NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DEAFNESS AND OTHER COMMUNICATION DISORDERS (NIDCD) Comprehensive Strategic Plan and Budget to Reduce and Ultimately Eliminate Health Disparities

It is estimated that one of every six Americans, people of both genders and of all ages and races, experiences some form of communication disorder (e.g., hearing impairment, dizziness, balance problems, smell and taste disorders, and voice, speech or language disturbances). Such disorders often compromise social, emotional, educational and vocational aspects of an individual's life. The cost of these disorders in terms of quality of life and unfulfilled potential is substantial

Establishing diagnostic criteria: the role of clinical pragmatics

The study of pragmatic disorders is of interest to speech-language pathologists who have a professional responsibility to assess and treat communication impairments. However, these disorders, it will be argued in this paper, have a significance beyond the clinical management of clients with communication impairments. Specifically, pragmatic disorders can now make a contribution to the diagnosis of a range of clinical conditions in which communication is adversely affected. These conditions include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the autistic spectrum disorders, schizophrenia and the dementias. Pragmatic disorders are already among the criteria used to diagnose some of these conditions (e.g. ADHD), although they are not described in these terms. In other conditions (e.g. the dementias), pragmatic disorders have potential diagnostic value in the absence of reliable biomarkers markers of these conditions and similar initial presenting symptoms. Using clinical data, and the findings of empirical studies, the case is made for the inclusion and/or greater integration of pragmatic disorders in the formal classificatory systems that are used to diagnose a range of disorders. A previously unrecognised role for pragmatic impairments in the nosology and diagnosis of clinical disorders is thereby established

January 9, 2013

Meeting minutes of the January 9, 2013 Faculty Committee meeting

November 4, 2015

Meeting minutes of the November 4, 2015 Faculty Committee meeting

December 5, 2012

Meeting minutes of the December 5, 2012 Faculty Committee meeting