405 research outputs found
Caregiver–Child Interactions and Their Impact on Children’s Fluency: Implications for Treatment
There is a relatively strong focus in the
stuttering literature on the desirability of selected alterations in parental speech and language style in the management of early stuttering. In this article, the existing research support for such recommendations is
evaluated, together with relevant research from the normal language acquisition literature that bears on the
potential consequences of changing parental interaction style. Recommendations with relatively stronger and weaker support are discussed. Ways in which children’s
communication styles and fluency may be altered through newer fluency treatment protocols are contrasted with older, more general parent advisements. Finally,
directions for future research into the efficacy of recommendations made to the parents of children who stutter (CWS) are offered
Parental Perceptions of Children’s Communicative Development at Stuttering Onset
There has been clinical speculation that parents of young stuttering children have
expectations of their children’s communication abilities that are not well-matched
to the children’s actual skills. We appraised the language abilities of 15 children
close to the onset of stuttering symptoms and 15 age-, sex-, and SES-matched
fluent children using an array of standardized tests and spontaneous language
sample measures. Parents concurrently completed two parent-report measures of
the children’s communicative development. Results indicated generally depressed
performance on all child speech and language measures by the children who
stutter. Parent report was closely attuned to child performance for the stuttering
children; parents of nonstuttering children were less accurate in their predictions
of children’s communicative performance. Implications for clinical advisement to
parents of stuttering children are discussed
Parental Language Input to Children at Stuttering Onset
Many programs for the indirect management of stuttering in early childhood
counsel adjustment of parental language models, which are presumed to play an
exacerbating influence on vulnerable children’s fluency. We examined the relative
levels of linguistic demand in maternal language to stuttering and nonstuttering
children, adjusted for each child’s current level of linguistic development. No
significant or observable differences were detected in the relative level of linguistic
demand posed by parents of stuttering children very close to onset of symptoms.
Empirical support for current advisement and potential ramifications are
discussed
Fluency of School-Aged Children With a History of Specific Expressive Language Impairment: An Exploratory Study
A large volume of literature now links
language demand and fluency behaviors in
children. Although it might be reasonable to
assume that children with relatively weak
language skills might demonstrate higher levels
of disfluency, the sparse literature on this topic
is characterized by conflicting findings on the
relationship between language impairment and
disfluency. However, in studies finding elevated
disfluency in children with specific language
impairment, a higher frequency of disfluencies
more characteristic of stuttering has been
noted. This study asks whether children with
long-standing histories of language delay and
impairment are more disfluent, and display
different types of disfluencies than their
typically developing, age-matched peers. Elicited narratives from 22 pairs of 9-year-old
children were analyzed for fluency characteristics.
Half of the children had histories of specific
expressive language impairment (HSLI-E),
whereas the others had typical developmental
histories. The children with HSLI-E were
significantly more disfluent than their peers and
produced more stutter-like disfluencies,
although these behaviors were relatively
infrequent in both groups. Implications for
clinical intervention and future research are
discussed
Syllable structure development of toddlers with expressive specific language impairment
A total of 35 children – 20 with expressive specific language impairment (SLI-E) and 15 typically developing (TD) peers – were compared longitudinally from 24 to 36 months with respect to their production of syllable shapes in 10-minute spontaneous speech samples. SLI-E 24-month-olds predominantly
produced earlier developing syllable shapes containing vowels, liquids, and glides. TD
24-month-olds and SLI-E 36-month-olds produced approximately the same proportion of syllable types, with the exception of consonant clusters, where TD 24-month-olds produced more than SLI-E 36-month-olds. TD children at 36 months showed the greatest use of syllable shapes containing two different consonants and consonant clusters. Detailed analyses revealed that SLI-E children
produced fewer syllable shapes containing final consonants, more than one consonant type, and consonant clusters. Furthermore, the children with SLI-E were found to vocalize less often than their TD peers. The possible relationships between these findings, SLI-E children’s concomitant
deficits in morphology and syntax, and the implications for diagnosis and remediation are discussed
Effects Of Length, Complexity, And Grammatical Correctness On Stuttering In Spanish-Speaking Preschool Children
Purpose: To explore the effects of utterance length, syntactic complexity, and grammatical correctness on stuttering in the spontaneous speech of young, monolingual Spanish-speaking children. Method: Spontaneous speech samples of 11 monolingual Spanish-speaking children who stuttered, ages 35 to 70 months, were examined. Mean number of syllables, total number of clauses, utterance complexity (i.e., containing no clauses, simple clauses, or subordinate and/or conjoined clauses), and grammatical correctness (i.e., the presence or absence of morphological and syntactical errors) in stuttered and fluent utterances were compared. Results: Findings revealed that stuttered utterances in Spanish tended to be longer and more often grammatically incorrect, and contain more clauses, including more subordinate and/or conjoined clauses. However, when controlling for the interrelatedness of syllable number and clause number and complexity, only utterance length and grammatical incorrectness were significant predictors of stuttering in the spontaneous speech of these Spanish-speaking children. Use of complex utterances did not appear to contribute to the prediction of stuttering when controlling for utterance length. Conclusions: Results from the present study were consistent with many earlier reports of English-speaking children. Both length and grammatical factors appear to affect stuttering in Spanish-speaking children. Grammatical errors, however, served as the greatest predictor of stuttering.Communication Sciences and Disorder
The Formal Dynamism of Categories: Stops vs. Fricatives, Primitivity vs. Simplicity
Minimalist Phonology (MP; Pöchtrager 2006) constructs its theory based on the phonological epistemological principle (Kaye 2001) and exposes the arbitrary nature of standard Government Phonology (sGP) and strict-CV (sCV), particularly with reference to their confusion of melody and structure.
For Pöchtrager, these are crucially different, concluding that place of articulation is melodic (expressed with elements), while manner of articulation is structural. In this model, the heads (xN and xO) can license and incorporate the length of the other into their own interpretation, that is xN influences xO projections as well as its own and vice versa. This dynamism is an aspect of the whole framework and this paper in particular will show that stops and fricatives evidence a plasticity of category and that, although fricatives are simpler in structure, stops are the more primitive of the two.
This will be achieved phonologically through simply unifying the environment of application of the licensing forces within Pöchtrager's otherwise sound onset structure. In doing so, we automatically make several predictions about language acquisition and typology and show how lenition in Qiang (Sino-Tibetan) can be more elegantly explained
‘We don't have recipes; we just have loads of ingredients’: explanations of evidence and clinical decision making by speech and language therapists
Rationale, aims and objectives: Research findings consistently suggest that speech and language therapists (SLTs) are failing to draw effectively on research-based evidence to guide clinical practice. This study aimed to examine what constitutes the reasoning provided by SLTs for treatment choices and whether science plays a part in those decisions.
Method: This study, based in Ireland, reports on the qualitative phase of a mixed-methods study, which examined attitudes underpinning treatment choices and the therapy process. SLTs were recruited from community, hospital and disability work settings via SLT managers who acted as gatekeepers. A total of three focus groups were run. Data were transcribed, anonymized and analysed using thematic analysis.
Results: In total, 48 participants took part in the focus groups. The majority of participants were female, represented senior grades and had basic professional qualifications. Three key themes were identified: practice imperfect; practice as grounded and growing; and critical practice. Findings show that treatment decisions are scaffolded primarily on practice evidence. The uniqueness of each patient results in dynamic and pragmatic practice, constraining the application of unmodified therapies. Conclusion: The findings emerging from the data reflect the complexities and paradoxes of clinical practice as described by SLTs. Practice is pivoted on both the patient and clinician, through their membership of groups and as individuals. Scientific thinking is a component of decision making; a tool with which to approach the various ingredients and the dynamic nature of clinical practice. However, these scientific elements do not necessarily reflect evidence-based practice as typically constructed
Change in Blood Pressure and Pulse Pressure in Preterm Infants After Treatment of Patent Ductus Arteriosus With Indomethacin
- …