- NSSLHA: The Past, the Present, and the Future
- Survey of the Gradate School Admissions Process
- Teaching Storytelling to a Group of Children With Learning Disabilities: A Look at Treatment Outcomes
- Clinical Measurement of Stuttering Behaviors
- Contemporary Techniques for Establishing Fluency in the Treatment of Adults Who Stutter
- Working With Adult Foreign Accent: Strategies for Intervention
- Is There a Speech Discrimination/Perception Link to Disordered Articulation and Phonology? A Review of 80 Years of Literature
- Low Birth weight and Developmental Delays: Research Issues in Communication Science and Disorders
- Prelinguistic Vocal Development: A Clinical Primer
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1. NSSLHA: The Past, the Present, and the Future [PDF]
Anthony J. Caruso
Abstract: As part of the 25th anniversary of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA), we describe the development and current status of this association. Several perspectives regarding the importance of NSSLHA and its interdependent relationship with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) are provided by various individuals. The article concludes with a prospective view regarding the importance of developing an increased work force necessary to meet recent research challenges to communication sciences and disorders.
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2. Survey of the Gradate School Admissions Process [PDF, 1MB]
Susan A. Steffani
Dianne Slavin
Abstract: Two surveys of U.S. graduate programs accredited by the Educational Standards Board were conducted to collect information on the importance of graduate admissions criteria and student background/letter of intent, minimum requirements for admissions for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and grade point average (GPA), and rate of admissions. Data are reported based on the 105 respondents (49%) who returned both questionnaires.
Results suggest that GOA in the major and overall GPA are the two most important admissions criteria, followed by letters of recommendation and GRE. Furthermore, some schools do not have minimum requirements for either the GRE or the GPA. However, the mean GPA for admitted students was 3.12. Quality of writing was by far the most important aspect of student letter of intent. Seventeen percent of students who applied for admission to graduate school were accepted. However, the validity of this statistic is complicated by the fact that many students apply to more than one school.
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3. Teaching Storytelling to a Group of Children With Learning Disabilities: A Look at Treatment Outcomes [PDF, 1.3MB]
Joan S. Klecan-Aker
Lynn Flahive
Sally Fleming
Abstract: The purpose of the present investigation was to measure the effects of a treatment program on the storytelling ability of children with learning disabilities. Subjects were elementary school youngsters attending a private laboratory school for children with learning disabilities. The methodology consisted of teaching the children the appropriate use of story grammar components and the accompanying syntax that matches their use. Results indicated that the children assigned to the experimental group improved to a greater degree in their ability to tell more complex stories than did children in the control group. These results are discussed relative to the importance of teaching storytelling and measuring treatment outcomes.
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4. Clinical Measurement of Stuttering Behaviors [PDF, 1.6MB]
J. Scott Yaruss
Abstract: Speech-language pathologists are typically less comfortable diagnosing stuttering than other speech and language disorders. One reason for this discomfort may be the fact that there has been considerable debate concerning how stuttering behaviors should be measured. Although this debate us generally quite helpful for clinical researchers working to improve the diagnosis and treatment of stuttering, such controversies can leave students and practicing clinicians confused and frustrated about how best to assess their clients' stuttering behaviors.
This article attempts to reduce some of this confusion by reviewing several important issues in the measurement of stuttering, particularly those topics related to counting stuttering behaviors. Topics include the basic unit of measurement for counting stuttering (stuttering vs. disfluencies; event-based vs. time-interval based; counting words vs. syllables), measurement and analysis techniques (on-line vs. off-line disfluency-count vs. verbatim transcript), and, in particular, the reliability of stuttering measures.
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5. Contemporary Techniques for Establishing Fluency in the Treatment of Adults Who Stutter [PDF, 1.1MB]
Ludo Max
Anthony J. Caruso
Abstract: Speech-language pathology clinicians and students often feel that their training provides insufficient knowledge and experience in the area of fluency disorders. The purpose of this tutorial is to familiarize these current and future clinicians with contemporary techniques commonly used to establish (more) fluent speech patterns in the treatment of adults who stutter. Two behavioral aspects that are targeted by most, if not all, therapeutic techniques developed for these purposes are the timing and the physical tension of the client's respiratory, phonatory, and/or articulatory movements. Accordingly, these techniques will be presented following a classification that is based on whether the primary goal of the technique concerns (a) modifying the timing of speech movements, or (b) reducing the physical tension of fluent or stuttered speech production.
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6. Working With Adult Foreign Accent: Strategies for Intervention [PDF, 1.2MB]
Anna Marie Schmidt
Abstract: Normative speakers of English often request help with English pronunciation from speech-language pathologists who may feel unprepared to offer such therapy. This article presents a historical perspective on accent reduction and discusses the types of clients and pronunciation differences the clinician may hear. A basic therapy program for this population is presented, which can be adapted for individual clients.
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7. Is There a Speech Discrimination/Perception Link to Disordered Articulation and Phonology? A Review of 80 Years of Literature [PDF, 1.7MB]
Gregory L. Lof
Stephen T. Synan
Abstract: For over 80 years, researchers have studied the link between speech-sound discrimination/perception and articulation/phonological disorders. Although the archival literature on auditory input assessment and training presents conflicting data on this relationship, several conclusions are presented. Specifically, subsets of children with misarticulations have difficulty with perception of their errors, but only a valid assessment procedure can identify this group. A valid assessment must test the specific sounds a child misarticulates and evaluate the child's internal perceptual representation. Auditory training is warranted and is effective only for children who have difficulty with the perception of their misarticulations.
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8. Low Birth weight and Developmental Delays: Research Issues in Communication Science and Disorders [PDF]
Tracy Sherman
Brian B. Shulman
Abstract: This article describes low birth weight and its etiology and impact on child development. Specific discussions are framed around such topics as physical and cognitive development and their relationships to academic performance. Contributing factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption are presented in the context of previous research and future empirical applications.
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9. Prelinguistic Vocal Development: A Clinical Primer [PDF]
Pamela R. Mitchell
Abstract: Considering an emerging consensus regarding relationships between babbling and early speech, speech-language pathologists working in early intervention programs should include prespeech vocalization analysis within the overall developmental assessment process. The inclusion of such analysis can aid in the identification of infants who may be at risk for or experiencing delays in prespeech vocal development, and assist with intervention decision-making. This article provides a rationale and suggested procedures for perceptually based analysis of babbling derived from recent research and the author's clinical experience.
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