Thesis (MPhill)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Compulsory Community Service for the speech-language and hearing therapy profession was implemented in 2003. This is the first study to assess the perceptions, attitudes and experiences of speech-language and hearing professionals of Stellenbosch University doing Compulsory Community Service. Information on the experiences of Compulsory Community Service professionals inform on the responsibilities of the university where undergraduate studies are completed, the Department of Health (the employer) and professionals doing Community Service. A mixed method study design, using a scale questionnaire, supplemented by open-ended questions was completed by all but one of the group doing Compulsory Community Service in 2009. Results suggested that speechlanguage and hearing therapists perceived themselves to have the required knowledge, but not necessarily adequate skills to perform Compulsory Community Service. Suggestions to include additional curriculum content were made. All professionals agreed that a positive contribution was made during Compulsory Community Service, but concerns about the shortage of speech-language and hearing therapy services, absence of mentors and supervision, inadequate budgets, amenities and resources were identified. Readjustment must involve adaptation from all stakeholders to ensure that Compulsory Community Service honours its original objectives.

Studies of speech perception indicate that it is more difficult for people with and without hearing loss to detect speech in noise. Functional communication in noise, however, has been less often studied; there is currently no well-designed measure of communication effectiveness. The Diapix Task (Baker & Hazan, 2011) has potential; it elicits dialogue by having two people converse to find differences between two pictures. The purpose of the present study was to develop a reliable measure of communication effectiveness and use this measure to determine how noise influences communication. Experiment 1 investigated use of the Diapix Task as a measure of communication effectiveness in noise. Seven young adults with normal hearing, paired with an assistant, completed the Task with three different picture pairs in a sound field of cafeteria noise. Communication effectiveness was measured by counting communication breakdowns. Results indicated that the Task did elicit breakdowns and, out of nine picture pairs, one elicited a different amount of breakdowns than the others; this pair was excluded. Experiment 2 used the Diapix Task to measure communication effectiveness in quiet and different types of noise. Relation between self-reported use of communication strategies and communication effectiveness was also explored. Fourteen young adults with normal hearing completed the Diapix Task with an assistant in three conditions: quiet, cafeteria noise, and competing dialogue. Results indicated that significantly more breakdowns occurred in noise than quiet, but that there was no significant difference between types of noise. Additionally, self-reported use of communication strategies did not correlate with communication effectiveness. Results support use of the Diapix Task as a functional measure of communication effectiveness in young adults with normal hearing; future research should investigate use of the Diapix Task to measure communication effectiveness in clinical populations.

Across the literature it is seen that when trying to enact change in a patient’s everyday life there is always some degree of adherence risk. In the field of voice therapy this risk is particularly high. Traditional comparisons of therapy techniques focus only on change achieved as opposed to the ways in which each therapy protocol was carried out. This type of focus minimizes the amounts of adherence risk present in each therapy technique. This risk can have a fundamental impact on the success of therapy. A comparison of the types of adherence risk that exists and the ways they can be minimized is useful for the treatment of voice disorders. This report serves to address issues of adherence risk in voice by examining relevant research outside the field of speech language pathology. It contains information regarding the most commonly seen adherence risks encountered, research on how those risks were addressed in the fields of medicine and physical therapy, and how those techniques can be adapted for clinical use. A comparative analysis of the types of risks present in the most common therapy protocols and how those risks can be minimized is also included. Tables are included in order to provide the speech language pathologist (SLP) with a user-friendly guide on the possible ways to determine adherence risks present in their client and possible ways to address this risk. Sample dialogue is also provided. Adherence risk is a key component in voice therapy that is often not being considered when choosing and implementing therapy protocols. There are many factors that make up adherence risk including personality characteristics, motivation, expectations for therapy, ease of use of the technique/instructions, client understanding of implementation, and the nature of the disorder itself. It is useful to look at how such factors are addressed. We’re asking our clients to do many things that will change their daily lives: behaviorally, diet-wise, it may even impact the way they feel about themselves. How do we ask them this and expect that it’ll actually get done? / text

The brain's neural responses to words of different frequencies provide information on lexical organization and the cognitive processes involved in word identification and retrieval of meaning. Monolingual research has shown that exposure to high frequency words yields less cognitive difficulty than low frequency words as demonstrated by smaller N400 waves within even-related potential (ERP) methodology. The purpose of the present study was to compare frequency effects in adult native (L1) and non-native (L2) speakers of English during a sentence reading task embedded with high and low frequency word-pairs. Both L1 and L2 groups produced N400 waves of larger amplitudes for high frequency words compared to low frequency words that peaked around the 400 ms time mark. Group comparison found no significant difference in N400 wave amplitude and peak latency between both groups. The results are discussed with respect to theories of L2 word learning and lexical organization.

One of the fundamental challenges for communication by speech is the variability in speech production/acoustics. Talkers vary in the size and shape of their vocal tract, in dialect, and in speaking mannerisms. These differences all impact the acoustic output. Despite this lack of invariance in the acoustic signal, listeners can correctly perceive the speech of many different talkers. This ability to adapt one's perception to the particular acoustic structure of a talker has been investigated for over fifty years. The prevailing explanation for this phenomenon is that listeners construct talker-specific representations that can serve as referents for subsequent speech sounds. Specifically, it is thought that listeners may either be creating mappings between acoustics and phonemes or extracting the vocal tract anatomy and shape for each individual talker. This research focuses on an alternative explanation. A separate line of work has demonstrated that much of the variance between talkers' productions can be captured in their neutral vocal tract shape (that is, the average shape of their vocal tract across multiple vowel productions). The current model tested is that listeners compute an average spectrum (long term average spectrum - LTAS) of a talker's speech and use it as a referent. If this LTAS resembles the acoustic output of the neutral vocal tract shape - the neutral vowel - then it could accommodate some of the talker based variability. The LTAS model results in four main hypotheses: 1) during carrier phrases, listeners compute an LTAS for the talker; 2) this LTAS resembles the spectrum of the neutral vowel; 3) listeners represent subsequent targets relative to this LTAS referent; 4) such a representation reduces talker-specific acoustic variability. The goal of this project was to further develop and test the predictions arising from these hypotheses. Results suggest that the LTAS model needs to be further investigated, as the simple model proposed does not explain the effects found across all studies.

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Book Summary: Tinnitus: Clinical and Research Perspectives summarizes contemporary findings from basic and clinical research regarding tinnitus mechanisms, effects, and interventions. The text features a collection of international authors, active researchers, and clinicians who provide an expansive scope of material that ensures relevance for patients and professionals. Reviews and reports of contemporary research findings underscore the text s value for classroom use in audiology and otolaryngology programs. Patients and students of audiology will benefit from the text s coverage of tinnitus mechanisms, emerging practice considerations, and expectations for outcomes--for example, recent successes of cognitive behavioral therapy, neuromodulation, and hearing aid use. These and other topics, such as the effects of noise and drugs on tinnitus, are reported in a way that enhances clinicians ability to weave such strategies into their own work. The influence of tinnitus on all aspects of life is explored, from art to medicine and communication to isolation, thereby providing clinicians and patients a deeper understanding of and greater facility managing a tinnitus experience. Finally, this text includes case studies that provide a practical view of tinnitus effects and management approaches. The editors hope that the consideration of mechanisms, interventions, and outcomes resonates with patients, clinicians, and students of audiology. / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1179/thumbnail.jpg

With detailed discussion and invaluable video footage of 23 treatment interventions for speech sound disorders (SSDs) in children, this textbook and DVD set should be part of every speech-language pathologist's professional preparation. Focusing on children with functional or motor-based speech disorders from early childhood through the early elementary period, this textbook gives preservice SLPs critical analyses of a complete spectrum of evidence-based phonological and articulatory interventions. This textbook fully prepares SLPs for practice with a vivid inside look at intervention techniques in action through high-quality DVD clips large and varied collection of intervention approaches with widespread use across ages, severity levels, and populations proven interventions in three categories: direct speech production, broader contexts such as perceptual intervention, and speech movements clear explanations of the evidence behind the approaches so SLPs can evaluate them accurately contributions by well-known experts in SSDs from across the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK An essential core text for pre-service SLPs—and an important professional resource for practicing SLPs, early interventionists, and special educators—this book will help readers make the best intervention decisions for children with speech sound disorders. Evidence-based intervention approaches—demonstrated in DVD clips—such as: minimal pairs perceptual intervention core vocabulary stimulability treatment intervention for developmental dysarthria the psycholinguistic approach / https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu_books/1180/thumbnail.jpg

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