Facilitating multisyllabic productions & assessing sympathetic arousal in children with developmental disorders

Speech-language impairments represent one of the most common developmental disorders, ranging from 1.3-14.3%. In particular the ability to combine syllables represents an important developmental milestone that is delayed or impaired in a variety of clinically-identified populations. However, evidence to support specific treatment practices in this area is relatively sparse. In addition, limited information is available regarding how children's sympathetic arousal is associated with interventions. Recent technological advances in electrodermal activity (EDA) interfaces, as seen in the Q sensor (Affectiva, 2012), provide the opportunity to conduct in situ EDA assessments. EDA is sensitive to both cognitive and emotional states and processes, thereby offering the potential to derive information regarding children’s internal states during intervention. The present study 1) examined the effectiveness of an integrated speech-language intervention in increasing children's multisyllabic productions, 2) assessed the associations between in situ EDA and off-line behavioral coding of emotional valence, and 3) examined the association among different EDA measures.Ope

Genetic Effects on Children’s Conversational Language Use

The present study examined the extent of genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in children’s conversational language use

Creating a Spoken Impact: encouraging vocalization through audio visual feedback in children with ASD

One hallmark difficulty of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) centers on communication and speech. Research into computer visualizations of voice has been shown to influence conversational patterns and allow users to reflect upon their speech. In this paper we present the Spoken Impact Project (SIP) examines the effect of audio and visual feedback on vocalizations in low-functioning children with ASD by providing them with additional means of understanding and exploring their voice. This researdh spans over 12 months, including the creation of multiple software packages and detailed analysis of more than 20 hours of experimental video. SIP demonstrates the potential of computer generated audio and visual feedback to shape vocalizations of children with ASD

Language and IQ in Children With Language Impairment

134 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002.The present study used multiple regression techniques to explore the potential relations between language and IQ in 30 children with language impairment. According to a modular model, this study hypothesized that semantic abilities would be substantially associated with IQ while morphosyntactic and phonological memory skills would remain relatively independent. Three primary findings emerged. First, children with language impairment, as a group, scored higher on a nonverbal IQ test than on a verbal IQ measure. Second, semantic abilities accounted for 43% of variance in verbal IQ scores, with skills in morphosyntax and phonological memory failing to contribute any additional variance. Third, nonverbal IQ was a relatively weak predictor of all three language domains---semantics, morphosyntax, and phonological memory---particularly when standardized language measures were removed from the dependent variables. Implications regarding clinical and scientific practices are discussed.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD