This thesis sets out the rationale and design for a speech programme for Deaf learners to be implemented by teachers in the classroom. Theoretical and empirical research are provided to support its design. Speech teaching is set against a backdrop of current issues so that the programme is seen to take cognisance of these. To this end the disappointment and conflict which surround speech teaching and newer educational and audiological trends are described. Following this, the deviant speech of the Deaf is described. Prevocal aspects of speech production, namely aberrant repiratory functioning and deviant vocal set are described. The latter is a term coined for this research to denote psychological, functional, physical and neural changes that deleteriously affect the speech of the Deaf. Suprasegmental and segmental problems are next delineated. An argument that supports the view that vowels are less accessible to correction than consonants is proposed to explain the empahasis accorded to consonants. Hereafter, theories of speech teaching are set out to clarify their incorporation into the proposed programme. Critiques of Haycock, the Ewings, Ling and van Uden are provided. The role of computers and biofeedback is evaluated. The Whole Language Approach to mainstream education, the phonological method of speech correction, and creative techniques, speech arid drama, and singing, are described in relation to speech instruction for Deaf learners. Empirical research that investigates attitudes and needs of educators of Deaf children, with the emphasis on the class teacher, is delineated. Finally, the proposed programme is presented emphasising its potential to interrupt the current self perpetuating negative cycle. Theoretical principles are a defocus on lipreading cues to provide information on speech production, restriction of digital contact with the larynx or throat, repeated cycles of intervention at phonetic and phonological levels, and the employment of five multisensory avenues to enhance speech perception. The latter are orosensory, graphic, kinaesthetic, hand analogies and use of inanimate objects. Skills targeted for development are control of vocal organs, suprasegmental, segmental and phonological development. The fit of the proposed programme to the education paradigm in terms of learner, teacher and school system is described. The thesis concludes with an evaluation of the programme and recommendations for future research. / Thesis (DPhil (Communication Pathology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / unrestricted

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Language is the way in which individuals are able to express ideas, feelings, needs, expectations, and form relationships with others in their surrounding environment. A disruption in language development may negatively impact a child's social development. Research shows that children with language delays or disorders tend to have increased social and behavioral difficulties (Cantwell & Baker, 1977; Caulfield, Fischel, DeBaryshe, & Whitehurst, 1989). However, research has not examined temperament differences in young children with language delays or disorders. The question this study sought to answer was: Is there a significant difference in the dimensions of temperament between children with a history of slow expressive language development and their peers with normal language development? The subjects in this study ranged in age from 64 to 74 months. They included 33 children with a history of slow expressive language development (SELD) and 27 children with normal language development. The temperamental characteristics of each of the subjects was assessed by ratings provided by their parents, utilizing the Parent Temperament Questionnaire for Children (Thomas, Chess, & Korn, 1977), a questionnaire to assess the way a child behaves during everyday situations. The question was analyzed by calculating the means and standard deviations for the nine temperament dimensions for· the two groups. To determine if there were significant differences among the two groups, two tailed t-tests were computed at the .05 level of significance. The Parent Temperament Questionnaire for Children (Thomas et al., 1977) showed the children with a history of slow expressive language development to have significantly different scores in the dimensions of approach-withdrawal and intensity of reaction than the subjects with normal language development at 5 years of age.

Many young children develop language over a broad range of ages yet present as having normal language development. When language development lags behind what is considered a normal time line, it is important to consider the various factors that may contribute to the delay in development. The purpose of the current study was to examine various aspects of temperament among three groups of children with varying language histories. The specific question to be answered was, do significant differences occur on parent and clinician questionnaires of temperament among three groups of first grade children demonstrating varying levels of language development: those with normal language (NL), those with a history of expressive language delay (HELD), and those with chronic expressive language delay (ELD)? Subjects for this study included 23 subjects in the NL group, 22 subjects in the HELD group, and 6 subjects in the ELD group. The groups were compared utilizing the Temperament Assessment Battery for Children (TABC) on six variables of temperament on Parent Forms and five variables of temperament on Clinician Forms. The data were analyzed to see if significant differences existed among the language diagnostic groups. On the Parent Forms, a trend towards low approach/withdrawal characteristics was observed between the NL and ELD groups. On the Clinician Forms, a significant difference was observed on the variable, approach/withdrawal, between the NL group and HELD group. Both parametric and non-parametric analyses were in agreement on this finding. The suggestion that low approach/withdrawal tendencies exist within late talking children may be the long term result of interaction between expressive language delayed children and the communication environment. These results must be viewed tentatively because the sample groups were of unequal numbers. If all diagnostic groups had been of equivalent size, the results may have been yielded stronger significance.

Behavior analysis, and more specifically the study of verbal behavior, has been used to empirically measure how parents and children interact for decades using single-subject research methods. Developmental psychology utilizes similar measures to describe these interactions across large samples of dyads, but findings across these two fields are rarely integrated due to differences in terminology and application. In order to integrate the literature of these fields, we must identify measures which can describe behavior of a large sample while still being sensitive enough to individual change from behavioral intervention. In particular, these measures must include the function of behavior, or the effect behavior has on the environment, in order to truly capture the strength of the interaction. In two studies, I seek to align measures of parent-child verbal interactions across both perspectives and describe how a variety of contextual, parent, and child characteristics affect parent-child interactions for families of children with autism. In Study 1, I apply a coding paradigm which utilizes aligned measures of parent and child verbal behavior across behavioral and developmental perspectives to remotely recorded video sessions across structured and free-play contexts. I further identify how verbal behavior changes as a function of the level of the child’s verbal development and parent characteristics. I found that parent verbal behavior is not sensitive to the verbal behavior development of their child, nor is it sensitive to the context of the interaction. However, parent behavior was associated with their report of how severe they perceived their child’s maladaptive behavior to be. Furthermore, parent report of their child’s maladaptive behavior was not associated with rates of maladaptive behavior observed in the sessions, but it was positively correlated with measures of child verbal development such that parents of children who demonstrated more complex verbal behavior reported them as exhibiting more maladaptive behavior. In Study 2, I report the effects of a parent training intervention in which I taught parents to accurately identify and consequate their child’s behavior in order to teach their child a new skill. All parents implemented the strategies with fidelity and reported positive changes in their interactions with their child in the home. However, parents did not independently generalize these skills to novel objectives or demonstrate changes to their verbal behavior in new contexts. All children learned these new academic skills, generalized them to the classroom setting, and maintained the skills 2 weeks following intervention. Results are discussed in terms of how functional measures and methods should be utilized across fields to bridge the gap between research and practice for families of children with autism.

Research suggests that the linguistic environment of the expressive language delayed child is different from that of his peers. Does this difference actually exist and if so, what are its characteristics? The purpose of this study was to describe the linguistic characteristics of mothers' input to children with normal language acquisition and those of mothers of expressively delayed toddlers; and to identify any differences between these groups. Though considerable research exists in this area, few studies have dealt specifically with large groups of expressively delayed toddlers.

People use language to communicate their needs and intentions, to express emotions, and to form relationships. It seems likely that a disruption in children's language development would have a negative impact on their social development. There is extensive research that shows that school age children with delayed language are "at risk" for increased maladaptive behaviors (Cantwell and Baker, 1977). Whether this is also true for children in the earliest stages of language development is not yet known. The questions this study sought to answer were: 1) Is there a significant difference in the severity and frequency of maladaptive behaviors seen in language delayed children, children who were "late talkers," or children with normal language? and 2) Is there a significant difference among the three subject groups in terms of which behaviors parents are the most concerned about·?

The present study was designed to determine the ages at which a sample of children between eighteen and forty-two months verbally and correctly express the fourteen prepositions known to be acquired by age four, using the Revised Expressive Preposition Test (REPT). The REPT was administered to sixty children chosen from day care centers and private homes within the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon. Therewas no preference as to the sex, intelligence of the child or socio- economic status of the child's family. A statistical analysis was performed to determine the correlation between HEPT scores and the child's chronological age, mental age and the socioeconomic status of the child's family. Results show that expressive prepositions tend to be acquired at different age levels. Each age group tended to use a progressively greater number of the prepositions. None of the eighteen month olds used any of the prepositions. Only one-fourth of the twenty-four month olds used any of the prepositions. Half or more of the thirty month olds expressed the prepositions "under," "on," "in" and "up." Half or more of the thirty-six month olds expressed the prepositions "out of," "at," "in" and "up," but not "under" and "on." Half or more of the forty-two month olds expressed the prepositions "to, II, "out of," "under," "around," "at," "of," "with" and "up." One hundred per cent of the forty-two month olds also used the prepositions "in" and "on." The prepositions which were never expressed by 50 per cent of any of the children were "behind," "across," "off" and "by." A statistical analysis of the data revealed a moderate correlation between the children's REPT scores and their chronological ages (.68). Correlation coefficients indicated a high correlation between the children's REFT scores and their combined chronological and mental ages (.82). The children's SES scores did not correlate with REPT scores (1 per cent) when considered together with chronological and mental ages.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the correlation between expressive language delay in children and their gross and fine motor skills. Twenty children five years through six years, eleven months with a diagnosed expressive language delay, were selected to participate in the study. Each was screened on the basis of normal hearing, receptive vocabulary skills, motor functioning, and an expressive language delay of one year or more. After screening procedures, each child was administered the Preschool Language Scale-PLS (Zimmerman, et al., 1969) and the short form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-BOMP (Bruininks, 1978). The data were analyzed using a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation along with means, standard deviations, and a one-tailed t-test of significance.

This investigation compared maternal remarks to language delayed offspring and maternal remarks to normal language developing offspring in an attempt to determine if and where differences occurred. The following questions were asked: 1) Do mothers of language delayed children present their children with a significantly different percentage of verbal constraints (commands and question) than do mothers of normal language developing children in a play situation? 2) Do mothers of language delayed children present their children with an equal number of utterances as mothers of normal language developing children in a play situation? 3) Is the maternal mean length of response equal? 4) Do mothers of language delayed children present their children with a significantly different percentage of types of remarks than mothers of normal language developing children?