Communication Disorders Quarterly recent issues

A Comparison of the Speech and Language Skills of Children With Cochlear Implants and Children With Normal Hearing

Schorr, E. A., Roth, F. P., Fox, N. A. — 2008-07-25

This study explored the language skills of children with cochlear implants (CIs) compared to normal hearing (NH) peers. Standardized speech and language measures, including speech articulation, receptive and expressive vocabulary, syntax and morphology, and metalinguistics, were administered to 39 congenitally deaf children, ages 5 to 14, and a matched sample of NH children. Many CI children demonstrated age-appropriate scores on several language measures, yet their performance was significantly lower than NH peers. Results indicated that (a) age at implant predicted significant variance in receptive vocabulary and short-term auditory memory performance, and (b) duration of CI use predicted receptive syntax performance.

Closing a Resource Room for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Miller, K. J. — 2008-07-25

Self-contained classrooms and resource rooms have been an important component of the continuum of placements available to students who are deaf or hard of hearing. However, these specialized classrooms have been closing in recent years. A variety of factors are contributing to this, most notably the impact of cochlear implants. This article describes the factors leading to the closure of an elementary school resource room for students who are deaf or hard of hearing and the process of transitioning these students back to their home school districts. Implications of closing specialized classrooms for students who are deaf or hard of hearing are discussed.

An Observational Study of Reading Instruction for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in Public Schools

Donne, V. J., Zigmond, N. — 2008-07-25

An observational study of reading instruction, using the MS-CISSAR protocol, was conducted in general education classrooms, resource classrooms, and self-contained special education/deaf education classrooms in Grades 1 through 4 in public schools within the tri-state area of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Participants were 24 students who are deaf or hard of hearing and 17 teachers of reading for these students. Results indicated that reading activities varied significantly by instructional setting and grade level enrolled. In addition, teacher behaviors were significantly different by instructional setting, grade level enrolled, reading curriculum level, and students' level of hearing loss.

Special Education in the New National Educational Data System

Ahearn, E. M. — 2008-07-25

For more than 5-years, the U.S. Department of Education has been developing and implementing a new data system, EDFacts, designed to contain all the educational data it collects from states. This article provides a summary of the development of the new federal system and describes some of the benefits and challenges it poses for states, districts, and schools. The addition of data from special education to the new system is also described.

Meet Karen Dilka, Executive Director of the Council on Education of the Deaf

Montgomery, J. K. — 2008-07-25

From the Field connects you with clinicians and practitioners in speech-language pathology. In each issue, you will meet a professional selected for an in-depth interview on a highly practical topic. The interviews are conducted by the editor of CDQ, Judy K. Montgomery, PhD, CCC-SLP, Chapman University, Orange, California. Suggestions for future interviews should be sent to Dr. Montgomery at montgome@chapman.edu.

Journal Self-Study CEUs: Communication Disorders Quarterly

2008-07-25

Continuing Education Questions: CDQ Volume 29, Number 4, August 2008

2008-07-25

A Preliminary Analysis of Reading Materials and Strategies Used by Older Adults

Champley, J., Scherz, J. W., Apel, K., Burda, A. N. — 2008-06-25

The purpose of this preliminary study was to gather information related to reading abilities of typically aging older adults, the strategies that older adults use to improve reading comprehension, and the types and frequency of reading materials older adults use. Ninety-six adults, mostly college-educated volunteers between the ages of 65 and 79 years participated. The data collected indicated that this group of adults used a wide variety of materials and strategies for reading and generally were successful readers. Implications for rehabilitation professions who work with older adults are considered.

VISION: A Model of Cultural Responsiveness for Speech-Language Pathologists Working in Family Partnerships

Bellon-Harn, M. L., Garrett, M. T. — 2008-06-25

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has established knowledge and skills needed for culturally competent service delivery by speech-language pathologists. Among these are skills needed to demonstrate sensitivity to cultural and linguistic differences. The purpose of this article is to describe a model, VISION, to assist in development of cultural competence. This article includes a description of the components of VISION followed by vignettes to illustrate its application.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Internationally Adopted Chinese Children: Communication and Symbolic Behavior Development

Hwa-Froelich, D. A., Matsuoh, H. — 2008-06-25

Adaptation of internationally adopted children to another culture and language has not been studied extensively. This study followed four infant girls from China during the 1st year postadoption, measuring vocabulary, gestural, social, communication, and symbolic behavior development each month. The children were also tested at 2 and 3 years postadoption. Results indicated that each child demonstrated variability in prelinguistic communication and symbolic behaviors and demonstrated a significant drop in communication and symbolic behavior scores during the 6th, 7th, or 8th month postadoption. Also, receptive English vocabulary developed early and expressive vocabulary developed later during the first 12 months postadoption, and it remains difficult to predict if a child will catch up in communication development with non-adopted peers during the 2nd or 3rd year postadoption. These data will help guide clinical assessment decisions for internationally adopted children.

Evidence-Based Practices Are Not Reformulated Best Practices: A Response to Martindale's "Children With Significant Hearing Loss: Learning to Listen, Talk, and Read--Evidence-Based Best Practices"

Schirmer, B. R., Williams, C. — 2008-06-25

Communication Disorders Quarterly's special series on evidence-based practices and, specifically, Martindale's article on evidence-based practices in learning to listen, talk, and read among children with significant hearing loss appear to confuse best practices with evidence-based practices and, perhaps more serious, offer little evidence for either. Although the case may be made that evidence-based practices are best practices, best practices are not evidence-based practices unless identified through evaluation of research with criteria agreed on by the research community.

Pragmatic Assessment in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Comparison of a Standard Measure With Parent Report

Reichow, B., Salamack, S., Paul, R., Volkmar, F. R., Klin, A. — 2008-06-25

The purpose of this study was to investigate the concurrent validity of subtests on the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL) by comparing them with the assessment of communication and social skills on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (Vineland). The participants were 35 children and adolescents with higher functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who had received both the CASL and the Vineland. Results of the study suggest that the Pragmatic Judgment and Inferences subtests of the CASL appeared to document the difficulties that individuals with ASD had in adaptive use of language for communication.

Dave Krupke: What Exactly is Visual Phonics?

Montgomery, J. — 2008-06-25

Journal Self-Study CEUs

2008-06-25

Continuing Education Questions

2008-06-25

Erratum

2008-06-25

Spanish Nonword Repetition: Stimuli Development and Preliminary Results

Ebert, K. D., Kalanek, J., Cordero, K. N., Kohnert, K. — 2008-02-01

Purpose: The current study presents preliminary nonword repetition data from Spanish-speaking preschool children using a new set of stimuli. Method: Twenty nonwords were constructed to be phonotactically possible in Spanish and to conform to published guidelines for nonword repetition stimuli. Fourteen Spanish-speaking typically developing preschool children repeated the nonwords. Results: Both age and word length affected repetition accuracy, and there was an age-by-length interaction. Younger children were less accurate overall and showed steeper decreases in accuracy as length increased. Conclusions: The results provide promising evidence that the stimuli may be developed into a Spanish nonword repetition task for both research and clinical purposes.

Eliciting a Distal Gesture via Dynamic Assessment Among Students With Moderate to Severe Intellectual Disability

McLaughlin, K., Cascella, P. W. — 2008-02-01

This study attempted to elicit distal gestures within dynamic assessment structured sampling events from six children with moderate to severe intellectual disability (ages 8-13). Using four communication temptations and a least-to-most prompting hierarchy across three sessions, three participants who had both pre-symbolic and preintentional communication demonstrated an initial distal gesture, often in response to a choice making temptation. Clinical implications are discussed with regard to the utility of dynamic assessment structured sampling activities.

Parents' Experiences With Childhood Deafness: Implications for Family-Centered Services

Jackson, C. W., Traub, R. J., Turnbull, A. P. — 2008-02-01

In response to the need for family-centered follow-up, this study examined parents' experiences with deafness after early identification. Qualitative inquiry methods were used to explore and describe the perceptions and experiences of nine parents of children identified with severe to profound deafness. Parents participated in face-to-face conversations and interviews by phone and e-mail. Naturalistic inquiry methods were used to identify themes in family experiences including reactions to diagnosis; decision making; impact of deafness on family interactions, family time, and the child; positive experiences in early intervention; and desired support services. Implications and recommendations for early intervention programs are discussed.

Parent Directiveness in Free Play With Young Children With Physical Impairments

Cress, C. J., Moskal, L., Hoffmann, A. — 2008-02-01

Children with disabilities are reported to experience a high degree of directive parent interaction compared to typically developing children because of poor communicative or task skills. This study examines relationships between parent behaviors (directiveness and contingency) and child skills (language and motor) for children with physical or neuromotor impairments at risk for being nonspeaking during undirected incidental play. The only correlation between parent behavior and child developmental status was between physical directiveness and child motor scores. Previous reports of high directiveness that increase with degree of disability might be attributable to task instructions during object play, in which high physical directiveness would be required for this population.

Beyond the Obvious: Constructing Meaning From Subtle Patterns in the Language Environment

Corrigan, R. — 2008-02-01

This article addresses the acquisition of meaning of words and phrases that refer to aspects of the world that are not directly perceivable. It examines the patterns of semantic input that are available in the linguistic environment that provide clues to allow a child to construct a lexicon that is both broad and deep. These patterns are illustrated with examples from the author's research on implicit verb causality, underlying dimensions of affective meaning, and the acquisition of rare adjectives. Throughout the article, the author selectively reviews the literature on children with language impairments to examine what is known about depth of vocabulary knowledge in these populations.

Journal Self-Study CEUs

2008-02-01

Continuing Education Questions

2008-02-01

From the Publications Director

Kipping, P. — 2007-11-01

From the Editors

Coufal, K., Montgomery, J. — 2007-11-01

From the Guest Editor: Introduction to the Special Series on Culture and SLPs

Cheng, L.-R. L. — 2007-11-01

Being Smart in a Diverse World

Westby, C. — 2007-11-01

This article reviews the concept of intelligence from different cultural perspectives and explains why the traditional approach to determining "who is smart" is inappropriate for students from culturally/linguistically diverse backgrounds and inadequate even for determining if mainstream students will be successful in daily living. The concept of successful intelligence is described and related to the components of cultural intelligence that are essential for professionals to function effectively in a diverse world. Strategies for promoting cultural intelligence in students are suggested.

Got EQ? Increasing Cultural and Clinical Competence Through Emotional Intelligence

Robertson, S. A. — 2007-11-01

Cultural intelligence has been described across three parameters of human behavior: cognitive intelligence, emotional intelligence (EQ), and physical intelligence. Each contributes a unique and important perspective to the ability of speech—language pathologists and audiologists to provide benefits to their clients regardless of cultural backgrounds. This article provides an overview of the concept of EQ and its historic and theoretical foundations. Strategies for developing and implementing skills related to EQ to enhance clinical competence and cultural proficiency are explored.

Culturally Consistent Treatment for Late Talkers

2007-11-01

The authors discuss cultural influences on clinical interactions when treating late talkers, 2- to 3-year-old children with primary language delays. They use the literature to examine the cultural relevance of core components of early language treatment and propose alternative professional actions in the cases of cultural mismatches. Alternative actions include triadic or multiparty treatments, the inclusion of siblings or others, more structured tasks or group settings for language training, and shaping of culturally congruent directive language techniques. Also discussed is the need for an emphasis on social language use and professional clarity regarding links between early child language ability and later achievements in order to motivate treatment.

Developing Cultural Intelligence in Preservice Speech-Language Pathologists and Educators

Griffer, M. R., Perlis, S. M. — 2007-11-01

Postsecondary educators preparing future clinicians and teachers have an important responsibility to develop cultural competence of their students in order to meet the increasing and ever-changing demands of today's global workforce and diverse workplace. In this article, the authors discuss key components to developing cultural intelligence. These include an awareness of multiperspective identity, an understanding of the concepts of privilege and difference, the development of one's diversity consciousness, and an understanding of and respect for the guiding principles of cultural competence that lead to an understanding of others. Application to practice is presented through multiperspective identity and role-play activities and a case study with questions for facilitating discussion.

Cultural Intelligence (CQ): A Quest for Cultural Competence

Cheng, L.-R. L. — 2007-11-01

Professionals in the field of special education are constantly being asked about efficacy and outcome-based practice. The tragic event that took place at Virginia Tech shocked the world. This article uses the Virginia Tech tragedy as a base to discuss the need for all professionals to develop cultural competence. Furthermore, it discusses the topic of cultural reactions to communicative disorders and the need to develop cultural competence to decode each message in its cultural, linguistic, and social contexts and to provide culturally appropriate intervention when called for. It also builds on the notion that the world is flat and describes the challenges we face as we try to decode the messages from the world of English-language learners, the world of Englishes, and the codes shared by the e-generation. Finally, it advocates the need to develop cultural humility with the goal to quest for cultural competence.

Productivity, Fluency, and Grammaticality Measures From Narratives: Potential Indicators of Language Proficiency?

Tilstra, J., McMaster, K. — 2007-11-01

The purpose of this study was to identify potential general outcome indicators (GOIs) of language proficiency. Brief narratives were elicited from 45 kindergarten, first-grade, and third-grade children using single-picture scenes and a standardized protocol. Measures of language productivity, verbal fluency, and grammaticality were examined for alternate-form reliability and criterion validity. Two verbal fluency measures, total productive words per minute and total number of words per minute, were reliably obtained for students in all grades, demonstrated moderate criterion validity with a standardized oral language measure, and differentiated third-grade students from those in kindergarten and first grade. Additional standards for GOIs are discussed.

Exploring International Perspectives in Hearing Health Care

Montgomery, J. K. — 2007-11-01

Journal Self-Study CEUs

2007-11-01

Continuing Education Questions

2007-11-01