Monthly Archives: April 2010
Predictors of Response to Intervention of Word Reading Fluency in Dutch
The objective of this study was to investigate the contribution of rapid digit naming, phonological memory, letter sound naming, and orthographic knowledge to the prediction of responsiveness to a school-based, individual intervention of word reading fluency problems of 122 Dutch second and third graders whose reading scores were below the 10th percentile in comparison with the normative group. Degree of responsiveness was determined by comparison of a pre- and posttest measure of word reading fluency with a 6-month interval. At posttest, 38% of the children had improved their reading scores above the 10th percentile. Maintenance scores revealed no significant growth on average, confirming that word reading fluency skills of poor readers are hard to remediate. Except rapid digit naming, none of the measures predicted responsiveness after controlling for the autoregressive effect of initial performance on fluency of word reading. A large part of the variance remained unexplained, supporting the advantage of a response-to-intervention approach above traditional psychometric testing to identify severe reading disabilities.
from the Journal of Learning Disabilities
Second Language Learning Difficulties in Chinese Children With Dyslexia: What Are the Reading-Related Cognitive Skills That Contribute to English and Chinese Word Reading?
This study examined the relations between reading-related cognitive skills and word reading development of Chinese children with dyslexia in their Chinese language (L1) and in English (L2). A total of 84 bilingual children—28 with dyslexia, 28 chronological age (CA) controls, and 28 reading-level (RL) controls—participated and were administered measures of word reading, rapid naming, visual-orthographic skills, and phonological and morphological awareness in both L1 and L2. Children with dyslexia showed weaker performance than CA controls in both languages and had more difficulties in phonological awareness in English but not in Chinese. In addition, reading-related cognitive skills in Chinese contributed significantly to the ability to read English words, suggesting cross-linguistic transfer from L1 to L2. Results found evidence for different phonological units of awareness related to the characteristics of the different languages being learned, supporting the psycholinguistic grain size and linguistic coding differences hypotheses.
from the Journal of Learning Disabilities
Rapidly Declining Unilateral Hearing Within 1 Month in a Newborn With Internal Auditory Canal Stenosis and Facial Palsy
Most newborns with congenital unilateral facial palsy are expected to recover; however, when a patient has hearing loss, underlying developmental ear structure abnormalities should be investigated, particularly when the patient has internal auditory canal stenosis, which is rarely reported in newborns. All cases of internal auditory canal stenosis are accompanied by concomitant unilateral or bilateral hearing loss, but none with progressive hearing loss has been reported. We present the case of a newborn with rapidly declining hearing in the left ear within 1 month after birth. The hearing decline was associated with unilateral facial palsy. Using high-resolution computed tomography (CT) of the temporal bone, we diagnosed the patient with congenital internal auditory canal stenosis. This is the first case detected with progressive hearing loss after birth, which implies that prompt diagnosis and early habilitation are warranted, even when the hearing loss is initially mild.
from the Journal of Child Neurology
Repeated Stimulus Exposure Alters the Way Sound Is Encoded in the Human Brain
Auditory training programs are being developed to remediate various types of communication disorders. Biological changes have been shown to coincide with improved perception following auditory training so there is interest in determining if these changes represent biologic markers of auditory learning. Here we examine the role of stimulus exposure and listening tasks, in the absence of training, on the modulation of evoked brain activity. Twenty adults were divided into two groups and exposed to two similar sounding speech syllables during four electrophysiological recording sessions (24 hours, one week, and up to one year later). In between each session, members of one group were asked to identify each stimulus. Both groups showed enhanced neural activity from session-to-session, in the same P2 latency range previously identified as being responsive to auditory training. The enhancement effect was most pronounced over temporal-occipital scalp regions and largest for the group who participated in the identification task. The effects were rapid and long-lasting with enhanced synchronous activity persisting months after the last auditory experience. Physiological changes did not coincide with perceptual changes so results are interpreted to mean stimulus exposure, with and without being paired with an identification task, alters the way sound is processed in the brain. The cumulative effect likely involves auditory memory; however, in the absence of training, the observed physiological changes are insufficient to result in changes in learned behavior.
from PLoS ONE
Aphasia Therapists’ Stories of Ending the Therapeutic Relationship
This article uses the medium of clinicians’ comments and stories to explore their perceptions of therapeutic relationships and how these relationships come to a close at discharge from aphasia therapy. These narratives are drawn from a qualitative, grounded theory study carried out in South Australia and Northern Territory involving semi-structured interviews with 30 speech pathologists. The stories reported here shed light on the complexities of negotiating boundaries and endings to therapeutic relationships. Interviewees discussed the special nature of their relationships with their clients with aphasia, professional distance, and dependence. Exploration of these narratives is timely because of the increasing emphasis on person-centeredness in rehabilitation, shared decision making, and authentic relationships. This work is important to encourage refl ective practice and greater insight into both speech pathologists’ professional identities and their therapeutic relationships.
Lessons From a Clinical Life in Aphasia
Not only do clinicians play a role in shaping the lives of their clients, but they are shaped by the individuals they work with. This article interweaves selected aspects from the stories of 12 aphasic individuals into a story about some of the things they have taught me about my clinical life.
Life Lessons From Speech Pathology
A personal account of a speech pathologist’s experience of major depression and how her work and research in speech pathology provided a way for her to understand this illness.
Therapy Discharge Becomes Part of the Life Story
Despite great strides in the life-participation approach to aphasia therapy and the arduous work of several therapists to include patients in the decision-making and goal-setting process of therapy, the patient’s direct perspective on the experience of treatment is seldom portrayed in academic journals. In the current article, the voices and different agendas of a stroke survivor with aphasia, her speech-language therapists, and an aspiring qualitative researcher are discussed by means of intertwined narratives, dialogues, and discourses. During an in-depth interview process, the researcher hears the effects of a discharge report on the perceptions and life course of a person living with aphasia. The researcher explores her own reactions and thoughts about the discharge process and report writing. The narratives in this article illustrate the potentially serious impact of seemingly routine clinical procedures, such as a discharge report.
Cluster subtypes on the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II) in a traumatic brain injury sample
Subtypes of learning and memory on the California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II; Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 2000) were examined in a clinical sample of 223 persons with traumatic brain injury (TBI), screened to remove individuals with complicating premorbid (e.g., psychiatric) or comorbid (e.g., financial compensation-seeking) histories. The z scores from 4 key CVLT-II variables were entered into a two-stage cluster analysis. These variables were selected to represent 4 latent constructs, identified in a recent confirmatory factor analysis: List A1 (Attention Span), List A5 (Learning Efficiency), Long Delay Free Recall (Delayed Memory), and False Positives (Inaccurate Memory). Six reliable subtypes were found (similar to those in the standardization sample) that were differentiated by both level and pattern of performance, with differences in level of performance meaningfully related to length of coma. In conclusion, the impact of TBI on CVLT-II performance can be manifested in various patterns that are not specifically unique, but are affected by injury severity.
from the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology
Fetuses Can Fight Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Infection, A Novel Unconventional Immune Response Discovered At The Institute For Medical Immunology
The fetus and infant are highly susceptible to viral infections. A number of viruses, including human cytomegalovirus (CMV), cause more severe disease in early life compared to later life. CMV is the most common cause of infection of the fetus: about 1 in 100 newborns are infected. Although CMV infection causes no detectable symptoms in immunocompetent adults, about 20% of CMV-infected newborns develop serious symptoms, including cerebral malformations, multiple organ failure, deafness, and mental retardation. It is generally accepted that this increased susceptibility to viral infections is related to the immaturity of the neonatal immune system.
Kent Child Development Unit Launched
Based at a vibrant new child- and parent-friendly facility at Keynes College on the University’s Canterbury campus, KCDU will study child development from the age of 18 months through to school ages and beyond, with a particular emphasis on language, cognitive and social development.
Severe Hearing Loss Children With Cochlear Implantation Had Greater Improvement In Comprehension And Spoken Language Expression Than Expected
Children with severe hearing loss who were under the age of five years and underwent cochlear implantation had better improvement in comprehension and spoken language expression that would be predicted from their pre-implantation language scores, with earlier age at implantation linked to greater improvements, according to a study reported in the April 21 issue of JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association).
Callier Forum Showcases Student Research Projects
Studies to determine whether smoking harms hearing and whether childhood language problems can be predicted were among the projects presented at a UT Dallas Callier Center for Communication Disorders forum for undergrad and graduate researchers.
Sonic Innovations Releases New Super Power Behind-the-Ear Hearing Aid
Sonic Innovations, Inc. will unveil its new 12-channel super power behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aid, Endura, at the AudiologyNOW! conference in San Diego, California, April 14 through 17. Endura provides exceptional amplification for those suffering from severe-to-profound hearing loss.
