High-speed digital imaging (HSDI) has recently become clinically available for the direct observation of vocal fold movement in the last 20 years. However, before it can become routinely used in the clinical setting, a universal means of objectively analyzing and interpreting the HSDI data must be established. In this study, preliminary data was gathered for five parameters used to objectively analyze vocal fold vibratory patterns observed with HSDI. The parameters investigated were established by Ikuma, Kunduk, and McWhorter (2012a) and were previously studied with a small sample (N=8) comparing pre and post-phonosurgical removal of benign lesions. The five parameters included fundamental frequency standard deviation (F0SD), harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR) mean, open quotient (OQ) mean, speed index (SI) mean, and relative glottal gap (RGG) mean. The current study aimed to statistically and visually analyze measurements of the five objective parameters for differences between pathology groups with different etiologies. High-speed videos (N=50) were divided into five groups based on one of the following medical diagnoses: normal voice, vocal fold nodules, polyps, true vocal fold motion impairment (TVFMI), and adductor spasmodic dysphonia (ADSD). Statistical analysis showed that HNR mean differentiated normal voices from ADSD voices and that F0 mean differentiated ADSD voices from all groups except vocal fold nodules (p < 0.005). Visual analysis revealed a strong trend for RGG mean to differentiate vocal fold nodules from all other groups. Less prominent visual trends for OQ mean and SI mean were also noted.

This study aimed to provide selected acoustic data for vowels of one portion of the southern region (Southern LA) in recognition that a variety of Southern dialects have not been recognized on the American English dialect map. To examine dialectical variations in vowel acoustics, this study included a relatively greater number of acoustic parameters including: vowel duration, F1 and F2 from the temporal midpoint of the vowel, trajectory length, and F2 slope. Ten participants between the ages of 18 to 24 were selected from the Southern Louisiana dialect region. Speech stimuli, which have been used in prior research regarding dialect, included words containing 16 American English vowels in /hVd/ context (Hillenbrand, 1995). Each stimulus was produced five times in a row, which results in analysis of a total of 800 vowels (10 speakers, 16 vowels, and 5 repetitions). Based on a general comparison between data from Southern Louisiana dialect speakers and previously reported data from Upper Mid-Western dialect speakers, it can be inferred that there are differences in temporal and spectral measures between these two dialects. This provides a basis for direct comparison of Southern Louisiana dialects to other dialects to determine which parameters are most sensitive to dialect and how these might impact vowel production and perception.

Background: The Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale-39 (SAQOL-39) is a valid, reliable quality of life (QoL) assessment for PWA (Hilari, 2003; Hilari, Byng, Lamping, & Smith, 2003). However, individuals with severe aphasia are unable to use it because their ability to comprehend the text is too severely impaired for accurate self-report (Hilari & Byng, 2009; Hilari et al., 2003; Hilari, Owen, & Farrelly, 2007). Proxy respondents often report on QoL measures for these individuals; however, studies suggest differences between proxy-reported and self-reported scores in less severe populations (e.g., Cruice, Worrall, Hickson, & Murison, 2005; Engell, Hütter, Willmes, & Huber, 2003; Hilari et al., 2007). Therefore, proxy-reported scores may not be reliable substitutes (Cruice et al., 2005). Incorporating images may increase accessibility of text to individuals with severe aphasia by drawing upon intact visuo-spatial abilities (Dietz, Hux, McKelvey, Beukelman, & Weissling, 2009; Dietz, McKelvey, & Beukelman, 2006; Elmore-Nicholas & Brookshire, 1981; Engell et al., 2003; Rautakoski, Korpijaakko-Huuhka, & Klippi, 2008). Objective: This study assessed similarities between high-context, colored photographs and SAQOL-39 questions. Methods: This study employed a non-experimental, within-group design. Twenty individuals between 65-85 with no history of aphasia completed a 7-point Likert scale rating task wherein they rated the degree of similarity between photographs and SAQOL-39 questions. Three expert reviewers evaluated the photographs before being used as stimuli. Results: Results of the 7-point Likert scale rating task revealed a mean rating of 6.06 (range 5.05 6.70) for all 42 photograph-question pairings (i.e., three training items plus 39 items). Thirty-nine of the total 42 photographs (93%) were rated > 6 at least 60% of the time. Thirty-seven of the 39 actual scored SAQOL-39 questions (95%) were rated > 6 at least 60% of the time. The mean standard error of the mean (SEM) for all 42 photographs was 1.44. The average mode was 7.00, and the average median was 6.74. Conclusion: Results indicated that photographs were rated as being similar to SAQOL-39 questions. Further research is warranted to evaluate if the photographs enhance accessibility of the SAQOL-39 to individuals with severe aphasia allowing for self-report.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between childrens use of nonmainstream dialect and their emerging reading ability. The data were from 79 kindergarteners; 39 were AA and 40 were non-AA; 38 were male and 41 were female. All children presented with varying language abilities and dialect densities, as measured by the DELV-ST. Dialect densities ranged from Mainstream American English (MAE), some variation of MAE, and strong variations of MAE. The childrens reading abilities were measured by the DIBELS, which was administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. Preliminary results showed that childrens mean DIBELS scores significantly increased over time. In addition, their mean reading scores were above benchmark cutoff scores at all testing sessions, indicating that on average, the nonmainstream English-speaking kindergarteners were not at risk for reading failure. When analyzed by race and gender, a main effect was found for race but not gender. Given this, analyses were completed on the AA and non-AA children separately to examine the relationship between the childrens dialect ratings and their emerging reading abilities. For both the AA and non-AA groups, their childrens rates of nonmainstream dialect density were related to their DIBELS scores. This finding was documented in two ways. First, for both races, the children who earned low DELV-ST ratings produced higher DIBELS scores than those who earned moderate and high DELV-ST scores. Second, for both races, there was a negative correlation between the childrens DELV-ST ratings and their DIBELS scores. Nevertheless, an item analysis of the GFTA suggested minimal overlap between the childrens nonmainstream English productions and the target sounds included within the items of the DIBELS. Together these findings suggest that childrens nonmainstream dialect use negatively relates to their reading abilities, and this negative relationship exists for both AA and non-AA children. This negative relationship also exits in spite of finding minimal overlap between the childrens nonmainstream sound productions and the target sounds included within the items on the DIBELS.

At-risk prekindergarten students (i.e., low SES, speech-language impaired) typically lag behind their peers in phonological awareness and other emergent literacy skills such as letter knowledge and vocabulary (Duursma et al., 2008; Lundberg, 2009). However, there is a limited amount of research that has studied the efficacy of phonological interventions for at-risk children (Ziolkowski & Goldstein, 2008). Because of the long-lived debate concerning the role of rhyme versus the role of phoneme awareness, it is uncertain whether learning rhyming skills will provide the most facilitative context to learn other emergent literacy skills (e.g., letter knowledge, phonemic awareness). The current study investigated the effects of an 8-week intervention on learning the alphabetic principle (i.e., letter knowledge, phonemic awareness), phonemic awareness skills, and rhyming complexity skills. The existence of a continuum of rhyming complexity skills (e.g., expressive rhyming, rhyming couplets) was also explored. Twenty-nine at-risk prekindergarten students received an intervention focused on rhyme awareness (i.e., rhyme) or an intervention focused on phoneme awareness. The results of the study revealed both groups made statistically comparable progress on letter knowledge, phonemic awareness, word reading, and rhyming complexity skills. A visual inspection of gains scores and cut-off scores for weekly probes revealed differential progress by the type of intervention received. Participants with a suspected or diagnosed speech-language impairment were not significantly different from their peers at the conclusion of the study. The result of the study also indicated that rhyming skills exist on continuum of complexity with reciting nursery rhymes being the least complex and coordinating sound and rhyme being the most complex.

Linguistic complexity is frequently analyzed in studies of child language acquisition and impairment (Heilmann, Miller, & Nockerts, 2010; Price, Hendricks, & Cook, 2010) and the language of aging adults (Capilouto, Wright, & Wagovich, 2005; Kemper & Sumner, 2001; Kemper, Thompson, & Marquis, 2001; Kynette & Kemper, 1986; Shewan & Henderson, 1988) to document changes over time. There is little, if any, literature applying linguistic measures to analyze the language of individuals with aphasia as well as to analyze effects of different treatment measures. The current study analyzed semantic and syntactic components of linguistic complexity used by people with aphasia (PWA) during conversation probes to determine whether conversation therapy (Ctx) results in greater linguistic complexity than traditional stimulation therapy (Ttx). Two cases were taken from a prospective, single subject, A1B1A2B2A3 treatment study replicated across four individuals with aphasia (Savage et al., 2013). The language transcripts of two participants (P1 and P4), who received both Ctx and Ttx, were analyzed using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT; Miller & Iglesias, 2010) for six linguistic complexity measures: mean length of utterance (MLU), number of different words (NDW), type-token ratio (TTR), percent of utterances, percent of simple, and percent of complex utterances. These measures were compared between the treatments. Data analyses were conducted using effect size calculations and visual inspection. Results indicated that 4 of the 6 measures (MLU, TTR, % utterances, % complex utterances) showed greater gains in linguistic complexity following Ttx than Ctx. However, neither participant maintained gains once treatment was removed. This study provides preliminary evidence that linguistic complexity measures may provide useful treatment outcome measures for researchers and clinicians interested in treating PWA.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the treatment efficacy of the Attention Process Training (APT; Sohlberg & Mateer, 2005), a therapeutic protocol designed for individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI), on a person with Parkinsons disease to determine if improvement of various attention processes and memory recall could be improved. Methods: We designed a phase I, multiple baseline A1-B-A2-A3, single-subject study with one participant diagnosed with idiopathic PD and self-reported attention impairments. We used Attention Process Training (APT) protocol (Sohlberg & Mateer, 2005) to train attention process 120-minutes per session, one time per week for 6 sessions. Results: The participant demonstrated a large improvement in sustained attention for both percent accuracy (A1 to A2 d=5.196; A1 to A3 d = 13.279; A2 to A3 d=1.443) and timed performance (A1 to A2 d=2.952; A1 to A3 d = 3.153; A2 to A3 d=0.287). While treating sustained attention, we continued to probe selective, alternating and divided attention. Carryover improvement was noted with selective attention percent accuracy (A1 to A2 d=.091; A1 to A3 d=2.817; A2 to A3 d=1.299) and timed performance (A1 to A2 d=.690; A1 to A3 d=1.044; A2 to A3 d=1.598), and divided attention percent accuracy (A1 to A2 d=1.225; A1 to A3 d = 1.225; A2 to A3 d=2.860) and timed performance (A1 to A2 d=2.041; A1 to A3 d = 1.225; A2 to A3 d=1.155). The results of the TEA indicated an improvement or maintenance in the scaled scores of each subtest. Performance increased in the following scores: OSPAN absolute scores, accuracy errors, and math errors; RSPAN speed errors, math errors, and total correct. Discussion: Results demonstrated that training sustained attention using the APT tasks resulted in sizeable effects when delivered at high intensity (120 minutes per session) one time per week for six weeks. We saw improvement on the untrained selective and divided attention, but not alternating attention, which should have been easier, according the APT hierarchy. We cannot generalize these findings. However, the results give us evidence to continue treatment development.

Kindergarten is a critical year, providing a foundation for childrens success in school. With a common set of standards, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), finalized and made available to states for adoption critical skills in numeracy and literacy will be uniformed from kindergarten through high school. Some children enter school with a sufficient foundation to support success in kindergarten and subsequent years. However, some children either because of lack of exposure during preschool years (e.g., Aikens & Barbarin, 2008; Hart & Risley, 1995; Schacter, 1979; Snow, Burns & Griffin, 1998) or because of language delays associated with developmental disabilities or delays (e.g., Catts, Adolf & Weismer, 2006; Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Kuhn & Stahl, 2003; Nation & Snowling, 1998; Yuill & Oakhill, 1991) are already far behind their peers upon entrance into kindergarten. The current study investigated the effects of presenting a multilevel approach to storybook reading on a broad range of language skills over 32 weeks of intervention for children at-risk for reading. Specifically, growth in overall language, semantics, syntax, letter awareness, and phonology was explored. Thirty-six at-risk kindergarten students comprised a group that either received intervention utilizing scaffolded talk across a continuum of increasingly more decentered meanings or represented a comparison group. The results of the study revealed that the intervention group made statistically significant gains in overall language, semantic, and syntax skills. A visual inspection of gain composite scores revealed that majority of the intervention groups increased near or at least one standard deviation of change from pre- to posttest; these gains were not evident in the comparison group. The result of the study indicated that utilizing scaffolded talk across a continuum of increasing more decentered meanings in kindergarten hold potential to address the language goals of the CCSS.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between Cajun status, as defined by location, and five grammatical structures of Cajun English (CE): zero marking of past tense, zero marking of third person singular, zero marking of copula is and are, and was-leveling. The data were from 35 kindergartners, 14 from a Cajun status school, 21 from a non-Cajun status school; 15 were male and 20 were female. The data compared rate-based differences between the Cajun status and non-Cajun status childrens productions of the five CE structures in transcribed language samples. Five independent samples t-tests revealed that the childrens Cajun status did not have an effect on their use of the five CE grammatical structures. Given this, a repeated measures ANOVA was performed using structure as the within-subject variable and the five CE structures as levels. These results indicated that when the percentages of the Cajun status and non-Cajun status productions were combined, CE structure use varied as a function of structure. Additionally, a correlation coefficient was used to explore other possible factors that may have shared a relationship with the childrens productions of the five grammar structures. There was a strong negative correlation between the syntax subtest of the DELV-NR and zero marking of past tense. There was a moderately negative correlation between the PTONI and zero marking of third person singular. These findings suggest that similarities exist between the childrens use of the five previously designated structures of CE despite their Cajun or non-Cajun status. Cajun status as defined solely by the location of a childs school did not render significant differences in the kindergartners CE structure use.

This study examined how speech rate reduction affects speech intelligibility in speakers with dysarthria associated with diverse neurological conditions. Three speakers with dysarthria were recorded reading a paragraph using conversational and reduced speech rates. The samples of both the conversational and slow rates were digitally edited to include silent pauses at the speakers natural breaks. The samples were then segmented into breath group utterances. Five samples with the greatest rate reductions from each speaker were used as stimuli, each presented in four rate conditions: conversational, slow, synthesized conversational, and synthesized slow. The listeners rated the intelligibility of 60 samples using direct magnitude estimation (DME), a simple scaling technique used to rate items in comparison to a standard. Though each of the speakers successfully reduced their rates, none of their intelligibility ratings improved using rate reduction. In fact, the intelligibility of two of the speakers significantly decreased when rate reduction was employed. Analysis of the acoustic vowel space showed some articulatory changes were made by the speakers. Possible reasons for the negative effects of rate reductions are explored along with clinical implications.