The title: Suitability of integration of individuals with pervasive developmental disorder The aim: The aim of this thesis is to establish whether it is suitable to integrate individuals with pervasive developmental disorder into a mainstream setting Methods: To elicit the suitability of a possible inclusion of 20 children (boys and girls aged 7 to 15) with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), two sets of questions and a free interview were used. The sets of questions focused on problematic areas specific to individuals with pervasive developmental disorder, such as difficulties in communication, social interaction and imagination. A free interview supplemented the set of questions aimed at educators. Results: The results of the research showed that our sample group of children with PDD would not be suitable for integration with regard to problems with communication, social interaction and imagination. The inclusion is impossible in cases of 30% of individuals, who suffer from selective mutism. These children do not communicate nor co-operate with their educators during the lessons. However, 70% of individuals with PDD could be possibly integrated. Nevertheless, these pupils do not keep up with their non-disabled peers as for the speech content. Regarding to social interaction, the results are...

Název: Augmentativní a alternativní komunikace u jedinců s pervazivní vývojovou poruchou Autor: Markéta Kohoutková Katedra: Katedra Speciální Pedagogiky Vedoucí práce: PhDr., PaedDr. Jaroslava Zemková, Ph.D Abstrakt: Monografie přináší přehled aktuálních přístupů k jedincům s pervazivní vývojovou poruchou (PVP). Nejprve jsou zde analyzovány obtíže, se kterými se tato diagnóza pojí, poté autorka objasňuje možné příčiny, možnosti intervence a prognózu. Zdůrazněn je rozdíl mezi intervencemi založenými na kognitivně behaviorální terapii a intervencemi založenými na přístupu zaměřeném na člověka. Dále práce seznamuje s novými metodami alternativní a augmentativní komunikace (AAK), které lze využít při komunikaci s jedinci s narušenou komunikační schopností. Teoretické texty doplňují praktické výsledky z longitudinálního výzkumného šetření - případové studie. Během tohoto šetření byl jedinec s pervazivní vývojovou poruchou nespecifikovanou (PVP-NOS) podroben intervenci vycházející z přístupu zaměřeného na člověka. Následně jeho verbální komunikace byla podpořena prostřednictvím metody AAK - počítačového programu s hlasovým výstupem. Získané informace jsou určeny pro využití jak odborné veřejnosti, tak rodičů k zefektivnění práce, a především komunikace, s výše uvedenými jedinci.

This diploma thesis is focused on providing speech therapy intervention for seniors in residential facilities. The aim of this special pedagogical work is to show the problems in the communication of seniors and a possible support in the home for the elderly. The thesis has two parts. The theoretical part is divided into three chapters. In this part, secondary communication disorders observed among adults, selected diseases related to old age, the definition of old age and residential services for seniors are described. In the empirical part, the research, case studies and the results are obtained. The research is qualitative. The main goal was to analyze providing speech therapy intervention in the home for the elderly. Partial goals were to find out whether there would be a progress in the senior communication based on speech therapy intervention and to find out whether the support of home workers in cooperation with an expert can help in this regard as well. Another goal was to elaborate case studies. KEYWORDS Speech therapy intervention, senior, secondary communication disorder, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, retirement home

The topic of this diploma thesis is speech therapy and intervention of people after stroke with a diagnosis of aphasia. The thesis consists of four chapters. The theoretical framework is presented in three chapters, the fourth one is an empirical part of thesis. The first theoretical chapter deals with the concept of communication and defines the basic terminology, it also describes the area of the central and peripheral nervous system and its influence on the human's communication ability. The second chapter approaches the issue of ictus focusing especially on etiology and symptomatology of the disease, diagnostics, therapy and prevention. The third theoretical chapter describes aphasia - a kind of communication disorder arising from a stroke. It focuses on the definition, etiology and symptomatology of aphasia, the process of diagnosis and therapy. In conclusion, this chapter also describes the possibilities of providing speech therapy and intervention in the Czech Republic. The fourth chapter of diploma thesis describes a qualitative research that was conducted within two-weeks complex rehabilitation stays for people after stroke. The main objective of the research was to analyze speech therapy and intervention in adult clients after stroke with a diagnosis of aphasia in the chronic phase. Then...

Objectif : L'évaluation de l'acuité visuelle (AV) chez la personne âgée atteinte de troubles cognitifs peut être limitée par le manque de collaboration ou les difficultés de communication du patient. Très peu d'études ont examiné l'AV chez les patients atteints de déficits sévères de la cognition. L’objectif de cette étude était d’évaluer l'AV chez la personne âgée vulnérable ayant des troubles cognitifs à l'aide d'échelles variées afin de vérifier leur capacité à répondre à ces échelles. Méthodes: Trois groupes de 30 sujets chacun ont été recrutés. Le premier groupe était constitué de sujets jeunes (Moy.±ET: 24.9±3.5ans) et le second, de sujets âgés (70.0±4.5ans), ne présentant aucun trouble de la cognition ou de la communication. Le troisième groupe, composé de sujets atteints de démence faible à sévère (85.6±6.9ans), a été recruté au sein des unités de soins de longue durée de l’Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal. Le test du Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) a été réalisé pour chaque sujet afin de déterminer leur niveau cognitif. L’AV de chaque participant a été mesurée à l’aide de six échelles validées (Snellen, cartes de Teller, ETDRS-lettres,-chiffres,-Patty Pics,-E directionnel) et présentées selon un ordre aléatoire. Des tests non paramétriques ont été utilisés afin de comparer les scores d’AV entre les différentes échelles, après une correction de Bonferroni-Holm pour comparaisons multiples. Résultats: Le score moyen au MMSE chez les sujets atteints de démence était de 9.8±7.5, alors qu’il était de 17.8±3.7 et 5.2±4.6 respectivement, chez les sujets atteints de démence faible à modérée (MMSE supérieur ou égal à 13; n=11) et sévère (MMSE inférieur à 13; n=19). Tous les sujets des groupes 1 et 2 ont répondu à chacune des échelles. Une grande majorité de sujets avec démence ont répondu à toutes les échelles (n=19) alors qu’un seul sujet n’a répondu à aucune échelle d’AV. Au sein du groupe 3, les échelles d’AV fournissant les scores les plus faibles ont été les cartes de Teller (20/65) et les Patty Pics (20/62), quelque soit le niveau cognitif du sujet, alors que les meilleurs scores d’AV ont été obtenus avec les échelles de Snellen (20/35) et les lettres ETDRS (20/36). Une grande proportion de sujets avec démence sévère ont répondu aux cartes de Teller (n=18) mais le score d’AV obtenu était le plus faible (20/73). Au sein des trois groupes, l’échelle de lettres-ETDRS était la seule dont les scores d’AV ne différaient pas de ceux obtenus avec l’échelle de Snellen traditionnelle. Conclusions: L’acuité visuelle peut être mesurée chez la personne âgée atteinte de troubles cognitifs ou de la communication. Nos résultats indiquent que les échelles les plus universelles, utilisant des lettres comme optotypes, peuvent être utilisées avec de bons résultats chez les personnes âgées atteintes de démence sévère. Nos résultats suggèrent de plus que la mesure d’acuité visuelle doit être tentée chez toutes les personnes, peu importe leur niveau cognitif. / Purpose: The evaluation of visual acuity (VA) in cognitively impaired older individuals may be limited by a reduced ability to cooperate or communicate. To date, no study has been performed to guide the clinician as to which VA chart to use in older individuals with moderate to severe dementia. This is important knowing that dementia affects more than 30% of seniors above 85 yrs of age, many of whom will be affected by the most severe stages of the disease. The objective of this research was to assess VA in older institutionalized individuals with moderate to severe dementia, using various acuity charts, and to verify their ability to respond to each of these charts. Methods: Three groups of 30 subjects each were recruited. The first group consisted of young subjects (Avg ± SD: 24.9 ± 3.5 yrs) and the second one, older subjects (70.0 ± 4.5 yrs) with no history of cognitive or communication disorders. The third group (85.6 ± 6.9 yrs) included subjects with mild to severe dementia residing in long-term care units. The Mini Mental-State Examination (MMSE) was performed for each institutionalized subject to verify their cognitive level. The VA of each participant was measured using six validated VA charts (Snellen, Teller cards, ETDRS-letters, -numbers, -Patty Pics, -Tumbling E's) presented in random order. Non parametric tests were used to compare VA scores obtained between the various charts, after Bonferroni-Holm corrections for multiple comparisons Results: The average MMSE scores of subjects with dementia was 9.8 ± 7.5, while it was 17.8 ± 3.7 and 5.2 ± 4.6, for those with mild to moderate (MMSE ≥ 13; n=11) and severe (MMSE < 13; n= 19) dementia. All subjects in groups 1 and 2 responded to each of the charts. A large proportion of subjects with dementia responded to all charts (n= 19) while only one did not respond to any chart. In group 3, VA charts with the lowest scores were the Teller cards (20/65) and Patty Pics (20/62), regardless of the level of dementia, while the best VA scores were obtained with the Snellen (20/35) and ETDRS-letter (20/36) charts. More subjects with severe dementia responded to the Teller cards (n= 18) but the VA obtained was the lowest (20/73). Across all groups, the ETDRS-letter chart was the only one whose scores did not differ from those obtained with the standard Snellen chart. Time to read the letter charts was faster than for the other optotypes. Conclusions: Visual acuity can be measured, and should at least be attempted, in older cognitively impaired individuals having a reduced ability to communicate. Our results indicate that the most universal scales, using letters as optotypes, can be used with good results in people with more severe dementia. Testing requires, however, more time and encouragement in individuals with more severe cognitive deficits in order to obtain and maintain their collaboration.

General lack of awareness regarding neurogenic communication disorders generally, and cognitive-communicative disorders following a traumatic brain injury (TBI) specifically has resulted in pervasive environmental and attitudinal barriers for these individuals. Paradigm shifts within the rehabilitation context have been highlighted which aim to remove barriers, provide social supports, and thereby enhance their participation in all aspects of life. While collaborative communication partner training programs have been advocated as a means to achieve this, a dearth of published programs is evident within the field of TBI, leading to the need for such programs to enhance the awareness and skill of the communication partner, and reduce barriers for the individual. Transformations are likewise apparent in the corporate context, where in spite of legislative changes encouraging diversity awareness programs for employees, few training programs exist worldwide, and in South Africa particularly, which remove barriers between employees and customers with a communication disability, and a TBI specifically. The current research targeted the retail supermarket environment as a context in which a significant number of everyday communicative exchanges take place. The study investigated the ability of a group of sales assistants to identify barriers to, and facilitators of interaction involving customers with a cognitive-communication disorder, using a control group design. This was achieved by the development and administration of 2 questionnaires on 2 different occasions to determine the confidence and skill with which they identified barriers and facilitators during videotaped sales interactions. A once-off training session was developed and conducted with the experimental group participants, in order to increase their confidence and skill in identifying barriers and facilitators of such interactions. The training session employed a number of customized components considered to be powerful contributors to the positive outcome of the study. These included: extensive use of customized video material professionally produced and comprising real interactions involving individuals with a TBI as “customers” in various stores of the participating national supermarket chain during operating hours. Collaboration with an individual with a TBI in the training, together with use of adult learning and diversity awareness principles were considered effective in shifting previous attitudes and fostering new learning. Inter-and-intra-group results on the confidence and skill constructs of the pre-and-post questionnaires were examined. All pointed consistently to the impact of the training session on the improvement demonstrated in the experimental group as compared to the control group on the post-questionnaires as compared with the pre-questionnaires. In addition all subjective training session evaluations by the experimental group participants were consistently highly rated, reflecting the active participation observed during training. The need for companies to expand their concept of customer service to include an acknowledgement of the customer with a disability is emphasized. Training programs empowering their employees to interact with greater awareness and confidence with customers with a TBI specifically will potentially facilitate deeper participation for both. The current research lays the groundwork for more in-depth research that can be generalized beyond this specific population of individuals with a communication disorder. / Thesis (DPhil (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication / unrestricted

Speech is one of the basic forms of human communication and disruption of communication ability can negatively affect the life of man. deals with the elaboration of logopedic theory, which serves as a basis for the follow-up design and application creation in the field of speech therapy. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter deals with the history of speech therapy with an emphasis on domestic logopaedia, the logopedic intervention process in its entirety, and the differentiation of individual types of impaired communication skills. The second chapter focuses on a specific disruption of communication skills - dyslalia.The application for the treatment of dyslalia is determined by the application, which is elaborated in the third chapter. The fourth chapter contains a detailed description of the designed and created application, including an explanation of the processes running in the application when the application is being used. The last chapter of this diploma thesis contains a summary of the results of the practical testing of the application together with suggestions for improvement of the application.

Det här är en uppsats som undersöker hur man kan underlätta och anpassa för elever med språkstörning i ämnet slöjd. Skolor har börjat uppmärksamma språkstörning mer, men okunskapen är fortfarande stor. I mina undersökningar har jag tittat på vad slöjdlärare känner att de saknar för att kunna ge eleverna det stöd de behöver, vad föräldrar önskar att deras barn får för hjälp i slöjden, samt vad specialpedagoger och speciallärare rekommenderar att lärare kan göra i undervisningen med elever med språkstörning. Det har resulterat i att lärare har behov av mer kunskap, mer stöd och mer tid i sin interaktion med elever med språkstörning. Eftersom man kan säga att språkstörning ligger på ett brett spektrum eftersom det finns så många olika inriktningar behöver man kunna individanpassa till varje elev för det finns inte ett färdigt koncept som fungerar för alla även om man med visuellt stöd kan gagna de flesta elever. / This is an essay that investigates how to make the sloyd subject more managable for students with a developmental language disorder (communication disorder). Schools have started to observe developmental language disorders more, but the lack of knowledge is still substantial. In my research I have looked at what teachers feel that they lack in order to provide these students with the support they need, what type of assistance parents would like see, and recommendations from special needs teachers. This research concludes that teachers need more knowledge, support and additional time in their interaction with students with developmental language disorders. Because there is a broad spectrum of developmental language disorders, you need to make individual adjustments because there is not a ready made concept that will work for everyone even though visual support will assist all students, not just those with developmental language disorder.

The topic of this diploma thesis is speech therapy provision for seniors at residential care. The thesis consists of four chapters, three of which are theoretical, the fourth chapter is practical. The first chapter describes the old age, it presents basic terminology and it characterises the old age from the point of view of physical, mental and social development. The second chapter is concentrated on the issue of neurological speech and language disorders, their etiology, symptomatology, diagnostics and therapy. The third theoretical chapter describes the system of health and social care of seniors in the Czech Republic with an accent on the system of speech therapy intervention within the resorts of health care and social care. The fourth chapter is the research one. It is developed as a quantitative descriptive research, using the technique of a questionnaire sent to nursing homes for seniors in the Czech Republic. The research is completed by qualitative analysis of dialogues with speech therapists that provide speech therapy at nursing homes for seniors. The main objective of the research was to find out, whether and how the speech therapy is provided to seniors at nursing homes in the Czech Republic. The subchapters of the practical part present the research goals, set hypotheses and the...

This Masters thesis focuses on issues of Specific Language Impairment - SLI of children of pre-school age. It monitors and evaluates development of their communication and motor skills during their time in kindergarten. The theoretical part focuses on defining basic terms which relate to communication and communication disorder with the emphasis on SLI. The psychomotor and communicational development of child from birth to entering school is described too. Also how this all affected creating the Framework Educational Programme for preschool education. The aim of the empirical part was to observe four children with SLI during their attendance at a pre-school for children with specific needs. Speech and psychomotor development of these children and its changes in connection to their teachers' intervention was observed. Part of the research included interviews with children's parents and those are also evaluated. The survey was done by the qualitative method. We get four case histories. At the end was evaluated the aims of the survey and answered questions asked and summarized the results of my investigation.