It is well known that language processing depends on specialized areas in the left side of the brain in the majority of the population. A popular view is that developmental language disorders result from a poorly lateralized brain, but evidence in support of this has been weak and inconsistent. In this thesis, I investigated language-related asymmetries in brain structure and function, and their behavioural relevance in both individuals with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing adults. Combining different brain imaging techniques, I looked at group-level as well as individual estimates of language laterality and its relationship to language abilities. The aim of my first two studies was to investigate the neural underpinnings of SLI in terms of white matter microstructure and functional organization associated with auditory processing. For this, diffusion and functional MRI data was obtained in a small number of families with a history of SLI and in control families. Compared with neurotypical controls, children with SLI had lower white matter integrity in the corpus callosum, and in white matter areas corresponding to the dorsal and ventral language pathways. The expected functional lateralization for auditory processing was not observed in either group. In the second half of my thesis, I assessed language laterality in 215 neurotypical adults. I demonstrated that functional transcranial Doppler (FTCD) ultrasonography could reliably assess functional lateralization across different language processes. From this large group, I identified 16 individuals with atypical language lateralization and compared them to a group of 16 typically lateralized individuals using a combination of FTCD, MRI and behavioural measures of language laterality and language abilities. The two groups differed significantly in terms of lateralization assessed by functional MRI and diffusion imaging. The atypical group had lower left and greater right hemisphere activation compared with the typical group, and lacked the leftwards asymmetry in the ventral language tract seen in the typical group. The groups did not differ in terms of cognitive measures. Different functional laterality assessments were concordant in the typically lateralized individuals but were inconsistent in the individuals assessed as atypical by FTCD. In brief, my findings suggest that for some individuals language lateralization may be unstable and varies depending on task or other factors. Even so, such differences do not appear to have consequences for language or other cognitive development.

No description available.

La comparaison des enfants qui acquièrent une langue seconde (L2) à des enfants avec trouble spécifique du langage (TSL) a montré des similarités entre les performances morphosyntaxiques des deux groupes. Cette étude vise à mieux comprendre l’acquisition L2 enfantine typique afin de permettre l’identification d’un TSL chez les enfants L2. Une étude longitudinale de taux de propositions enchâssées et d’erreurs ont été a été faite à partir d’échantillons de langage spontané en français de 22 enfants anglophones âgés de 6;9-12;7 et de 19 enfants monolingues francophones avec TSL âgés de 6;5 à 12;11. Les résultats révèlent que les L2 font plus d’enchâssées que les enfants avec SLI, mais les deux groupes ont eu des taux d’erreurs comparables. La discussion porte sur l’implication de ces résultats sur l’identification des TSL chez les enfants L2. / Research on children acquiring a second language (L2 children) and children with SLI has revealed similarities in their morphosyntactic performance. This study seeks to better understand how children acquire an L2 in order to distinguish typical from atypical L2 acquisition. A longitudinal study of clausal embedding and error rates was made based on spontaneous language samples of 22 English-speaking children (aged 6;9-12;7) acquiring French as an L2 and 19 monolingual French-speaking children with SLI (aged 6;5-12;11). The results revealed that L2 children used clausal embedding more often than the children with SLI, but the SLI and L2 had similar error rates. Analyses of the frequency of embedding and errors revealed correlations that were positive in the L2 group and negative in the SLI. The discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for the identification of SLI in L2 children.

De flesta elever med språkstörning går i vanliga grundskoleklasser. Denna grupp elever riskerar dock oftare än andra elever att misslyckas i skolan på grund av bristande stöd och anpassningar, skolors organisation och lärares kompetens (SOU 2016:46). I vår studie undersöks hur föräldrar till barn med språkstörning uppfattar sina barns möjligheter till likvärdig utbildning i skolan. Frågor som studien ger svar på är: Vad anser föräldrar att barnen är i behov av för stöd i skolan? Vilka hinder anser föräldrar att barnen möter i skolan? Vad fungerar bra för barnen – Vilka är framgångsfaktorerna? Hur upplever föräldrar att de kan stötta sina barn i skolan? Som teoretisk utgångspunkt används ett sociokulturellt perspektiv. Undersökningen genomfördes som en kvalitativ studie där vi använde öppna diskussionsforum på internet för insamling av data. De öppna forum som vi valde var specifika diskussionsgrupper för föräldrar till barn med språkstörning. För analys av vårt datamaterial utgick vi från en tematisk sex-stegsanalysmodell. Resultatet visar att föräldrar anser att utbildningen inte är likvärdig och att barnen är i behov av mycket stöd i skolan. Stöd som önskas är att skolor organiseras utifrån barnens behov och förutsättningar, större tillgång till talpedagog och logoped, anpassade hjälpmedel, att utredningar görs tidigt för att få större möjlighet till stöd samt att det finns kompetenta lärare som stöttar barnen både socialt och kunskapsmässigt. Föräldrar ser lärares positiva bemötande som en framgångsfaktor för att barnets självkänsla ska stärkas och därmed ha större förutsättningar för att lyckas i skolan. Resultatet visar att det finns ett stort engagemang hos föräldrar kring barnets skolgång, men upplevelsen finns att de inte alltid blir lyssnade på, vilket försvårar samarbetet mellan hem och skola. Tillgången till specialskolor, språkklasser och språkspår är väldigt ojämnt fördelat geografiskt, vilket också försämrar förutsättningarna för barnen.

Children with high-functioning autism, children with specific language impairment, children with autism and language impairment, and controls produced sentences after a prompt to form a sentence using a specific word. The sentences were analyzed for syntactic complexity. Children with language impairment, regardless of autism diagnosis, made less complex sentences than their age peers. However, children with autism and language impairment exhibited a broader range of ability than children with language impairment alone. Children with high-functioning autism without concomitant structural language impairment created sentences of similar complexity to age peers. Word variables also influenced sentence complexity, with word meaning (abstract vs. concrete) having the most robust effect and word frequency having a negligible effect. Implications for this study in relation to double-deficit and syntactic bootstrapping models are discussed.

Recent research has shown that the early lexical representations children establish in their second year of life already seem to be phonologically detailed enough to allow differentiation from very similar forms. In contrast to these findings children with specific language impairment show problems in discriminating phonologically similar word forms up to school age. In our study we investigated the question whether there would be differences in the processing of phonological details in normally developing and in children with low language performance in the second year of life. This was done by a retrospective study in which in the processing of phonological details was tested by a preferential looking experiment when the children were 19 months old. At the age of 30 months children were tested with a standardized German test of language comprehension and production (SETK2). The preferential looking data at 19 months revealed an opposite reaction pattern for the two groups: while the children scoring normally in the SETK2 increase their fixations of a pictured object only when it was named with the correct word, children with later low language performance did so only when presented with a phonologically slightly deviant mispronunciation. We suggest that this pattern does not point to a specific deficit in processing phonological information in these children but might be related to an instability of early phonological representations, and/or a generalized problem of information processing as compared to typically developing children.

Syftet med undersökningen är att få en uppfattning kring arbetet som sker på förskolan då det förekommer ett barn med språkstörning. Undersökningen består av fyra intervjuade pedagoger som delar sina kunskaper och erfarenheter kring att arbeta med språkstörning, vilka metoder de använder sig av, hur de anser att miljön på förskolan bör vara utformad samt hur de lägger upp en pedagogisk verksamhet för att barnen på bästa sätt ska utveckla sitt språk Ur resultatet så framkommer det väldigt stor skillnad i både kunskap och pedagogernas kompetens gällande språkstörning, samt att de använder sig av metoder med både manuell och hjälpmedelsbaserad alternativ kompletterande kommunikation. Flera uppfattningar från pedagogerna avser utformning av förskolans miljö samt hur de lägger upp den pedagogiska verksamheten för att barnen ska få bästa möjlighet till språkutveckling. Sammanfattningsvis anser alla de intervjuade pedagogerna att deras viktigaste plikt och förhållningssätt är att de är närvarande pedagoger så att barnen får de rätta förutsättningarna att lära sig språk. / The aim of this study is to gain an understanding of the work that takes place in a preschool when there are children with specific language impairment. The study consists of interviews with four pedagogues who share their knowledge and experience of working with language impairment; the methods they use, how, in their opinion, the preschool environment should be designed, and how they create pedagogical activities for the children to be able to develop their language in the best possible way. The result shows that there is a vast difference in both knowledge and competence among the pedagogues as regards language impairment, and that they use methods of both manual and aided alternative and augmentative communication. Several ideas among the pedagogues concern the design of the preschool environment and how they organize the teaching activity, in order to give the children the best possible chance to develop their language. To sum up, all the pedagogues in the interviews think that as teachers the obligation and attitude that is most important for them is to be present, so that the children will receive the right prerequisites to be able to develop their language.

Talperception avser förmågan att uppfatta och känna igen talat språk. Nedsatt talperception förekommer hos flera grupper barn som besöker audiologisk och logopedisk klinik och i synnerhet hos barn med språkstörning. I förevarande studie testades talperceptionsförmåga i ljudmiljöerna tyst och babbel hos tio barn med språkstörning i åldrarna 7 – 9 år. Som kontrollgrupp tjänade tjugoen jämnåriga barn med typisk utveckling. För bedömning användes talperceptionstestet Lyssna-Säg, vilket är ett datorbaserat test, som mäter diskrimination, identifikation och produktion av konsonantkontraster i minimala ordpar. Studiens resultat visar att barn med språkstörning hade proportionerligt svårare än typiskt utvecklade barn att uppfatta tal i babbel och att förmågan att uppfatta skillnad i artikulationsställe var särskilt nedsatt hos dem. Viss försämring från tyst till babbel kunde även observeras på ordproduktionen, vilket kan indikera att babbelmiljön hade en negativ påverkan på barnens arbetsminne. Studien har bidragit med insikter kring hur barn med språkstörning uppfattar tal i olika ljudmiljöer och har även bidragit till utvecklingsarbetet med Lyssna-Säg-testet. / Speech perception refers to the ability to perceive and recognize spoken language. Impaired speech perception occurs in several groups of children visiting the audiological and speech language pathology clinic, and particularly in children with language impairment. In the present study, speech perception was tested in ten children with language impairment aged 7 – 9 years in silent and in babble. Twenty-one children with typical development of the same age served as control group. The Listen-Say test, which is a computer-assisted speech perception test that assesses discrimination, identification and production of consonant contrasts, was used as assessment tool. The study showed that children with language impairment had proportionally greater difficulty to perceive speech in babble compared to typically developing children and that place of articulation was particularly difficult to distinguish for them. A slight decrease in word production in babble may indicate that this condition had a negative impact on the children's working memory. The study has provided insight into how children with language impairment perceive speech in different auditory backgrounds, and has contributed to the development of the Listen-Say test.

Orientador: Franco Giuseppe Dedini / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecanica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T07:24:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Saccheto_ThiagoJosedaSilva_M.pdf: 4654886 bytes, checksum: f2c656d8a1ed2a3a88bfd852d26a13d6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: Neste trabalho, é apresentado um estudo dos parâmetros que influem na vida de uma CVT do tipo esfera-cone para aplicação em sistemas de tração humana, particularmente bicicletas. Nos primeiros capítulos, é apresentado um histórico sobre as transmissões e seus grupos principais e em seguida um breve resumo descrevendo os tipos de CVTs mais comuns encontrados no mercado, seu princípio de funcionamento e características principais. Após esse capítulo, é introduzida a teoria de contato de Hertz como forma de cálculo do perfil de pressão normal e o algorítmo de Kalker para o cálculo do perfil de pressão tangencial e slip. As equações de lubrificação também são estudadas nesse trabalho, a fim de determinar a espessura de filme lubrificante no contato da CVT. Por fim é apresentada a CVT do tipo esfera-cone Wagner Forti, na qual são discutidos suas características cinemáticas, dinâmicas e geométricas, além da simulação para um conjunto de condições de operação com o intuito de calcular a vida de contato com slip/spin. Finaliza-se o trabalho correlacionando o tempo de vida calculado com as condições de operação. Palavras Chave- CVT, Tempo de Vida, Contato, Slip, Spin / Abstract: In this work, a study of the parameters that influences the lifetime of a TrackBall CVT for use in systems of human traction, particularly bicycles. First, the mechanical transmissions history is told and mentioned its main groups. Then it presented a brief summary describing the types of CVTs most common in market, their principle of operation and main features. After this chapter, it introduces the theory of Hertz contact as way of calculating the normal pressure profile and, by Kalker algorithm, calculating the tangential profile with slip. The equations of lubrication are also studied in this work in order to determine the thickness of the lubricant film in the contact of CVT. Finally it shows the type of CVT TrackBall Wagner Forti, which is commented on its cinematic, dynamic and geometric features, and the simulation for a range of operating conditions in order to calculate the life of contact with slip/spin. Finally it is the work correlating the life calculated with the conditions of operation. Key Words:CVT, Lifetime, Contact, Slip, Spin / Mestrado / Mecanica dos Sólidos e Projeto Mecanico / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children with specific language impairment (SLI) are more or less variable than children with typically developing language. In addition, the within child variability for children with SLI was analyzed to consider how heterogeneity influenced identification of areas of linguistic strengths and weaknesses in this population. Fifty seven children with SLI, 7:0–11:0, and fifty seven of their peers with typically developing language were assessed using five subtests and a composite language score from the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language (CASL) (Carrow-Woolfolk, 1999). The children with typically developing language were significantly more variable as a group than the children with SLI. The heterogeneity of the children with SLI did not allow for the creation of subgroups based on language strengths and weaknesses.