The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the Speech Motor Learning Approach, a treatment that targets motor planning, in one individual with apraxia of speech and aphasia via remote delivery. A single subject multiple baseline across behaviors research design was used to investigate the generalization of treatment effects to untrained contexts across three stages of treatment. Treatment was given two to three times per week and the duration of treatment was specific to the participant. Stimuli consisted of nonwords and real words with target sounds embedded in them. Target sounds were participant specific. Findings show a small positive impact of SML on accurate articulation for target sounds in untrained nonwords and real words and an overall decrease in error frequency in trained stages in an individual with apraxia of speech and co-occurring aphasia. Thus, results indicate that the SML approach improves speech motor planning and programming abilities for this participant and continued investigation is warranted. The impact of co -occurring aphasia, along with attention difficulties in a telehealth treatment delivery model on learning are also discussed.

The study investigated the impact of fourth grade general education teacher implementation of the Vocabulary Scenario Technique – General Education 16 (VST-GE16) protocol on the vocabulary knowledge gains of students from low socioeconomic status (SES) circumstances. For children living in poverty, vocabulary knowledge deficits begin in toddlerhood and persist throughout their lives. Early deficits in vocabulary knowledge translate to performance gaps in vocabulary knowledge, literacy, and academic success between students from higher and lower SES homes. The development of explicit instructional protocols to be used by general education teachers is critical to the amelioration of these intransigent gaps. The study employed a quasi-experimental design (QED) with a treatment and comparison group. The settings for the study were four Title 1 schools in an urban-suburban district. Sixteen teachers (treatment, n = 10; comparison, n = 6), representing 20 classrooms, were recruited into the study. Treatment group teachers, who attended a three-hour face-to-face seminar and one hour of job-embedded coaching, implemented the VST-GE16 protocol and taught 32 academic vocabulary words to their students across a four week period; the comparison group teachers taught the same 32 words to their students using methods typical to their pedagogical practices (Typical Practice instruction) across a four week period. Three hundred and eighty-five fourth grade students participated in the study (treatment, n = 185; comparison, n = 198). Student vocabulary gains were measured with pretest-posttest multiple-choice synonym and cloze words-in-context instruments; data were analyzed using a split-plot Repeated-Measure ANOVA. Results indicated that VST-GE16 instruction significantly outperformed Typical Practice instruction in promoting vocabulary knowledge gains for synonyms and text comprehension. The current study advanced the effort to scale-up evidence-based practices to relevant educational settings and practitioners for the purpose of improving student outcomes, particularly for those students at-risk for academic failure secondary to socioeconomic disadvantage.

Research in Speech-Language Pathology provides the basis for understanding how and to what degree therapeutic techniques and interventions affect the health and quality of life of individuals with communication disorders. Across numerous fields of healthcare, research serves just as important a function and is used to guide the practices of professionals across the public health sector. Several disciplines, including chiropracty, nursing, and physical therapy, rely on the implementation of Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) to ensure that the process of rehabilitation and the techniques employed therein are carried out though the synthesis of best clinical judgment, empirical evidence, and patient values. The field of Speech-Language Pathology also uses EBP as the foundation of intervention and rehabilitation. Research has shown, however, that clinicians in a variety of settings encounter barriers to the implementation of EBP. Such reported barriers include lack of access to current research literature, lack of time with which to review the literature, and difficulty determining the quality of research available. General aims of the present study were: (1) to explore speech pathologists' self-reported patterns of access and use of techniques presented in the current research literature, (2) to investigate their self-rated knowledge of and ability to critically evaluate the research literature, and (3) to examine their knowledge and ability through use of a problem-based survey design. 325 certified Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) were administered a brief web-based survey to collect information that might provide insight related to these research questions. Results of the study indicated that, on average, participants access the research literature and utilize techniques found therein with moderate frequency. Findings also reveal that self-rated capacity and research knowledge were significantly greater for respondents who had acquired their PhD and for those who had previously conducted formal research. Significant results were also found when evaluating differences among respondent's place of work by median change in self-rated research capacity. Furthermore, positive correlations were found between research knowledge and self-rated capacity and research knowledge and research evaluation. These findings call attention to the process through which research methodology is taught in higher education. The findings may also suggest that a more effective and functional model of instruction in this area is critical to the clinical implementation of EBP.

The rate of graduation among students with histories of specific language impairment (SLI) was investigating by comparing the target population to matched, nondisabled peers. Data regarding the graduation outcomes for 176 matched pairs of students, over a five-year period, were analyzed to determine if a significant difference in achievement of a high school diploma was observable between the two groups of students. In addition, the study addressed the variables of socioeconomic status and attendance rate as related to graduation rate. For students with histories of specific language impairment, model of service delivery was also examined with regard to graduation rate. Finally, the relationship between the number of years a student was enrolled in language therapy and achievement of a high school diploma was explored. The Chi-square test for goodness of fit was utilized to compare the graduation and dropout rates of students with histories of SLI to state department of education normative data. Analysis of the data suggested that significantly more students with histories of SLI left school, however, a significantly higher than expected number also received a high school diploma. The Chisquare test for independence was used to compare the graduation rates of students with histories of SLI to the rates of their nondisabled peers. A significant difference was observed between the two groups of students with dropout rate being significantly lower for nondisabled peers. The variables of socioeconomic status and attendance rate did not yield significant results as related to graduation outcomes for the students in this study. For students with histories of SLI, model of service delivery and number of years that the student received services were each weakly correlated to graduation outcome. The results presented in the current study offer implications for appropriate service delivery to adolescents with histories of SLI. Recommendations for reducing high school dropout among students with histories of SLI were discussed.

The aim of the present study is to investigate the extent to which life partners understand the emotional impact stuttering has on their loved one who stutters. This was accomplished by administering the Speech Situation Checklist - Emotional Reaction (SSC-ER), a subtest of the Behavior Assessment Battery (BAB; Vanryckeghem & Brutten, 2018) via Qualtrics, an online survey software, to the participants who stutter and a modified version of the SSC-ER to their life partner. No significant differences and a positive correlation were observed between groups (people who stutter (PWS) and their life partner (LP) as it relates to total score on the SSC-ER. Gender, age, and duration of relationship, overall, were not confounding variables that affected the total score. Internal reliability was high across both the SSC-ER and its modified version. All items on the test correlated significantly with the total score with the exception of items 8 and 13 for PWS and items 6, 13, and 36 for LPs. Between-group item analysis revealed that the majority of test items did not differ significantly with the exception of six items: 3, 4, 13, 19, 26, and 27. The aforementioned items follow the construct pertaining to fixed sounds and/or words. The findings in this investigation provide evidence that LPs have a general understanding of the anxiety levels their partner who stutters experiences as it relates to communication situations.

This research study examines the types and frequencies of stuttering, typical disfluencies, and speech rate in Polish-English bilingual adults who stutter across a variety of speaking situations. As Polish and English are phonetically and morpho-syntactically disparate languages, they provide grounds for evaluating the cross-linguistic correlates that may contribute to dysfluency in bilingual individuals who stutter in hopes of contributing to more effective assessment, diagnostic determination, and clinical practice. Participants were all native Polish speakers who spoke English at an intermediate or higher level, were diagnosed with a developmental stutter, and were at least 18 years old. Given that the participants resided in Poland, the study took place via Skype. Participants were first subjected to an English proficiency test, then engaged in three speech tasks (oral reading, monologue, and dialogue) to collect a 200-word speech sample in both Polish and English. Tasks were randomized for language, order of administration, and set of images and conversation topics to minimize the possibility of an order effect. No significant differences in stuttering frequency or stutter types between Polish and English within tasks were found. Similar patterns of stuttering types occurred within Polish and English. There were significantly more typical disfluencies in English compared to Polish during oral reading, with significantly more interjections occurring in the second language during monologue and oral reading. Correlational analyses revealed high positive correlations between stuttering types in all three tasks. Speech rate did not differ significantly between both languages. The percentage of typical disfluencies correlated negatively with dialogue and monologue for language proficiency. Results provide implications for assessment and treatment of stuttering in all languages spoken by the client.

The relationship between positive health outcomes in persons with aphasia (PWA) and personcentered care is highlighted by personally relevant information obtained directly from the PWA. Such is often facilitated via patient reported outcome measures (PROMs). In order to provide accurate responses to PROMs, PWAs must to read, comprehend, formulate and generate answers to a variety of questions. PROMs designed for other clinical populations assessed/treated by speech-language pathologists have been found to be largely unreadable. Despite the significant role of PROMs in assessment and management of aphasia, no study to date has examined the readability of these measures. Four readability formulae were applied to identified PROMs for PWAs. These formulae estimate readability in terms of reading grade level and provide additional, quantitative information regarding textual elements such as syllable, word, and sentence length, complexity, and frequency. Fourteen PROMs were identified, per review of extant literature. A Macintosh-based readability software program was used to perform readability analyses. Additional metrics of clinical utility were applied to the selected measures via the Clinical Utility Scale. Results indicate that, on average, PROMs designed for PWAs are written at an eighth-grade reading level which is discordant with fourth-to-sixth reading grade level recommendations set forth by health literacy experts. Scores derived from the Clinical Utility Scale highlight the disconnect among measures that are easy to implement but are unreadable. Further analysis indicates that syllable-, word-, and sentence-level complexities can also impact the difficulty of analyzed texts. Results of the present study are consistent with prior PROM analyses performed across a variety of clinical populations assessed/treated by speech-language pathologists. Clinical implications and limitations of the present study are discussed as well as directions for further research.

The purpose of this study was to determine how the roles and responsibilities of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in schools are being implemented, whether speech-language pathologists in schools feel comfortable with their roles, and whether they are willing to engage in professional learning activities to hone knowledge and skills in role areas in order to inform pre-service and in-service learning This study utilized an online survey to collect responses. The survey included questions related to the rate of implementation, comfort level, and desire for further professional learning with regards to the roles and responsibilities prescribed by American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) for the SLP in the school. Additionally, this survey examined whether SLPs in schools felt that their scope of practice has shifted focus from traditional speech-sound disorders to one of language/literacy disorders, whether they received adequate support from the schools and/or districts, and whether their university programs prepared them for clinical practice. A total of 609 SLPs participated in this study, with 98% being female. Most participants were between the ages of 45-64 years (45%). The results of this study indicated that with regards to rate of implementation and comfort level, participant responses varied depending on the role and responsibility. Sixty-one percent of participants were confident with critical roles, or roles/responsibilities that are typically considered cornerstones of the practice of speech-language pathology. Participants tended to be less confident with roles related to collaboration and leadership. With regards to the additional questions addressed by this study, over 50% of participants agreed that their career has shifted in focus from traditional speech-sound disorders to one of language/literacy disorders, and that they received adequate support from their school and/or district. Participants also tended to agree that their university program prepared them well for clinical practice and that they desired more professional learning for the delineated roles/responsibilities that they did not feel confident implementing. The implications of this study are that despite overall ratings of frequent implementation and comfort with certain roles/responsibilities, there are still areas that SLPs require further education in order to hone their skills within the context of the expanding landscape of speech-language pathology. An in-depth summary of the data, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

This study examined the macrolinguistic features of three genres (single picture description, sequential picture description, and story retell) of discourse samples collected from participants with acquired communication disorders (including two speakers with aphasia, two with mild cognitive impairment, and two with traumatic brain injury) and unimpaired controls (n=6). Comparisons were made to investigate group and genre differences. Standardized assessment scores of cognitive and linguistic evaluations were collected and correlated to features of macrolinguistic discourse analysis. Participants with acquired communication disorders performed best on the story retell discourse task compared to single picture description and sequential picture description. Significant measures for story retell task include lexical efficiency, time efficiency, and Main Concept score. No significant difference was found on performance between single-picture description task and sequential picture description for participants with acquired communication disorders. The Main Concept Analysis presented with the strongest correlation to macrolinguistic features of analysis. These preliminary findings suggest that main concept score is a predominant indicator of the overall informativeness and macrostructure of a speaker's discourse.

There are currently five million children three to five years of age (i.e., 59.5% of all children from three to five), who are bilingual, living in the United States. By 2025, Census data show that the population of Florida will increase by some 26 percent adding another 5.5 million people to the state. There are a limited amount of studies yielding data on the development of Spanish phonology in 4 and 5 year old children residing in the United States, particularly in Florida. Consequently, there is limited normative information pertaining to articulation and phonological development in Spanish speakers. It was postulated that normal, bilingual, Spanish/ English speaking children, ages 4 to 5 years old, would display different articulation and phonological processes in English and Spanish when measured with standardized English and Spanish articulation and phonology tests. Sixteen participants from the Orlando and Miami, Florida areas were tested. The participants consisted of eight 4 year olds and eight 5 year olds with six females and ten males. The children ranged in age from 3.7 to 5.7 with a mean age of 4.8 years. A diverse Spanish dialect (Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central American, and South American Spanish) was obtained from the participants. All children were normally developing. In addition, language, oral motor skills, and hearing were screened. It was hypothesized that there would be differences for the group of 16 bilingual (i.e., Spanish-English speaking) children for place, manner and voicing of articulation in English versus Spanish as measured by percentage of consonants correct. Only one consonant in the initial position was significantly different, i.e., /t∫/. The /t∫/ phoneme is an affricate which means it is part stop and part fricative. Spanish contains only one fricative (i.e., the /t∫/) whereas English contains two affricates (i.e., /t∫/, /Ÿ/). Spanish speakers therefore, have little practice producing affricates. It was hypothesized that there would be differences in the group of 16 bilingual (i.e., Spanish-English speaking) children for phonological processes as measured by percentage of occurrence errors in English versus Spanish phonology. Two of the seven phonological processes were significantly different in their comparisons: (a) Stopping; and (b) Velar Fronting. Stopping could have been more difficult for children in English (9% occurrence) than in Spanish (0% occurrence) because there are more fricatives in English which can be stopped as compared to Spanish where there is only one fricative, which could be stopped. Fronting occurred 4% of the time in English and 0% of the time in Spanish. This could be due to the Spanish language being more anteriorly placed than English (Brice, 1996). Normative articulation and phonological Spanish data from this study were obtained and are particularly useful for speech-language pathologists in today's public school. As the Hispanic school population increase this information is beneficial as a reference for Spanish speech productions. Further research should include more participants, e.g., Spanish-English speaking children with phonological disorders, as the Hispanic population is increasing especially in the state of Florida. Larger sample sizes should be studied in order to create a more accurate valid representation of the population of Spanish-English speaking children in Florida. Research on this topic should be expanded to include normative data for disordered bilingual children in order to apply more appropriate treatments. In addition, other languages should be studied as the state of Florida and the nation are also experiencing growth in other languages beyond Spanish.