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The purpose of this study was to discover if as an expert witness, an SLP can make a significant impact on the decision made by juries in the cases of defendants with a traumatic brain injury compared to no expert witness testimony. Participants were recruited from a pool of individuals who met the requirements to be a potential juror in the state of Illinois. Participants completed a survey regarding their opinions on defendants with TBI in court cases. The survey was created with the online survey generator software, “Google Forms” in order to determine if individuals would judge a defendant differently when informed of the expert witness testimony of an SLP. Results suggest a positive correlation between exposure to SLP testimony and greater leniency or rehabilitative tendencies in legal judgment. The implications of these results shine a very important light on the issue of individuals with TBI inside the criminal justice system. If cases continue to be held in a court of law without the input of specialized SLP expert knowledge, it would be difficult to say if true justice is served for each individual. With SLP expert testimony, the number of individuals with TBI who are behind bars as a result of ill-informed jury sentencing could be significantly reduced.

Speech-language impairment is one of the most common clinical features in velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS). This report describes the speech and language development of four children with VCFS studied longitudinally from 6 to 30 months of age and compares their performance with three groups of children: (1) normally developing children, (2) children with cleft lip and palate, and (3) children with isolated cleft palate. The data show that young children with VCFS show a receptive-expressive language impairment from the onset of language. Further, speech and expressive language development were severely delayed beyond a level predicted by their other developmental or receptive language performance. The children with VCFS showed severe limitations in speech sound inventories and early vocabulary development that far exceeded those shown by the children with cleft lip and palate and children with isolated cleft palate. This study indicates that young children with VCFS emerge from a critical speech and language learning period with severe limitations in their communicative abilities. Further studies are required to describe the later course of these early speech and language impairments and to explore the relationship to learning disabilities described for older children with VCFS.

Memory and hearing are critical domains that interact during older adults' daily communication and social encounters. To develop a more comprehensive picture of how aging influences performance in these domains, the roles of social variables such as views of aging and self-perceived abilities need greater examination. The present study investigates the linkages between views of aging, self-perceived abilities, and performance within and across the domains of memory and hearing, connections that have never been examined together within the same sample of older adults. For both domains, 301 older adults completed measures of their views of aging, their self-perceived abilities and behavioral tests. Using structural equation modeling, we tested a hypothesized model in which older adults' negative views of aging predicted their performance in the domains of memory and hearing through negatively affecting their self-perceived abilities in those domains. Although this model achieved adequate fit, an alternative model in which hearing performance predicted self-perceived hearing also was supported. Both models indicate that hearing influences memory with respect to both behavioral and self-perception measures and that negative views of aging influence self-perceptions in both domains. These results highlight the importance of views of aging and self-perceptions of abilities within and across these domains.

Purpose: Vocal fatigue (VF) is a primary vocal symptom experienced by professional voice users, such as teachers, whose voice is an occupational tool. The study determines the utilization of the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI), a 19-item scale in identifying symptoms of VF and its severity in teachers. Methods: Using responses of 695 teachers who completed the VFI, Mokken scaling was conducted on the items to identify the experiences of VF and its associated hierarchical nature of VF symptoms in teachers. Mokken scaling was completed on a total of four groups: (a) Total teachers group, (b) No VF group, (c) Low VF group, and (d) High VF group. Results: Results revealed differences in item hierarchies between total teachers and across the separate groups of VF severity. Item hierarchy for teachers highlighted items from physical discomfort at the mild end of the hierarchy to items from symptom improvement with rest at the severe end of the hierarchy. Items related to avoidance presented as a separate scale for teachers presenting with high VF. Discussion: Mokken scaling in teachers provides insight into the underlying complexity of the experience of VF symptoms and reliance on differential behavioral strategies in its management, suggesting the heterogenous nature of latent trait for VF in this specific population.

The relationship between diabetes mellitus (DM) and the auditory/vestibular system has been investigated for more than a century. Most population-based investigations of hearing loss in persons with diabetes (PWD) have revealed a slow progressive, bilateral, high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss. Despite the growing research literature on the pathophysiology of DM-related hearing loss using various animal models and other human studies, knowledge of specific mechanism of the degenerative changes of the inner ear and/or auditory nerve is far from full elucidation. Recent investigations of the mechanisms underlying the association between hearing loss and DM suggest complex combined contributions of hyperglycemia, oxidative stress resulting in cochlear microangiopathy, and auditory neuropathy. An even lesser understood complication of DM is the effect on the vestibular system. Here we provide an overview of animal and human evidence of pathophysiological changes created by DM and its effects on auditory-vestibular anatomy and function.

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