results: We explain how conducting LSA using a community-based sociolinguistic approach yields diagnostically relevant information that is pertinent to conducting a comprehensive and accurate evaluation of preschoolers in linguistically diverse settings without the use of standardized assessments.

Conclusion: A community-based sociolinguistic approach to LSA is a useful procedure for mitigating misdiagnosis in preschoolers reared in linguistically diverse environments.

Purpose: This clinical focus article reports on an innovative program that provides classroom-based speech and language services to school children receiving speech-language therapy while addressing the need for clinical placements for graduate students in speech-language pathology. This program evaluation report centers around the logic model used to develop and implement the program.

Method: The program was implemented in partnership between a university program in speech-language pathology and a nearby school district. The program took place in two different schools within the district, each with one state licensed and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association-certified speech-language pathologist (SLP) who supervised two or three graduate student interns per year of the project for a total of 17 graduate students over 3 years. Data sources for this program evaluation included child-level data collected by graduate student interns, teacher satisfaction surveys, and semistructured interviews.

Results: Program stakeholders including graduate student interns, speech-language pathology supervisors, and the school district administrator provided converging positive feedback about the program implementation. This was corroborated by favorable ratings from teachers who collaborated with graduate student interns and an increase in the number of classroom-based intervention hours for school children receiving speech-language services.

Conclusions: The short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes of the program's logic model were achieved in part or fully as supported by data sources used for program evaluation procedures. Clinical implications are provided about the need for innovation in school-based services with a focus on collaborative classroom-based intervention.

Purpose: This study investigated the longitudinal, cross-linguistic developmental relationships of phonological awareness (PA), letter identification (letter ID), and morphological awareness (MA) in 71 heritage Spanish-English dual language learners (DLLs) in kindergarten and second grade.

Method: Multiple linear regression was used to test if kindergarten Spanish and English PA (sound elision and sound matching) and letter ID significantly predicted later English MA (oral derived word stress judgment, oral derivational morpheme blending, written derived word decomposition, and morphologically complex word spelling) performance in second grade.

Results: Cross-linguistically, the PA skill of sound matching in kindergarten was the most reliable predictor of MA in second grade for Spanish-English DLLs. Spanish PA explained the majority of variation in oral MA skills in English. English PA was only uniquely predictive of written MA skills in English.

Conclusions: Both the cognitive operation of sound sequence manipulation in PA (elision or matching) and the modality of morpheme representation in MA (oral or written) appear to mediate the transfer of metalinguistic knowledge in Spanish-English DLL development in early elementary school. Results are discussed within the context of classroom practices.