Impairment in communication is a primary diagnostic feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), however relatively little is known about the early communication development of children with ASD. Vocalizations, which typically begin to emerge within the first year of life, are therefore an area of communication prime for research as a potential behavioral marker of ASD which can be assessed early in life. The purpose of this study was to compare differences in the vocalizations of children between 18 and 24 months of age later diagnosed with ASD (n = 50), a mentally and chronologically age-matched group of children with developmental delay (DD; n = 25), and a chronologically age-matched group of children with typical development (TD; n = 50). In addition, for children with ASD, concurrent and predictive relationships between vocalizations and developmental level were investigated. Precise measures of vocalizations were obtained through systematic observation of videotaped behavior samples from the Communication and Symbolic Scales Developmental Profile (Wetherby & Prizant, 2002). Children with ASD used significantly fewer vocalizations and a lower proportion of vocalizations with consonants than children with TD. In addition, children with ASD used a significantly higher proportion of atypical vocalizations than children with TD and a significantly higher proportion of distress vocalizations than both children with TD and DD. For the ASD group, the frequency of vocalizations and the frequency of vocalizations containing recognizable speech sounds correlated significantly with developmental levels in both the second and third years. In addition, communicative vocalizations late in the second year were found to uniquely predict expressive language outcome at age 3 over and above noncommunicative vocalizations. Overall, the results of this study indicated that by 18 to 24 months of age many vocalization measures significantly differentiate children with ASD from children with TD, with a higher proportion of distress vocalization differentiating children with ASD from both children with TD and DD. The importance of communicative vocalizations for later language development is highlighted by the results of this investigation. This study will contribute to the understanding of early vocal communication in children with ASD and assist in early identification. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication Disorders in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2008. / Date of Defense: July 18, 2008. / Vocalizations, Autism, Early Identification, Expressive Language / Includes bibliographical references. / Amy Wetherby, Professor Directing Dissertation; Mary Frances Hanline, Outside Committee Member; Michelle Bourgeois, Committee Member; Juliann Woods, Committee Member.

Because of the potentially harmful repercussions of undiagnosed dysphagia, a quick and accurate assessment is necessary to initiate proper treatment as soon as possible. In many situations and settings, the clinical dysphagia evaluation is the only assessment tool available to the speech-language pathologist for the evaluation of swallowing. Although the clinical evaluation does provide useful information, it is reportedly insensitive for diagnosing some forms of dysphagia. Cervical auscultation and measures of tongue function during swallowing are proposed in this investigation to augment the clinical dysphagia evaluation to improve its accuracy for diagnosing dysphagia. Prior to diagnosing disordered swallowing, however, it is necessary to characterize normal swallowing. One-hundred-and-one healthy participants, ages 20-79, with no history of swallowing impairment participated in this investigation. Participants consumed teaspoon boluses of puree, honey, thin, and soft consistencies while the sounds of swallowing were recorded. Participants also consumed 30 ml boluses of honey and thin consistencies while their peak tongue strengths were measured. Descriptive statistics were calculated and reported for the duration of the acoustic swallowing signal, the duration to the peak intensity of the signal, the peak intensity of the signal, the frequency of the peak intensity of the swallow, and the peak frequency of the swallow, as was the mean peak anterior tongue strength during swallowing. Correlations between the variables were also computed. Analyses were conducted with data collapsed across bolus types, as well as for individual bolus consistencies. The objective of this study was to provide a quantitative characterization of swallowing acoustics and peak anterior tongue strength in a sample of normal individuals. Overall, results compared favorably with previous research. Significant correlations were found between the age and the duration variables (positive), age and the intensity variables (negative), the duration variables (positive), the duration to peak intensity and the frequency at peak intensity (negative), the intensity and the frequency variables (positive), and the frequency variables (positive). The current study can serve as a point of reference for future studies, which should further investigate normal swallowing across multiple bolus consistencies and volumes, and eventually compare these measures to those with individuals with disordered swallowing. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication Disorders in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2003. / Date of Defense: June 12, 2003. / Undiagnosed Dysphagia / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard J. Morris, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gary W. Peterson, Outside Committee Member; Julie A. G. Stierwalt, Committee Member; Leonard L. LaPointe, Committee Member.

Theory of Mind (ToM) involves a person's ability to infer what another person knows, thus taking his or her perspective. Initial evidence has been presented for a ToM impairment in individuals with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD), however preliminary investigations have failed to dissociate theory of mind difficulty from impairments in general inferencing, executive functions, and working memory. Deficits in any of these areas could be sufficient to explain the apparent ToM impairment in the AD population. Ten participants with mild to moderate AD profiles completed first order and second order false belief tasks with and without memory support, and their performances on ToM testing were compared to the performances of elderly controls. All theory of mind testing was controlled with memory, comprehension, and general inferencing questions, and AD participants completed neuropsychological testing to concurrently assess general cognitive functioning, memory, and executive functioning. Independent and paired t-tests compared experimental and control group ToM performances. Correlations assessed relations between ToM and neurocognitve test performances. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and individual case analyses for performances of AD participants were presented. Results indicated that AD participants did not exhibit a specific ToM difficulty as compared to control participants when support for memory was not provided. However, significant group differences for specific ToM impairment that appeared to be separable from comprehension, memory and general inferencing difficulties emerged during ToM testing when support for memory was provided. On individual case analysis, eight of the ten AD participants exhibited a mild, specific ToM difficulty. Correlations between ToM performance and neurocognitive test performances were not significant; however four of the eight AD participants who exhibited specific, ToM difficulty also had difficulty with executive function testing. The results of the current study indicate that individuals with mild to moderate AD may possess an underlying, mild, specific ToM impairment which becomes apparent during supported memory testing. Such mild ToM impairment in high to moderate AD individuals must be further investigated, and possible contributions of executive function impairments to apparent ToM difficulty further explored before the current results can be confidently generalized to a larger AD population. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication Disorders in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2004. / Date of Defense: June 15, 2004. / Mentalizing, Mental Inferencing Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Perspective Taking, Theory of Mind / Includes bibliographical references. / Michelle S. Bourgeois, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michael E. Rashotte, Outside Committee Member; Howard Goldstein, Committee Member; Leonard L. LaPointe, Committee Member.

Introduction: Although there is a general convergence of research which indicates that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have deficits in play behavior, substantial gaps remain in our knowledge of play in children with ASD. Areas in need of more investigation include research focusing on very early development of play skills in children with ASD, study of the type or types of play impaired in children with ASD, examination of how individual variation in play relates to the three diagnostic domains of ASD, and study of the underlying theories that may account for play differences observed in this population. Method: This prospective study examined play behavior in children between 18 and 24 months of age who were later diagnosed with ASD (n=48). These children were matched with groups of children with developmental delay (DD) in whom ASD had been ruled out (n=25) and children with typical development (TD; n=48). Precise measures of proportion and rate of exploratory, combinatorial, and functional and symbolic play actions were obtained through systematic observation of Behavior Samples from the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales (Wetherby & Prizant, 2002). Results: Children with ASD demonstrated significantly higher proportions of exploratory play behavior than children in the TD group, but not the DD group. Children in the ASD group also demonstrated significantly lower proportions and rates of functional and symbolic play behavior than children in the TD group. In the ASD group, functional play behaviors were significantly related to concurrent social communication skills and repetitive movements, as well as nonverbal development assessed at the time of the third birthday. In addition, exploratory play in the ASD group was significantly related to concurrent symbolic skills and repetitive movements, as well as social affect scores at age three. Discussion: The results add important information to the play literature in ASD about the type of play deficits found in very early development and their relationship to other diagnostic domains central to ASD. The results have important implications for improving early identification of play deficits in this population. / A Dissertation submitted to the School of Communication Science and Disorders in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2009. / Date of Defense: October 27, 2009. / Toddlers, Play, Autism / Includes bibliographical references. / Amy M. Wetherby, Professor Directing Dissertation; Chris Schatschneider, University Representative; Juliann Woods, Committee Member; Joanne Lasker, Committee Member.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Howard Goldstein, Florida State University, College of Communication, Dept. of Communication Disorders. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 8, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 83 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1981. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 24-25).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1975. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 250-266).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-62).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-164).