Reliability of Clinician Judgments of Severity of Phonological Impairment

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 39-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan K. Rafaat ◽  
Susan Rvachew ◽  
Rebecca S. C. Russell
Keyword(s):  
Conversational Speech ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
Citation Form ◽  
Phonological Abilities ◽  
Preschool Aged Children

Pairs of speech-language pathologists independently rated severity of phonological impairment for 45 preschoolers, aged 30 to 65 months. Children were rated along a continuum from normal to profound. In addition to judging overall severity of impairment, the clinicians provided separate ratings based on citation form and conversational samples. A judgment of intelligibility of conversational speech was also required. Results indicated that interclinician reliability was adequate (80% agreement) for older preschool-aged children (4-1/2 years and above) but that judgments by speechlanguage pathologists were not sufficiently reliable for children under 3-1/2 years of age 40% agreement). Children judged to have age appropriate phonological abilities were not clearly distinguishable from children judged to have a mild delay. Educating speech-language pathologists regarding the normative phonological data that are available with respect to young preschoolers, and ensuring that such data are readily accessible for assessment purposes, is required.

A Treatment Program for Disordered Phonology

1982 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Dunn ◽  
Cathy Barron
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Program ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Conversational Speech ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Automatic Production ◽  
Therapy Program ◽  
Linguistic System ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Post Therapy ◽  
Phonological Abilities

A therapy program for disordered phonology was developed by identifying unique characteristics of a child's phonological patterns and by using recent literature in normal phonological development. The goal was consistent, automatic production of word-final [z] in conversational speech. The program was designed for a 4 year 11-month-old boy who had been enrolled in articulation therapy for two years. He had several consistent errors in single words but a significantly greater number of less consistent errors in conversational speech, which made him unintelligible. The therapy program controlled the phonetic contexts for [z] production, as utterances increased in length and became less structured. The child was successful in completing the program but only moderate improvement was made between pre- and post-therapy speech sampling. Analysis of the samples revealed that the errors were not related to phonetic context. However, the child omitted [z] in certain lexical items. The results suggest that the child's errors involved more than the ability to produce [z] in a variety of phonetic contexts. Other components of the linguistic system (syntax and semantics) appear to have interacted with the phonological component, resulting in difficulty in producing [z] in certain lexical items. The interface between the various linguistic components is discussed in terms of assessing phonological abilities and planning remediation programs.

Working With English Language Learners in Preschool Settings

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-10
Author(s):  
Andrea “Deedee” Moxley
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Language Difference ◽  
Preschool Aged Children ◽  
Linguistically Appropriate

Abstract Nearly one out of every five children speaks a language other than English in the home. It is difficult to determine language difference versus disorder. Speech-language pathologists who serve preschool-aged children are being asked to serve typically developing second language learners and work without the assistance of an interpreter/translator. It is important to be familiar with legislation, ASHA policy, and research to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services.

For Children With Hearing Loss: The Times They Are A-changin’

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 48-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Todd Houston ◽  
Teresa Caraway
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Early Intervention Services ◽  
Universal Newborn Hearing Screening ◽  
Newborn Hearing ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
Children With Hearing Loss ◽  
The Times

Today, children with hearing loss have more opportunities than ever before to use audition and to achieve age-appropriate spoken language and academic outcomes. Several factors are driving these new outcomes, including universal newborn hearing screening and earlier diagnosis of hearing loss, immediate fitting of advanced hearing technology, and enrollment in appropriate early intervention services. For speech-language pathologists and audiologists, these changes mean altering how these children and their families are served, including the types of diagnostic evaluations that are conducted. Specifically, if speech-language pathologists are to remain vital service providers, they must raise their professional expectations for what these children can ultimately achieve.

The Phonological Abilities of Cantonese-Speaking Children With Hearing Loss

1994 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 671-679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara J. Dodd ◽  
Lydia K. H. So
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Impairment ◽  
Phonological Rule ◽  
Ambient Language ◽  
Age Appropriate ◽  
Children With Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Children ◽  
Phonological Errors ◽  
Phonological Abilities ◽  
Cluster Reduction

Little is known about the acquisition of phonology by children with hearing loss who learn languages other than English. In this study, the phonological abilities of 12 Cantonese-speaking children (ages 4:2 to 6:11) with prelingual hearing impairment are described. All but 3 children had almost complete syllable-initial consonant repertoires; all but 2 had complete syllable-final consonant and vowel repertoires; and only 1 child failed to produce all nine tones. Children’s perception of single words was assessed using sets of words that included tone, consonant, and semantic distractors. Although the performance of the subjects was not age appropriate, they nevertheless most often chose the target, with most errors observed for the tone distractor. The phonological rules used included those that characterize the speech of younger hearing children acquiring Cantonese (e.g., cluster reduction, stopping, and deaspiration). However, most children also used at least one unusual phonological rule (e.g., frication, addition, initial consonant deletion, and/or backing). These rules are common in the speech of Cantonesespeaking children diagnosed as phonologically disordered. The influence of the ambient language on children’s patterns of phonological errors is discussed.

scholarly journals Language Outcomes of Late Talking Toddlers at Preschool and Beyond

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Roos ◽  
Susan Ellis Weismer
Keyword(s):  
Early Identification ◽  
Expressive Language ◽  
Language Outcomes ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Delayed Onset ◽  
Late Talkers ◽  
Significant Interest ◽  
Age Appropriate

Abstract Toddlers who demonstrate delayed onset and progression of expressive language in conjunction with otherwise age-appropriate development are often referred to as “late talkers.” For speech-language pathologists who provide early identification and intervention of children who are late talkers, the ability to ascertain whether children ultimately recover or go on to experience difficulties throughout their school years into adulthood is of significant interest. This article summarizes criteria for the identification of late talkers based on research to date, and considers outcomes of late talking toddlers in preschool, kindergarten, and beyond.

Four New Speech and Prosody-Voice Measures for Genetics Research and Other Studies in Developmental Phonological Disorders

1993 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence D. Shriberg
Keyword(s):  
Severity Index ◽  
Speech Disorders ◽  
Conversational Speech ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Validity Data ◽  
Measurement Systems ◽  
Phonological Disorders ◽  
Genetics Research ◽  
Citation Form

Research in developmental phonological disorders, particularly emerging subgroup studies using behavioral and molecular genetics, requires qualitative and continuous measurement systems that meet a variety of substantive and psychometric assumptions. This paper reviews relevant issues underlying such needs and presents four measurement proposals developed expressly for causal-correlates research. The primary qualitative system is the Speech Disorders Classification System (SDCS), a 10-category nosology for dichoto mous and hierarchical-polychoto mous classification of speech disorders from 2 years of age through adulthood. The three quantitative measures for segmental and suprasegmental analyses are (a) the Articulation Competence Index (ACI), an interval-level severity index that adjusts a subject’s Percentage of Consonants Correct (PCC) score for the relative percentage of distortion errors; (b) Speech Profiles, a series of graphic-numeric displays that profile a subject’s or group’s severity-adjusted consonant and vowel-diphthong mastery and error patterns; and (c) the Prosody-Voice profile, a graphic-numeric display that Profiles a subject’s or group’s status on six suprasegmental domains divided into 31 types of inappropriate prosody-voice codes. All data for the four measures are derived from one sample of conversational speech, which obviates the limitations of citation-form testing; enables speech assessment as a qualitative, semi-continuous, and continuous trait over the life span; and provides a context for univariate and multivariate statistical analyses of phonetic, phonologic, prosodic, and language variables in multiage, multidialectal, and multicultural populations. Rationale, procedures, validity data, and examples of uses for each measure are presented.

Measuring Severity of Involvement in Speech Delay

2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 298-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Flipsen ◽  
Jill B. Hammer ◽  
Kathryn M. Yost
Keyword(s):  
Objective Measures ◽  
Standard Group ◽  
Conversational Speech ◽  
Considerable Variability ◽  
Speech Delay ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Whole Word ◽  
Severity Indexes

Purpose: This study examined whether any of a series of segmental and whole-word measures of articulatory competence captured more of the variance in impressionistic ratings of severity of involvement in speech delay. It also examined whether knowing the age of the child affected severity ratings. Method: Ten very experienced speech-language pathologists rated severity of involvement from conversational speech samples obtained from 17 children with delayed speech. The ratings were then correlated with the candidate measures. The ratings by those who knew the ages of the children were also compared with the ratings by those who did not. Results: The severity ratings showed considerable variability. Ratings from 6 clinicians who largely agreed with each other (a "tin standard" group) were significantly associated with several of the candidate measures. Clinicians appeared to pay attention to number, type, and consistency of errors when rating severity. They also attended to both segmental and whole-word levels. Knowledge of the children’s ages did not appear to affect the ratings. Conclusions: The observed variability in the severity ratings raises significant questions about their usefulness. Objective measures such as some of those examined herein offer potential as more valid and reliable severity indexes.

Writing Funding Proposals for Speech-Language Staff Development Projects

1982 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-171
Author(s):  
Carol A. Esterreicher ◽  
Ralph J. Haws
Keyword(s):  
Staff Development ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Project Manager ◽  
State Funding ◽  
Service Needs ◽  
School Environments ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Service Programs ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Special Programs

Speech-language pathologists providing services to handicapped children have pointed out that special education in-service programs in their public school environments frequently do not satisfy the need for updating specific diagnostic and therapy skills. It is the purpose of this article to alert speech-language pathologists to PL 94-142 regulations providing for personnel development, and to inform them of ways to seek state funding for projects to meet their specialized in-service needs. Although a brief project summary is included, primarily the article outlines a procedure whereby the project manager (a speech-language pathologist) and the project director (an administrator in charge of special programs in a Utah school district) collaborated successfully to propose a staff development project which was funded.

Language Test Content

1983 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Owens ◽  
Martha J. Haney ◽  
Virginia E. Giesow ◽  
Lisa F. Dooley ◽  
Richard J. Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Test Item ◽  
Language Assessment ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Language Test ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Diagnostic Aid ◽  
Item Content

This paper examines the test item content of several language assessment tools. A comparison of test breadth and depth is presented. The resultant information provides a diagnostic aid for school speech-language pathologists.

Effect of Teacher Training Sessions on Listener Perception of Voice Disorders

1985 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. DeGregorio ◽  
Nancy Gross Polow
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Training ◽  
School System ◽  
Voice Disorders ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Bergen County ◽  
Experimental Group

The present study was designed to investigate the effect of teacher training sessions on listener perception of voice disorders. Three ASHA certified speech-language pathologists provided the criteria mean. Thirty randomly selected teachers from a Bergen County school system, randomly placed into two groups, served as subjects. The experimental group received three training sessions on consecutive weeks. Three weeks after the end of training, both groups were given a posttest. Listener perception scores were significantly higher for the experimental group. The implications of these results for in-service workshops, teacher/speech-language pathologist interaction and future research are discussed.

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