Use of time-compressed speech stimuli has been found to be clinically effective in differential diagnosis of lesions of the temporal lobe. However, notably absent from the literature is information concerning performance of adults on time-compressed closed-set speech discrimination tasks. The goal of this study mas to compare performance of 12 males and 12 females between age 50 and age 70 on a time-compressed closed-set speech discrimination test against the performance of 12 males and 12 females between age 10 and age 28 on the same task. The Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification test (WPI) was presented in both non-compressed and time-compressed conditions to all subjects. Previous research suggests that a difference in performance between age groups and between males and females in the older age group should be expected. Average results indicated negligible differences between age or gender groups under any of the conditions tested. Additionally, the test yielded perfect or near perfect scores for all subjects in the non-compressed condition. Lack of differentiation of results suggests that the Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification CUIPI) may be insensitive to the discrimination disorders expected in older adults, that the subjects included in the study were atypical of older adults in general and therefore such discrimination disorders did not exist in the sample, or that the subjects in the study uiere able to apply some type of compensatory strategies which resulted in the unexpected performance.

A síndrome de Down (SD) é uma síndrome genética causada pela trissomia do cromossomo 21 e a causa mais comum de deficiência intelectual. Apresenta alterações em todo o desenvolvimento, em particular o linguístico, que é caracterizado por atraso de linguagem, principalmente quanto aos aspectos morfossintáticos. Tais déficits são confirmados por valores de Extensão Média do Enunciado (EME) abaixo do que seria esperado tanto para a idade cronológica (IC) quanto para a mental (IM) quando se consideram crianças com desenvolvimento típico (DT). A EME tem sido considerada na literatura internacional como o índice mais aceito e efetivo para medir o desenvolvimento gramatical e morfológico, tanto de indivíduos com DT quanto de indivíduos com alterações de linguagem, como por exemplo, o Distúrbio Específico de Linguagem (DEL) e a SD. Pesquisas que comparam as duas populações apontam similaridades entre os desempenhos desses indivíduos quando se considera a EME. Na literatura nacional, estudos que abordem os aspectos morfossintáticos em indivíduos com SD e que considerem a EME como ferramenta de avaliação são escassos. O objetivo do presente estudo foi descrever as habilidades linguísticas de crianças com SD falantes do Português Brasileiro por meio da análise da EME, medida tanto em morfemas (EME-m) quanto em palavras (EME-p). Participaram do estudo três grupos de crianças, sendo um pesquisa (GP-SD) e dois controles (GC-DEL e GC-DT, cujos dados são retrospectivos de estudo anterior), cada um com 25 participantes. Os grupos foram divididos em três subgrupos, cada um, de acordo com a faixa etária (três, quatro e cinco anos). Os participantes do GP-SD foram pareados aos demais por IM. Foi realizada análise da EME de cada sujeito com SD, obtida por meio de amostras de fala, que resultou em 2500 enunciados. Os resultados indicaram que as crianças com SD apresentaram valores de EME menores que as crianças do GC-DEL e do GC-DT, o que aponta para diferenças entre os grupos, para déficits morfossintáticos e para atraso no desenvolvimento linguístico. Verificou-se ainda o desenvolvimento de habilidades morfossintáticas em idades mais avançadas. As similaridades com o GC de crianças com DEL nem sempre foram observadas, já que o GP-SD apresentou desempenho inferior e maior dificuldade quanto ao uso de palavras funcionais. Conclui-se assim, que as crianças com SD do presente estudo apresentaram déficits gramaticais importantes que se caracterizam pelo atraso do desenvolvimento morfossintático. A EME demonstrou ser uma ferramenta confiável e eficaz para identificar o desenvolvimento gramatical e linguístico da população com SD, o que confirma a validade da utilização de tal índice para essa população. Aponta se para a necessidade de estudos com populações maiores de indivíduos com SD, apesar da grande variabilidade interindividual, o que forneceria dados mais representativos para a prática clínica fonoaudiológica baseada em evidências. / Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic syndrome caused by trisomy 21 and it is the most common reason of intellectual disability. It leads to disorders in all development process, in particularly linguistic, which is characterized by language development delay, mainly regarding morphosyntax aspects. Those deficits are confirmed by values of Mean Length Utterance (MLU) lower than expected for chronological age (CA) as well as for mental age (MA) when considered typically developing children (TDC). MLU have been considered in international literature as the most acceptable and effective index to measure grammatical and morphological development to TDC as well as to children with language disorders, such as Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and DS. Researches that compare those former groups show similarities between their performances concerning MLU. National researches regarding morphosyntax aspects in DS considering MLU as an evaluation tool are scarce. The purpose of this study was depicting linguistics skills of children with DS, speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, through MLU analysis measured in morphemes (MLU-m) as well as in words (MLU-w). Participated in the study three groups of children as follows: research group (RG-DS), two control groups (CG-SLI and CG-TDC which data are retrospective from previous study), each group had 25 children. Groups were divided into three subgroups according to the age range (three, four or five years old). The participants of RG-DS group were paired by MA. It was performed MLU analysis in each child with DS that was obtained through their speech samples that leaded to 2500 statements. Results indicated that children with DS showed MLU values lower than children from CG-SLI and CG-TDC, which indicates delay in linguistic development. Further, it was found greater morphosyntax development skills in children who were older aged. Similarities to CG-SLI were not often found, once RG-DS showed lower performance and greater difficulty at using function words. It is therefore concluded that children with DS in this study presented such grammatical deficits characterized by morphosyntax development delay. MLU demonstrated being a reliable and effective tool to identify linguistic and grammatical development in children with SD, what confirms the validity of the use of such index to that population. It points to the need of more studies with larger sample of children with DS, even considering individual variability, in order to provide data more representative to the Speech-Language Pathology clinical practice based on evidence.

A narrativa oral de história trata-se de uma habilidade de grande complexidade uma vez que requer preservação de capacidades linguísticas e cognitivas. O desempenho em tarefa de narração tem contribuído para a identificação de diferentes subgrupos clínicos com alterações de linguagem, como o quadro de atraso no desenvolvimento da linguagem (ADL). Essa população caracteriza-se ao longo do desenvolvimento da linguagem por um ritmo lento para novas aquisições. A habilidade narrativa é descrita em crianças com ADL por produções de histórias mais curtas e com menor complexidade. Contudo, poucas pesquisas abordam a narrativa oral desta população específica, e sobre à influência de programas de intervenção. Desta forma, o presente estudo teve como objetivo comparar o desempenho em tarefa de narrativa oral de histórias de crianças com histórico de ADL antes e após serem submetidas a um programa de intervenção fonoaudiológica. Participaram deste estudo 10 crianças com ADL e 10 crianças com desenvolvimento típico de linguagem, pareadas quanto ao sexo e idade cronológica. Cada grupo foi composto por indivíduos de ambos os sexos, com idade cronológica entre cinco e seis anos. Os participantes de ambos os grupos foram avaliados antes e após a intervenção, nos níveis macro e microestruturais da narrativa oral, utilizando como instrumento de análise: (a) índice de complexidade da narrativa (b) nível de coerência global da narrativa; (c) análise de construção dos episódios que compõem a narrativa. Além da (d) produtividade e (e) complexidade linguística da narrativa. Após a avaliação, as crianças com ADL foram submetidas ao programa de intervenção fonoaudiológica da narrativa. O referido programa foi composto por três fases com objetivos distintos: (a) elementos estruturais da narrativa-apresentar a criança; (b) elaboração da narrativa; (c) contagem de histórias de forma independente. O programa foi organizado em dez sessões de intervenção. Os resultados permitiram concluir que os indivíduos com ADL apresentaram melhora em seu desempenho após intervenção na narrativa oral em relação aqueles com desenvolvimento típico. Foi constatada diferença significativa entre os desempenhos pré e pós intervenção para o grupo com ADL em todos os aspectos macro e microestruturais (exceto total de C-Units). O desempenho do grupo com desenvolvimento típico de linguagem foi mais discreto, não foram observadas diferenças significantes para desafios, resolução e coerência da narrativa e total de palavras, total de C-Units, extensão média dos enunciados e C-Units complexos. / Oral storytelling is a skill of great complexity as it requires preservation of linguistic and cognitive abilities. The performance in narrative task has been contributing to the identification of different clinical subgroups with language alterations, such as late talking condition. This population is characterized throughout language development by late onset or at a slow pace for new acquisitions. Narrative ability is described on children in late talking condition for shorter and less complex storytelling. However, few studies address the oral narrative of this specific population, and the influence of interventional programs. Thus, this study had the aim to compare the performance in task of oral narrative of children in late talking condition before and after being submitted to a speech-language intervention program. The participants were 10 children late talkers and 10 children with typical language development, matched for sex and chronological age. Each group consisted individuals of both sexes, with a chronological age between five and six years. Participants of both groups were evaluated before and after intervention at the macro and microstructural levels of the oral narrative using as an analytical tool: (a) narrative complexity index; (b) level of global narrative coherence; (c) construction analysis of the episodes; (d) productivity and (e) linguistic complexity of the narrative. After the evaluation, the late talkers were submitted to the speech-language intervention program of the narrative. The program was composed by three phases with distinct objectives: (a) structural elements of the narrative; (b) elaboration of the narrative; (c) storytelling independently. The program was organized in ten interventional sessions. The results allowed to conclude that late talkers showed improvement in their performance after intervention in the oral narrative in relation to those with typical development. It was observed a significant difference between the pre and post intervention performances for late talkers group in all macro and microstructural aspects (except total of C-Units). The performance of the group with typical language development was more discreet, no significant differences were found in challenges, resolution and coherence of the narrative and total words, total C-Units, mean length of utterances and complex C-Units.

Objetivo: caracterizar o perfil das habilidades de linguagem (oral e escrita) e habilidades auditivas e visuais de indivíduos com fissura labiopalatina (FLP). Modelo/ Participantes: estudo prospectivo em 24 indivíduos com FLP, entre 7 e 9 anos de idade, de ambos os sexos, matriculados no Hospital de Reabilitação de Anomalias Craniofaciais,Universidade de São Paulo (HRAC-USP). Local de execução: Setor de Genética Clínica do HRAC-USP. Variáveis: habilidades semântica, sintática, fonológica e pragmática da linguagem oral, por meio de observação clínica; memória auditiva e visual, associação auditiva e visual, closura gramatical e visual, recepção da linguagem, vocabulário receptivo, processamento fonológico, escrita, aritmética, leitura, processamento e atenção auditiva, por meio de provas e testes. Resultados: Na observação clínica dez indivíduos apresentaram normalidade na expressão de todos os componentes da linguagem oral, tanto do ponto de vista receptivo quanto expressivo. Foi observado maior déficit na habilidade de associação auditiva e visual e closura visual; vocabulário receptivo adequado na maioria da amostra (84%); compreensão oral rebaixada em 54% dos indivíduos; 38% da amostra apresentaram dificuldade nas habilidades fonológicas e 50% no desempenho escolar. No processamento e atenção auditiva houve dificuldade em quase toda a amostra (96%). A capacidade cognitiva estava dentro da normalidade em todos os indivíduos analisados. Conclusão: O desempenho das habilidades de linguagem estava aquém do esperado para a idade na maioria dos indivíduos com FLP avaliados. As habilidades mais prejudicadas foram escrita, associação auditiva, linguagem receptiva, associação visual, leitura e aritmética. As habilidades do processamento e atenção auditiva analisadas estavam defasadas em quase todos os indivíduos avaliados. / Objectives: To characterize the language abilities profile (oral and written) and auditory and visual abilities of individuals with cleft lip and palate (CLP). Model/ Participants: prospective study in 24 individuals with CLP, from 7 to 9 years old, both mail and female, enrolled at Hospital de Reabilitação de Anomalias Craniofaciais, Universidade de São Paulo (HRAC-USP). Execution Site: HRAC-USP Sector of Clinical Genetics. Variables: Semantic abilities, syntax, phonological and pragmatic aspects of oral language, by means of clinical observation; auditory and visual memory, auditory and visual association, Grammar and visual closure, language reception, receptive vocabulary, phonological processing, writing, Arithmetic, reading, auditory attention and processing, by means of proofs and tests. Results: In the clinical observation, tem individuals presented normality in the expression of all the oral language aspects (components), both in the receptive and the expressive point of view. It was observed a higher deficit in the auditory and visual association and visual closure abilities; adequate receptive vocabulary in the majority of the sample (84%); lowered oral comprehension in 54% of the individuals; 38% of the sample presented difficulties in phonological abilities and 50% in school performance. In the auditory attention and processing it was found difficulties in almost all the sample (96%). The cognitive capacity was inside normality in all the analyzed individuals. Conclusions: The language abilities performance was beneath the expected for the age in the majority of the evaluated individuals with CLP. The most prejudiced abilities were: written, auditory association, receptive language, visual association, reading and Arithmetic. The evaluated auditory attention and processing abilities were lowered in almost all the assessed individuals.

A determinação da forma mais eficaz e fidedigna de avaliar a comunicação e a linguagem de indivíduos autistas em processos de terapia de linguagem representa um desafio atual para os investigadores da área. A presente pesquisa busca contribuir na investigação de melhores formas de avaliação da comunicação de indivíduos com diagnósticos incluídos no Espectro Autístico analisando duas situações comunicativas distintas pela familiaridade do sujeito ao procedimento de coleta da amostra de 15 minutos de interação sujeito/adulto, visando verificar a interferência do contexto comunicativo e do tempo de interação no desempenho comunicativo desses sujeitos. O primeiro estudo comparou variáveis referentes ao Perfil Funcional da Comunicação (PFC) dos sujeitos em interação em uma situação rotineira de troca comunicativa com seu terapeuta, nos mesmos moldes das sessões semanais de terapia fonoaudiológica, chamada Situação Familiar (SF) e em interação com uma fonoaudióloga desconhecida (pesquisadora), utilizando-se materiais pré-determinados, em uma situação chamada Situação Não-Familiar (SN). Os resultados evidenciaram que a familiaridade da situação comunicativa apresenta pouca interferência na avaliação da comunicação de sujeitos pertencentes ao Espectro Autístico. O segundo estudo analisou a funcionalidade comunicativa do sujeito autista ao longo da interação em ambas as situações (SN e SF), analisando a interação das duplas 15 em três períodos consecutivos de cinco minutos: período inicial (P1), período intermediário (P2) e período final (P3), visando comparar o desempenho comunicativo dos participantes no decorrer da interação em cada situação e entre as situações. Os resultados evidenciam que o tempo de interação apresenta alguma interferência no desempenho de sujeitos autistas, sugerindo um aumento na semelhança entre as situações comunicativas no decorrer da interação. Conclui-se, então, que o procedimento de avaliação nos mesmos moldes da Situação Familiar, mostrou-se o melhor procedimento na avaliação comunicativa dessa população, ao eliciar o desempenho ótimo dos sujeitos, devendo-se, entretanto, eliminar os cinco minutos iniciais de interação, nos quais se verifica maior diferença no desempenho comunicativo dos sujeitos. / The determination of the most efficient and reliable way to assess language and communication of autistic individuals in language therapy is still a challenge to the researchers of the field. The present study aims to contribute to the identification of the best techniques to the communication assessment in the autistic spectrum by the use of two different communicative settings. Aiming to verify the interference of the communicative context and of the time of interaction on the communicative performance, the situations varied according to the familiarity with the adult and with the procedure during 15 minutes communication samples. The first study compared variables of the Functional Communicative Profile (FCP) of the subjects during a routine communicative situation with the language therapist, called Familiar Situation (FS), and during interaction with a non-familiar speech pathologist (the researcher), using pre-determined material, this was called the Non-Familiar Situation (NS). The results show that the familiarity of the situation produces small interferences on the communication of autistic spectrum subjects. The second study analyzed the communicative functionality of the autistic subjects during the interaction time in both situations (FS and NF). The interaction was analyzed in three consecutive five-minute periods: first period (P1), intermediate period (P2) and final period (P3) aiming to compare the subjects communicative performance along each situation and among situations. The results show that the 17 interaction time produces some differences on the performance of autistic subjects, pointing out to an increase on the similarity among situations along the interaction time. It can be concluded that the Familiar Situation produced the best performance of autistic spectrum subjects in the communication assessment and that the first five minutes of the interaction should be more carefully analyzed because this is the period in which the larger differences occurred.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-27T18:12:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thelma Kilinsky Birenbaum.pdf: 895214 bytes, checksum: e2c976bfb6c812e6d0a53b322f1847e5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-02-26 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Introduction: In addition to oral language disorders, enuresis in children is one of the body marks registered by the listening of speech therapists in clinical practice. Objective: To indentify and analyze the relationships between instances of oral language disorders and enuresis in children. Method: Clinical, quantitative and qualitative, with a descriptive/interpretative outline. Casuistic: 104 children (41 female and 63 male) which attend a philanthropic Institution in Greater São Paulo area, ages ranging from 3;0 to 10;0 years old. Procedure: Stage1: A questionnaire was sent to the children s parents/legal representatives to obtain data on oral language disorders and/or enuresis (daytime and/or night). Step 2: From the responses, there were selected 14 children, all enuretic. Only 10 had complained of oral language disorders. Step 3: Each enuretic child was individually assessed by clinical observation in dialogical situation and application of Behavioral Observation Protocol ( Protocolo de Observação Comportamental-PROC ), item Communicative Abilities (HC) (Zorzi and Hage, 2004). Result interpretation criteria: 1) Quantitative and qualitative analysis of co-occurrences between oral language disorders and enuresis (night and/or daytime) of 104 children was carried out, using descriptive statistics: mean, standard deviation, minimum, median and maximum. Student-t test and Fisher's exact test were used. (Fisher and Van Belle, 1993). 2) An analysis of quantitative and qualitative results in individual evaluation of 14 enuretic children was made. 3) A clinical case study of one of these children, chosen as emblematic of cooccurrence of oral language disorders and enuresis, was performed. The results were discussed and interpreted qualitatively, from the relationship between the clinical material and theoretical references of speech therapy and psychoanalysis. Results and discussion: There are indicators of communication skills impairment on the 14 enuretic children. These showed a higher percentage of oral language disorders comparing to non-enuretic, especially phonological disorders and little talking. These results support the studies on co-occurrence of enuresis and oral language disorders, presented in papers that attach bio-psychic etiology to this comorbidity (Ajuriaguerra, 1980; Font, 1985, 1987; Dolto and Hamad, 1998; Dolto, 1999, 2007). Conclusion: Results indicated relationship between enuresis and oral language disorders. Considering the interactions among language, body and psyche, it is suggested that speech therapists, when dealing with oral language disorders in children, also investigate the acquisition of their bladder sphincter control, in a biopsychical approach / Introdução: Além dos problemas de linguagem oral, a enurese infantil é uma das marcas corporais registradas pela escuta do fonoaudiólogo em seu exercício clínico. Objetivo: Identificar e analisar as relações entre ocorrências de problemas de linguagem oral e enurese em crianças. Método: Clínico-quanti-qualitativo, de caráter descritivo/interpretativo. Casuística: 104 crianças (41 do sexo feminino e 63 do sexo masculino) que frequentam uma Instituição filantrópica na Grande São Paulo, cujas idades variam entre 3;0 e 10;0 anos. Procedimento: Etapa 1: Foi enviado um questionário aos seus responsáveis, para a obtenção de dados quanto a problemas de linguagem oral e/ou enurese (diurna e/ou noturna). Etapa 2: A partir das respostas dadas, foram selecionadas 14 crianças, todas enuréticas. Somente 10 apresentavam queixas de problemas de linguagem oral. Etapa 3: Cada criança enurética foi avaliada individualmente, através de observação clínica em situação dialógica e aplicação do Protocolo de Observação Comportamental (PROC), ítem Habilidades Comunicativas (HC) (Zorzi e Hage, 2004). Critérios de interpretação dos resultados: 1) Realizou-se análise quanti-qualitativa das co-ocorrências entre problemas de linguagem oral e enurese (noturna e/ou diurna) das 104 crianças, através de análise estatística descritiva: média, desvio padrão, mínimo, mediana e máximo. Foram utilizados os testes t-Student e teste exato de Fisher. (Fisher e Van Belle, 1993). 2) Realizou-se análise quanti-qualitativa dos resultados encontrados na avaliação individual das 14 crianças enuréticas. 3) Realizou-se o estudo de caso clínico de uma dessas crianças, escolhida como emblemático da co-ocorrência entre problemas de linguagem oral e enurese. Os resultados foram discutidos e interpretados qualitativamente, a partir da articulação entre o material clínico e os referenciais teóricos da Fonoaudiologia e da Psicanálise. Resultados e discussão: Há indicadores de comprometimento das habilidades comunicativas nas 14 crianças enuréticas. Estas apresentaram maior porcentagem de problemas de linguagem oral do que as não enuréticas, especialmente desvios fonológicos e o fato de falarem pouco. Tais resultados corroboram os estudos sobre a co-ocorrência de enurese e problemas de linguagem oral, apresentados em trabalhos que atribuem etiologia biopsíquica a essa co-morbidade (Ajuriaguerra, 1980; Font, 1985, 1987; Dolto e Hamad, 1998; Dolto, 1999, 2007). Conclusão: Os resultados indicaram relação entre enurese e problemas de linguagem oral. Considerando-se os efeitos recíprocos entre linguagem, corpo e psiquismo, sugere-se que os fonoaudiólogos que se ocupam dos problemas de linguagem em crianças também investiguem a aquisição do seu controle esfincteriano vesical, numa abordagem bio-psíquica

I tested the effects of an observational intervention on observing responses, denial responses, and audience appropriate behaviors in 9 preschool children with developmental and language delays. The participants were 8 males and 1 female aged 3-5 years, who were selected from a preschool program that implemented a behavior analytic approach to all instruction. All participants had fluent listener and speaker repertoires and emitted mands, tacts, and sequelics with adults. The children were selected to participate because they displayed little to no awareness of, or interactions with their peers during free play and social settings. I conducted probes for a) peer observing responses, b) responses to denial of non-preferred stimuli being delivered to peers, c) social initiations to peers, d) responses to peers’ social initiations, and e) other socially appropriate behaviors. Pre-intervention probes showed that all participants emitted low peer observing responses in free play settings, and did not consistently initiate or reciprocate peer interactions across different social settings. Five out of nine participants emitted responses to denial prior to the intervention. The independent variable was an observational intervention using non-preferred stimuli and a denial condition that was used in prior studies to establish conditioned reinforcement by observation. The participant and peer confederate sat side-by-side at a table, and were separated by an opaque partition. They were both presented with a performance task. The participant observed the peer confederate receive the non-preferred stimuli but could not observe the peer’s responses to the task. The intervention continued until the participants emitted responses to denial of the non-preferred stimuli across two sessions. Post-intervention data suggest that peer observing responses in free play settings, as well as audience appropriate behaviors in social settings increased as a function of the observational intervention in 8 out of 9 participants. Responses to the denial of non-preferred stimuli delivered to a peer increased in 4 out of 4 participants who did not respond during pre-intervention probes.

INTRODUÇÃO: A queixa de dificuldades cognitivas, especialmente de memória, é frequente entre idosos e, no envelhecimento normal, pode ocorrer um declínio mensurável da memória, que não acarreta declínio funcional significativo. Levando-se em conta que o comprometimento cognitivo leve (CCL) pode representar um estágio transicional entre o envelhecimento saudável e a doença de Alzheimer (DA), o estudo das alterações de linguagem no CCL procura comparar os déficits descritos em ambos, com o intuito de detectar prejuízos que possam auxiliar na identificação precoce de indivíduos com declínio cognitivo que apresentem maior risco de conversão para demência. OBJETIVOS: Verificar o padrão de desempenho de pacientes com CCL em testes de fluência verbal (FV) semântica (frutas, animais, meios de transporte), FAS-COWA (fluência fonológica) e fluência de verbos; determinar qual categoria de FV dentre as estudadas permite a melhor discriminação entre idosos cognitivamente saudáveis e CCL. MÉTODOS: Foram avaliados 67 idosos (37 cognitivamente saudáveis - controles - e 30 com CCL) por meio dos testes de FV descritos. O desempenho dos grupos nas provas de FV em função de intervalos de tempo (15, 30, 45 e 60 seg) foi também registrado. RESULTADOS: O grupo CCL apresentou pior desempenho em todas as tarefas de FV (p < 0,0001). As notas de corte obtidas para as diversas tarefas foram: 14 (animais), 12 (frutas e meios de transporte), 41 (fonológica) e 11 (verbos).As provas se mostraram equivalentes na diferenciação entre controles e CCL, com discreta superioridade para a fluência de animais, que classificou corretamente 73,9% dos indivíduos (p < 0,0001). Pacientes com CCL apresentaram desempenho inferior ao dos controles de forma consistente durante todo o período de cronometragem das provas; o número de palavras geradas decresceu progressivamente em cada quartil de tempo em todas as categorias de FV, em ambos os grupos (p < 0,0001). CONCLUSÃO: Pacientes com CCL apresentaram pior desempenho em todas as tarefas de FV, sendo a fluência de animais a mais acurada para a discriminação entre CCL e idosos cognitivamente saudáveis / INTRODUCTION: Complaints of cognitive difficulties, especially memory, are frequent among the elderly and, in normal aging, a measurable decline in memory, which does not cause significant functional decline may occur. Taking into account that mild cognitive impairment (MCI) may represent a transitional stage between healthy aging and Alzheimer\'s disease (AD), the study of language disorders in MCI seeks to compare deficits described in both groups, in order to detect impairments that may aid in the early identification of individuals with cognitive decline that pose a higher risk of conversion to dementia. OBJECTIVES: To verify the performance of MCI patients in semantic verbal fluency (VF) tasks (fruits, animals, means of transportation), FAS - COWA (phonological fluency) and verb fluency; to determine which category of VF among those studied allows better discrimination between cognitively healthy elderly and MCI. METHOD: Sixty-seven elderly were evaluated through the above-described VF tasks (37 cognitively healthy elderly - controls - and 30 MCI patients). The performance of both groups in all VF tasks according to time intervals (15, 30, 45 and 60 sec).was also recorded. RESULTS: The MCI group performed worse than controls in all VF tasks (p < 0,0001). The cut off scores for the different VF tasks were: 14 (animals), 12 (fruits and means of transportation), 41 (phonological), and 11 (verbs). All tasks were equivalent in the discrimination between controls and MCI, being the animal fluency slightly superior in accuracy (correct classification: 73.9% of subjects, p < 0.0001). The MCI group exhibited worse performance in all time intervals; the number of generated words decreased progressively for each quartile of time in all VF categories in both groups (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: MCI patients performed worse than controls n all proposed VF tasks. Animal fluency was the most accurate to discriminate MCI patients from cognitively healthy elderly

There is a scarcity of research exploring the field of Speech and Language Disorders (SLD) in the Greek mainstream primary education context. Accordingly, the aim of this study was twofold: (i) to identify the nature and extent of speech, language and communication skills of Greek pupils with noticeably slow progress, and (ii) to examine the provision made for these pupils in Greek mainstream and inclusion classes. The study was in two phases. For the first phase, pupils whose speech and language development was below expectations were assessed using a battery of tests. Data analysis indicated no significant differences in the language profile and non-verbal reasoning ability of the pupils with SLD, General Learning Difficulties (GLD) and other Special Educational Needs (SEN). The data also gave an indication of SLD incidence in Greek mainstream primary classrooms. Phase two involved seven case studies. Together, these provided a rich profile of the speech/language and literacy functioning of the pupils identified with SLD, GLD and Specific Writing difficulties (SpWd) and the provision offered to them in Greek primary mainstream settings. The findings revealed that these pupils shared difficulties in the domains of speech/language and literacy, which impacted on their access to the curriculum and academic attainments. However, teaching practices were not differentiated according to the pupils’ specific needs or year group. Additionally, pupils’ difficulties in the above areas had a negative impact on their social participation and acceptance by peers. Overall, the study highlights the complex nature of SLD, and the similarities in the language profile and the non-verbal reasoning skills of the SLD and other SEN subgroups. This raised questions about whether SLD, as used in these schools, is a distinct area of difficulty or on a continuum with other areas of difficulties. In addition, the study raised questions regarding the assessment and identification of SLD in the Greek context, as well as the practical teaching of pupils who experience such difficulties.

The purpose of this study was to determine if an association exists among the diagnosis of speech-language impairments (SLI) and the diagnoses of learning disabilities (LD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in a school-aged population of children referred to a Learning Disorders Clinic (LDC) because of academic underachievement and/or behavior problems. The two research questions asked in this study are: (a) What percentage of students diagnosed with SLI have a concomitant diagnosis of LD and/or ADHD? and (b) Is there an association among the diagnosis of SLI and the diagnoses of LD and/or ADHD? A sample of 94 subjects was obtained from review of 291 LDC records of children ref erred and diagnosed during the years 1989-1992. The subjects were grouped into eight categories by diagnosis, that is, (a) SLI, (b) SLI/LD, (c) SLI/ADHO, (d) SLI/LO/ADHD, (e) no diagnosis of SLI/LO/AOHD, (f) LO, (g) ADHD, and (h) LD/ADHD. The obtained Chi square value was not statistically significant at a .OS alpha level. Thus, the null hypothesis: there will be no association among the diagnosis of SLI and the diagnoses of LO and/or ADHD, could not be rejected. In this sample, however, 85% of the children diagnosed with SLI had a concomitant diagnosis of LD and/or ADHD, and 70% with no SLI diagnosis were diagnosed with LD and/or ADHD. The overlapping nature of the disorders of SLI, LD, and ADHD is noted. The definitions of SLI and LO demonstrate how enmeshed language and learning problems are. One inference from this study is that as children grow older, their language deficits are recognized in the context of a learning disorder.