This study explored the ability of left hemisphere damaged (LHD) nonfluent aphasics, right hemisphere damaged (RHD) patients, and normal speakers to produce acoustic correlates of linguistic prosody. Productions of phonemic stress contrasts (e.g., black$ prime$board vs. black board$ prime$) and contrastive stress tokens (e.g., The man took the bus), were elicited and subjected to acoustic analyses. Results indicated that RHD and LHD groups resembled normal speakers in the use of fundamental frequency and amplitude to encode stress, indicating preserved abilities in both neurological populations. However, the LHD aphasic subjects demonstrated patterns of durational alterations that were statistically different from those obtained for the control and RHD groups. The data are indicative of a basic impairment in speech timing subsequent to LHD. Results are discussed in relation to current theories regarding the neurological basis of linguistic prosody.

<p> Does matching stimulation rates in bilateral cochlear implants (CI) really matter? When bilateral CI recipients are implanted sequentially, the first implant is likely to be mapped at a relatively slow stimulation rate, while the second may be capable of faster stimulation rates, due to the technology available at implantation. Ten sequential bilateral CI recipients were used to investigate this question. Prior to the experiment, all participants used slow rates in the first CI, ranging from 720-1856 Hz. Five used slow rates (900Hz) (matched) on the second CI, and five used high rates (2400-3867Hz) (mismatched). The stimulation rate in the first implanted CI was never changed (non-modified), but all participants were given at least four weeks experience with both low and high rates on the newer implant. </p><p> Speech perception in quiet (CNC) and in noise (CRISP) with the first CI alone (non-modified), the second CI alone (modified), and bilaterally was evaluated four times during the experiment. Phase 1) Baseline testing was conducted prior to any re-programming. The second implant was re-mapped with either a slow or high rate. Phase 2) Participants were tested and re-mapped with the alternative rate after four weeks experience with the new map. Phase 3) After four weeks experience with the alternative map, participants were retested then re-mapped with the original rates. Phase 4) Participants were given one week of additional experience before final testing. Participants were asked which mapping configuration they preferred and would like to continue using. Most (8/10) participants choose to leave with the mismatched configuration. </p><p> With bilateral stimulation, speech perception was better listening in quiet when they used a higher stimulation rate in one ear and a slow rate in the other ear than when they used slow rates in both ears, regardless of the program used before entering the study. There was no significant improvement in the CRISP (independent of noise source location) when participants were using both rate configurations with the modified CI alone, non-modified CI alone, or bilateral CIs. Clinicians programming bilateral CI patients who have internal equipment with different capabilities may find this information helpful when mapping this population.</p>

<p> This case study evaluated the effects of differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) on scripting in a four year-old child with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Celiac Disease. The overall goal was to show that DRO as the only independent variable could reduce scripting in a child with autism. A vibrator was set to vibrate every six minutes to indicate the end of each interval during intervention and the behavior was measured using a partial-interval time sampling method during the two hour in-home private Applied Behavior Analysis session over a two month period. An A-BC-C design demonstrated that DRO successfully decreased scripting behavior in the child with autism. A dependent paired samples t-test was used to compare the rates of scripting during the first three days of baseline and last three days of intervention. Results demonstrated a 29% decrease in scripting behavior. This result extends previous research that showed DRO, within a combined intervention, could be effective in decreasing scripting of adolescents with autism.</p>

<p> Research has identified language impairment as a pervasive disability (Bishop &amp; Edmundson, 1987; Greenhalgh &amp; Strong, 2001). Classroom communication behaviors have a role in the maintenance of special education eligibility and functional communication difficulties for young children with language impairment. This paper reviews the theoretical and experimental literature on narrative skills and language impairment as well as empirical support for understanding language delays as part of a group of risk factors that affect child development. The present study describes patterns in the communication skills of a small group of young children with a predetermined diagnosis of language impairment using a case and field mixed methods research design. The study contributes to our conceptual understanding of the pervasive nature of language impairment by focusing on patterns in oral narrative skills and their relationship to communication at school, at home, and in the community. Study results differentiate participants by the severity of utterance formulation difficulties as well as social communication differences and emotional health symptoms to identify patterns. </p><p> This study was unique in that information from classroom teachers and parents in addition to an analysis of multiple language samples created a thick description of patterns across participants. Discussion elaborates upon patterns in the data and implications for assessment and practice implications for school based services from a speech-language pathologist.</p>

<p> The larynx has a challenging dual role in the simultaneous regulation of gas flow into and out of the lungs while also establishing resistance required for vocal fold vibration in voiced communication. Particular challenges may arise when the larynx is required to alter upper airway resistance to meet respiratory demands in a way that conflicts with requirements for voice production. Little if anything is known about reciprocal relations between these functions, particularly under conditions of respiratory abnormality that affect large sectors of the population- an estimated 25% of the US population who experience respiratory abnormalities and also relies on the larynx for voiced communication.</p><p> In order to address this gap, the current study investigated two specific aims in a single within-subjects experiment: <b>Specific Aim 1 (SA1)</b> assessed spontaneous fluctuations in phonatory laryngeal resistance during states of (<b>a</b>) induced hypocapnia (low arterial carbon dioxide) and (<b>b</b>) induced hypercapnia (high arterial carbon dioxide), in comparison to a eupneic control condition and <b>Specific Aim 2 (SA2)</b> investigated the reciprocal effects of laryngeal resistance modulations on respiratory homeostasis.</p><p> Results of the first aim demonstrated that phonatory laryngeal resistance remained stable and did not significantly change despite manipulations of inspired gas concentrations causing significant increases and decreases in carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels. For the second aim, results showed that phonation significantly increased levels of end-tidal carbon dioxide (P_etCO₂) in all experimental conditions, compared to P_etCO₂ levels during rest breathing. Findings provide support for a theory of voice motor control suggesting that phonatory laryngeal resistance may be an essential, relatively immutable control parameter in phonation (except perhaps under extreme conditions not tested herein), and provides data on the influence of phonation on respiration. The current work sets the foundation for future studies of laryngeal function during phonation in individuals with lower airway disease.</p>

This thesis investigated the gesture-speech relationship in pre-adolescent children who stutter in comparison to fluent controls. Significant differences were found in the speech and gesture characteristics of the narratives of the two groups on a cartoon retelling task. The children who stuttered produced less complex spoken language, fewer cartoon details. They produced fewer gestures per utterance spoken, and their gestures were less complex in form, structure and meaning. They accompanied less of their spoken narratives with gesture suggesting that gesture is produced with spoken language and does not compensate for disruptions of speech. As well, representational gestures produced in time with disfluent speech were disrupted or frozen at the precise moment of disfluency indicating that gesture and speech are closely tied in production as a single integrated system. The results of this thesis replicate those of McNeill (1986) and Scoble (1993) demonstrating the strength of the gesture-speech relationship in children and showing that stuttering affects both modalities of expression.

<p>The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to identify and understand the cultural and linguistic barriers encountered by Latino parents of children with communicative disorders. A second purpose was to identify the common themes that arise across Latino families regarding their transition to life in the United States and the quest for available and affordable services for their children. The general principles of phenomenological in-depth qualitative interviewing will be described. Linguistic themes regarding the parents' perceptions of their own linguistic abilities and the abilities of their children were identified. Cultural themes were also identified and included differences in lifestyle, knowledge and cultural views of disability, as well as educational roles and responsibilities. Information is provided regarding the role of speech-language pathologists, especially those who are Spanish-speaking. Finally, the importance of the development of cultural competence for all speech-language pathologists is discussed.

<p> This dissertation focused on how the affiliation and engagement practices that contribute to social cohesiveness result in changes to conversation for three individuals with aphasia that were part of group therapy that targeted improved communication through conversation. It revealed how those changes were made manifest by employing a qualitative research design which allowed the researcher to discover how social cohesiveness is demonstrated in conversation. This design included the administration of aphasia batteries that are widely used in the area of aphasiology and were administered prior to and subsequent to the period of conversation treatment. The design further included medical and clinic records that informed the researcher of the participant's physical and communicative abilities. The primary research tool was Conversation Analysis which by virtue of its dual characteristics of being context-sensitive yet context-free allowed the researcher to examine behaviors in an authentic context and observe patterns within and across participants. Additionally, post-semester interviews served as a lamination tool that, along with the primary and other secondary data sources, would verify or refute the patterns of conversation changes. </p><p> The resulting data were then analyzed for patterns of conversation change and formed three areas of interest; patterns of conversation changes that revealed the member's growing orientation toward group cohesiveness, patterns of changing compensatory strategy use, and changing patterns of turn-taking. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of social cohesiveness as an integral part of group conversation treatment and its effect, as a catalyst, upon improving conversation ability. Additionally, it illustrates group cohesiveness as a multi-dimensional construct that involves an orientation to task and interpersonal cohesiveness. Further, it explicates the relationship between an individual's functioning, personal factors, and context as influencers of the aphasic's demonstration of social cohesiveness. This study proffers important implications concerning the value of a qualitative research design for studying communication changes in aphasia and the essential employment of constructivist approaches to communication therapy for individuals with aphasia. These clinical implications shape the assessment and intervention practices of clinicians who recognize the transformative power of a constructivist approach that requires the situation of treatment in an authentic context. </p>

<p> Lowered motivation can influence the involvement of adults with brain injury in the rehabilitation process, ultimately affecting the extent of their progress. This within-subject, pretest/posttest design examined the effects of an education program focusing on concepts of neuroplasticity on 34 adults with brain injury. Quantitative data was taken from pre-presentation and post-presentation surveys and was analyzed for significant change. Results indicated that the presentation was successful in increasing (a) the knowledge of neuroplasticity as evidenced by significant change in two out of three items, and (b) level of motivation as evidenced by significant change in six out of nine items. Effects of age, education level, and time post-injury were discussed. Study conclusions validate the use of education to increase motivation in people with brain injury, and provides new information about the use of neuroplasticity in education.</p>

<p> The field of motor speech disorders in Greek is substantially underresearched. Additionally, acoustic studies on lexical stress in dysarthria are generally very rare (Kim et al. 2010). This dissertation examined the acoustic and perceptual effects of Greek dysarthria focusing on lexical stress. Additional possibly deviant speech characteristics were acoustically analyzed. Data from three dysarthric participants and matched controls was analyzed using a case study design. The analysis of lexical stress was based on data drawn from a single word repetition task that included pairs of disyllabic words differentiated by stress location. This data was acoustically analyzed in terms of the use of the acoustic cues for Greek stress. The ability of the dysarthric participants to signal stress in single words was further assessed in a stress identification task carried out by 14 na&iuml;ve Greek listeners. Overall, the acoustic and perceptual data indicated that, although all three dysarthric speakers presented with some difficulty in the patterning of stressed and unstressed syllables, each had different underlying problems that gave rise to quite distinct patterns of deviant speech characteristics. The atypical use of lexical stress cues in Anna's data obscured the prominence relations of stressed and unstressed syllables to the extent that the position of lexical stress was usually not perceptually transparent. Chris and Maria on the other hand, did not have marked difficulties signaling lexical stress location, although listeners were not 100% successful in the stress identification task. For the most part, Chris' atypical phonation patterns and Maria's very slow rate of speech did not interfere with lexical stress signaling. The acoustic analysis of the lexical stress cues was generally in agreement with the participants' performance in the stress identification task. Interestingly, in all three dysarthric participants, but more so in Anna, targets stressed on the 1^st syllable were more impervious to error judgments of lexical stress location than targets stressed on the 2^nd syllable, although the acoustic metrics did not always suggest a more appropriate use of lexical stress cues in 1^st syllable position. The findings contribute to our limited knowledge of the speech characteristics of dysarthria across different languages.</p>