Monthly Archives: September 2010
Auditory-Motor Learning during Speech Production in 9-11-Year-Old Children
The results indicate that 9–11-year-old children, whose speech motor and perceptual abilities are still not fully developed, are nonetheless capable of auditory-feedback-based sensorimotor adaptation, supporting a role for such learning processes in speech motor development. Auditory feedback may play a more limited role, however, in the fine-tuning of children’s perceptual representations of speech sound categories.
from PLoS ONE
Identification of gifted students with learning disabilities in a Response-to-Intervention era
The identification of children who are twice-exceptional—those who are gifted and have concomitant learning disabilities (LDs)—has historically posed a number of challenges for school psychologists and other school personnel. With the reauthorization of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act and the shift to the use of a Response-to-Intervention (RtI) model to identify students with LDs, the task of identifying those who are twice exceptional is even more daunting. This article proposes an integrated model for the identification of gifted children with LDs that blends standardized assessment methods with practices consistent with RtI. This balanced approach brings together the best of both worlds to more accurately identify twice-exceptional students and better meet their educational needs. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Comparison of two hearing screening programs in the same population: Oto-acoustic emissions (OAE) screening in newborns and behavioral screening when infants
Conclusions
Newborn hearing screening has the advantages of objectivity, early identification, and higher compliance. The major advantage of the later behavioral test is identification of later onset or progressive hearing impairment as well as auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder. Each screening test is testing different entities; hence they are complementary and not interchangeable or superfluous.
We recommend a comprehensive two-step hearing screening plan (newborn and later behavioral) with close cooperation between the health care providers involved.
from the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
How does the absence or presence of subglottal medialization affect glottal airflow?
CONCLUSIONS: Medialization of the subglottis does not significantly affect the turbulence reduction properties of the subglottis, even though subglottal asymmetry is introduced. On the other hand, large amounts of medialization of the glottis only (with no subglottal medialization) can introduce significant amounts of turbulence.
Multicenter evaluation of the digisonic SP cochlear implant fixation system with titanium screws in 156 patients.
CONCLUSIONS: The fixation system with screws embedded in the Digisonic SP involves a fast and simple surgical technique that seems to efficiently prevent implant migration.
Assessing the immunization status of pediatric cochlear implant recipients using a state-maintained immunization registry
Conclusion
A statewide immunization registry can be used to monitor the immunization status of cochlear implant recipients. Subjects were significantly more likely to be incomplete for PPV-23 than for either PCV-7 or HiB vaccinations.
Tinnitus in the elderly: Profile, correlates, and impact in the Nigerian Study of Ageing
Conclusion
Tinnitus is common among elderly Nigerians and is associated with treatable health conditions, such as otitis media, rhinosinusitis, head injury, and hypertension. Its association with functional impairment and reduced quality of life highlights the need for inclusion in any comprehensive health care for the elderly.
Long-term outcome of thalamic deep brain stimulation in two patients with Tourette syndrome
Conclusion Bilateral thalamic stimulation may provide sustained tic benefit after at least 6 years, but to maximise overall outcome, attention is needed for postoperative psychosocial adaptation, already prior to surgery.
from the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry with Practical Neurology
A diagnostic challenge: Language difficulties and hearing impairment in a secondary-school student from a non-English-speaking background
Children who have sensory, cognitive or oromotor deficits, or come from a bilingual-speaking background are currently excluded from the diagnosis of specific language impairment (SLI). Emerging evidence, however, suggests that at least 7% of all children have language learning difficulties, irrespective of other diagnoses or language learning background. The aim of this study was to investigate the language abilities of an adolescent boy with pre-lingual, severe-profound hearing loss who comes from a non-English-speaking background. This student’s performance on standardized tests is described and qualitative language analyses examine his impairment. His abilities are compared with that of a matched control. The language difficulty identified could not be attributed to either hearing impairment or non-English-speaking background. The student’s data suggest the need to expand the concept of SLI to include children with other impairments and from different language backgrounds in order to provide equity of support services and access to the classroom curriculum.
A graphic symbol tool for the evaluation of communication, satisfaction and priorities of individuals with intellectual disability who use a speech generating device
This article reports on the views of individuals with learning disability (LD) on their use of their speech generating devices (SGDs), their satisfaction about their communication, and their priorities. The development of an interview tool made of graphic symbols and entitled Communication, Satisfaction and Priorities of SGD Users (CSPU) is described in detail. The tool was used to support comprehension and to elicit the opinions of eight individuals with LD who had severe communication disorders. Most participants reported that they did not use their SGDs in situations in which they needed them in order to communicate effectively. The participants’ parents corroborated these statements but they identified priorities that were different from their child’s. The results emphasize the necessity of permitting individuals with severe communication disorders to take part in decision-making by indicating their satisfaction and priorities for intervention. Methodological issues and future use of the evaluation tool in research and in clinical settings are discussed.
Argumentative writing in pre-adolescents: The role of verbal reasoning
Argumentative writing is a challenging communication task that calls upon sophisticated cognitive and linguistic abilities. Pre-adolescents (n = 80; mean age = 11;10; range = 10;6—13:5) were asked to write an argumentative essay on the controversial topic of training animals to perform in circuses. Additionally, they were asked to solve a set of verbal reasoning problems. Children whose essays reflected a more flexible attitude toward the controversy (Conditional subgroup) outperformed their peers whose attitude was more rigid (Absolute subgroup) on all key measures: Verbal Analogical Reasoning, Total Number of Reasons, and Mean Length of Utterance in Words. Implications for instruction and intervention with pre-adolescents are discussed.
Developing a language support model for mainstream primary school teachers
In the UK, speech and language therapists (SLTs) work with teachers to support children with language impairment (LI) in mainstream schools. Consultancy approaches are often used, where SLTs advise educational staff who then deliver language-learning activities. However, some research suggests that schools may not always sustain activities as planned. There is a need to consider teachers’ views on implementing consultancy approaches, and use these to develop practical means to set-up, monitor and evaluate classroom-based language-learning activities, developing a ‘language support model’ useful to teachers. The small-scale study described aimed to investigate and analyse teachers’ and SLTs’ views, and to use these to develop a language support model suited to the ecology of the primary classroom. A small-scale participatory evaluation study is reported. Participants were three community SLTs, and mainstream primary teachers experienced with children with LI: four teachers from one authority who had been involved in a previous language-learning trial, and 15 teachers from three other authorities. Methods were short questionnaire, group interview and iterative document revision. On the basis of participants’ views, a flexible language support model was developed. This model outlines school and SLT actions needed to implement and monitor language activities and to check progress, with related materials for teachers. The language support model reflected participants’ views of the realities of classroom work, and the materials were judged useful to teachers. They have been edited and published for general use.
Dynamic assessment of children with language impairments: A pilot study
This article describes the construction of a procedure for dynamic assessment of the expressive grammar of children already identified with language impairments. Few instruments exist for the dynamic assessment of language, and those that have been developed have been largely used to successfully differentiate language impaired from culturally different or typically developing populations. The emphasis in this study was on eliciting clinically useful information that may be used to inform intervention for children with specific language impairment (SLI). The method was piloted on three children with specific language impairments.The test—train—retest format made use of standardized administration of the CELF-3 (UK) before and after a designated training protocol. The training procedure required the children to formulate sentences from randomly presented words, assisted by mediation from the assessor. Results showed that the task used was valuable and appropriate for use as a dynamic measure, and elicited differentiated amounts of change in the children in response to the mediated training phase. Pre-test—post-test results were inconclusive, however, and the frameworks for summarizing information could benefit from revision.
Effects of a Tier 2 intervention on literacy measures: Lessons learned
Response to intervention (RTI) provides an opportunity to avoid long-term and sometimes costly intervention. The best models of the tiered approach to intervention are still under investigation. In this study, 23 first-grade students were identified as having below average reading abilities and/ or poor phonemic awareness through classroom-based and standardized assessments and then randomly divided into two groups. One group received explicit phonemic awareness training with the speech—language pathologists (SLP) and multi-sensory reading instruction from a special educator in conjunction with classroom instruction. The remaining group received exclusively classroom reading instruction. No significant differences were found when comparing results of classroom-based intervention to students receiving classroom intervention plus 16 hours of additional intensive instruction. Both groups demonstrated overall improvements in reading efficiency, including segmenting and blending. Implications are discussed comparing Tier 1 and Tier 2 approaches with children scoring below expectations using formal and informal reading measures.
Familial Dyslexia in a Large Swedish Family: A Whole Genome Linkage Scan
There is a compelling body of evidence that developmental dyslexia runs in families and seems to be highly inheritable. Several investigations during the last two decades have shown possible locations of genes that might be involved in dyslexia, including regions of chromosomes 1, 2, 3, 6, 11, 13, 15 and 18. In addition, six candidate genes (KIAA0319, DYX1C1, DCDC2, ROBO1, MRPL19 and C2ORF3) seem to be related to dyslexia. The present study carried out a whole genome scan in a six-generation pedigree. In addition to literacy skills the assessment included cognitive skills and records concerning the history of reading and writing ability. Thirty-five percent were regarded as dyslexic in the family. A linkage analysis using both a quantitative and a qualitative approach has been performed. No evidence was obtained to support the hypothesis that the transmission of dyslexia in this pedigree is due to a highly penetrant major gene, and previous linkage findings were not replicated; however, power in this small study was not adequate to confirm linkage of genes with small to moderate effects. The results were discussed in relation to diagnostic procedures and sample characteristics.
from Behavior Genetics
