scholarly journals Early Communication Behaviors in Infants With Cleft Palate With and Without Robin Sequence: A Preliminary Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 105566562110318
Author(s):  
Stephanie van Eeden ◽  
Yvonne Wren ◽  
Cristina McKean ◽  
Helen Stringer

Objective: To investigate the early communication behaviors in infants with nonsyndromic isolated cleft palate (iCP) and Robin sequence (RS). Design: Group comparison using parent report. Participants: There were 106 participants included in this study. Two groups were selected from the UK Cleft Collective resource. Parents had completed the Language ENvironment Analysis Developmental Snapshot questionnaire when their child turned 13 months. There were 78 participants in the iCP group and 28 in the RS group. Main Outcome Measure(s): Total number of communication behaviors reported on the questionnaire. Subdomains for expressive and receptive language and social communication behaviors were also analyzed. Results: There were no statistically significant group differences. Parents of infants with RS reported fewer later communication behaviors compared to the iCP group. Infants in both groups had fewer communication behaviors compared to the normative sample. Across the whole sample, post hoc analysis revealed a significant correlation between severity of the cleft and social communication behaviors and expressive but not receptive language. Infants with a cleft of the hard and soft palate were more likely to be in the RS group (odds ratio: 7.04 [95% CI: 1.55-32.04]; P = .01). Conclusions: Both groups reported similar levels of early communication. Some divergence of more complex language skills was seen, although there were no significant group differences. A relationship with the diagnosis of a cleft of the hard or soft palate with expressive language behaviors was found. Further study into the impact of cleft severity on early speech development and the relationship with later language skills is needed along with longitudinal follow-up of this population.

2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 460-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Morris ◽  
Anne Ozanne

Objective To evaluate the language, phonetic, and phonological skills at age 3 years of two groups of young children with a cleft palate, with different expressive language proficiency at 2 years of age. Design Two groups of children with a cleft palate with differing abilities in early expressive language skills were identified at age 2 years. Comparisons across groups were made over a range of speech and language measures at age 3 years. Participants Twenty children with cleft palate were allocated to two groups dependent on expressive language abilities at age 2 years. One group had normal language development, and the second group had been identified as having significantly delayed (8 to 12 months’ delay) expressive language development. Main Outcome Measures The children were assessed at 3 years of age using standardized assessments and spontaneous speech samples. Comparisons between the two groups were made on a range of language measures including comprehension, expressive language, and speech. Results Group differences were found on both language and speech abilities at age 3 years. Significant group differences were found in expressive language, percentage of consonants correct, phonetic inventory, and phonological process usage. The group with delayed early expressive language abilities at 2 years continued to have expressive language difficulties at 3 years of age and had more disordered speech development, compared with the nondelayed group. Conclusions A subgroup of children with a cleft palate was identified who exhibited delays in early expressive language and continued to have delayed language and disordered phonological patterns at a later age. Support for three possible etiologies including a structural/anatomical deficit, cognitive/linguistic delay, or language/phonological disorder are discussed.


2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriane L. Baylis ◽  
Benjamin Munson ◽  
Karlind T. Moller

Objective: To examine the influence of speech perception, cognition, and implicit phonological learning on articulation skills of children with velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS) and children with cleft palate or velopharyngeal dysfunction (VPD). Design: Cross-sectional group experimental design. Participants: Eight children with VCFS and five children with nonsyndromic cleft palate or VPD. Methods and Measures: All children participated in a phonetic inventory task, speech perception task, implicit priming nonword repetition task, conversational sample, nonverbal intelligence test, and hearing screening. Speech tasks were scored for percentage of phonemes correctly produced. Group differences and relations among measures were examined using nonparametric statistics. Results: Children in the VCFS group demonstrated significantly poorer articulation skills and lower standard scores of nonverbal intelligence compared with the children with cleft palate or VPD. There were no significant group differences in speech perception skills. For the implicit priming task, both groups of children were more accurate in producing primed nonwords than unprimed nonwords. Nonverbal intelligence and severity of velopharyngeal inadequacy for speech were correlated with articulation skills. Conclusions: In this study, children with VCFS had poorer articulation skills compared with children with cleft palate or VPD. Articulation difficulties seen in the children with VCFS did not appear to be associated with speech perception skills or the ability to learn new phonological representations. Future research should continue to examine relationships between articulation, cognition, and velopharyngeal dysfunction in a larger sample of children with cleft palate and VCFS.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 2333794X1988418
Author(s):  
Matthew H. Kim ◽  
Laura Lee McIntyre

Objective. To examine whether children’s early communication skills at age 3 predict special education outcomes at kindergarten entry. Methods. Data from 139 children eligible for early intervention or early childhood special education services were examined. Early communication was defined separately as expressive and receptive language skills and was measured by the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales–Second Edition. Outcome variables were parent-reported measures of special education use and dosage as well as speech therapy receipt and dosage at kindergarten entry. Results. Better expressive language skills at age 3—but not receptive language skills—predicted a significantly reduced likelihood (odds ratio = 0.79) of receiving speech therapy at kindergarten entry. There were no effects of early communication on broader receipt of special education services as well as on special education dosage. Conclusions. Screening of specific domains of early communication skills during routine pediatric care, in conjunction with the evaluations of other professionals involved in the child’s education and health, might be an effective method for identifying children who are likely to receive speech therapy and other special education services at kindergarten entry.


2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 297-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathy L. Chapman ◽  
Mary A. Hardin-Jones ◽  
Jeffrey A. Goldstein ◽  
Kelli Ann Halter ◽  
Robert J. Havlik ◽  
...  

Objective: To examine the impact of age and lexical status at the time of primary palatal surgery on speech outcome of preschoolers with cleft palate. Participants: Forty children (33 to 42 months) with nonsyndromic cleft palate participated in the study. Twenty children (Group 1) were less lexically advanced and younger (mean age  =  11 months) and 20 children (Group 2) were more lexically advanced and older (mean age  =  15 months) when palatal surgery was performed. Main Outcome Measures: Samples of the children's spontaneous speech were compared on 11 speech production measures (e.g., size of consonant inventory, total consonants correct, % correct for manner of articulation categories, compensatory articulation usage, etc.). Next, listeners rated a 30-second sample of each child's connected speech for articulation proficiency and hypernasality, separately, using direct magnitude estimation (DME). Results: Group differences were noted for 4 of the 11 speech production measures. Children in Group 1 exhibited larger consonant inventories (and true consonant inventories) and more accurate production of nasals and liquids compared to children in Group 2. On the DME task, significant group differences were found for ratings of articulation proficiency and hypernasality. Children in Group 1 exhibited better articulation and less hypernasality than children in Group 2. Conclusions: The findings suggested that children who were less lexically advanced and younger at the time of palatal surgery exhibited better articulation and resonance outcomes at 3 years of age.


1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Bebout ◽  
Bradford Arthur

Speech‐language pathologists serving multicultural populations may encounter unfamiliar beliefs about speech disorders among the members of different cultures. This study used a questionnaire to look at attitudes toward four disorders (cleft palate, dysfluency, hearing impairment, and misarticulations) among 166 university students representing English-speaking North American culture and several other cultures (e.g., Chinese, Southeast Asian, Hispanic). The results showed significant group differences on items involving the subjects’ beliefs about the emotional health of persons with speech disorders and about the potential ability of speech-disordered persons to change their own speech.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison L. Wainer ◽  
Zachary E. Arnold ◽  
Caroline Leonczyk ◽  
Latha Valluripalli Soorya

Abstract Background Intervention during the first years of life for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have the strongest impact on long-term brain development and functioning. Yet, barriers such as a shortage of trained professionals contribute to significant delays in service. The goal of this proof-of-concept study was to explore strategies that support timely and equitable deployment of ASD-specific interventions. Methods This 15-week, randomized proof-of-concept study explored the acceptability of a digital parent mediated intervention online reciprocal imitation training (RIT; a naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention) and compared it to a treatment as usual (TAU) control on parent and child outcomes. Eligible children were between 18 and 60 months, met the cutoff for ASD on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-2nd Edition and demonstrate significant social imitation deficits. Primary outcomes include the acceptability of RIT (Scale of Treatment Perceptions) and the feasibility of the Online RIT digital intervention (online RIT attributes). Secondary outcomes included parent fidelity (RIT parent fidelity form) and parental self-efficacy (Early Intervention Parenting Self-Efficacy Scale). Exploratory outcome measures included child social communication (Social Communication Checklist), child imitation skills (Unstructured Imitation Assessment), and family quality of life (Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale). Results Twenty participants were randomized in a 1:1 fashion. The acceptability and feasibility of RIT and the Online RIT digital intervention were rated highly. Among the secondary outcomes, there were significant group differences in parent fidelity (p < .001) and self-efficacy (p = .029). On exploratory outcomes, there were group differences in child social communication (p = .048). There were no significant group differences in imitation ability (p = .05) or family quality of life (p = .22). Limitations There are several limitations with this study, including the small sample size as well as lack of data on enactment and website engagement. This study was not able to address questions related to which variables predict program engagement and treatment response, which will be critical for determining which families may benefit from such a stepped-care delivery model. Conclusions Overall, the Online RIT program delivered in a stepped-care format shows strong acceptability and holds promise as an innovative delivery model. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04467073. Registered 10 July 2020- Retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04467073


2003 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courtney E. Jones ◽  
Kathy L. Chapman ◽  
Mary A. Hardin-Jones

Objective This study examined the speech production abilities of children with cleft palate before and after palate repair. Participants Twenty-eight children participated in the study, 14 with cleft palate and 14 without clefts matched for age, gender, and mothers’ educational level. Main Outcome Measures Comparisons were made between the children with cleft palate before and after surgery for canonical babbling ratios, size of consonant inventories, place and manner characteristics, and early developing sounds [p, b, t, d, k, g, m, n, η]. Also, comparisons were made between the children with cleft palate and their peers without clefts at postsurgery/17 months for the measures described above. Results Paired ttests revealed differences in pre- and postsurgery performance of the children with cleft palate for production of canonical syllables and size of consonant inventories. Although no significant differences were noted for place and manner features, production of oral stops doubled from the time before surgery to that after surgery. Specifically, production of the bilabial stop [b] showed significant change over time. Results of independent t tests indicated no difference between groups for production of canonical syllables and size of consonant inventories at 17 months. However, significant group differences were noted for production of stops, oral stops, nasals, glides, and alveolars. The children without clefts produced more stops, oral stops, and alveolars. In contrast, more nasals and glides were seen in the vocalizations of the children with cleft palate. Conclusions Children with cleft palate made gains in production of canonical syllables and size of consonant inventories postsurgery; however, they continued to show deficits in production of stops and alveolar place features.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 710-727
Author(s):  
Beula M. Magimairaj ◽  
Naveen K. Nagaraj ◽  
Alexander V. Sergeev ◽  
Natalie J. Benafield

Objectives School-age children with and without parent-reported listening difficulties (LiD) were compared on auditory processing, language, memory, and attention abilities. The objective was to extend what is known so far in the literature about children with LiD by using multiple measures and selective novel measures across the above areas. Design Twenty-six children who were reported by their parents as having LiD and 26 age-matched typically developing children completed clinical tests of auditory processing and multiple measures of language, attention, and memory. All children had normal-range pure-tone hearing thresholds bilaterally. Group differences were examined. Results In addition to significantly poorer speech-perception-in-noise scores, children with LiD had reduced speed and accuracy of word retrieval from long-term memory, poorer short-term memory, sentence recall, and inferencing ability. Statistically significant group differences were of moderate effect size; however, standard test scores of children with LiD were not clinically poor. No statistically significant group differences were observed in attention, working memory capacity, vocabulary, and nonverbal IQ. Conclusions Mild signal-to-noise ratio loss, as reflected by the group mean of children with LiD, supported the children's functional listening problems. In addition, children's relative weakness in select areas of language performance, short-term memory, and long-term memory lexical retrieval speed and accuracy added to previous research on evidence-based areas that need to be evaluated in children with LiD who almost always have heterogenous profiles. Importantly, the functional difficulties faced by children with LiD in relation to their test results indicated, to some extent, that commonly used assessments may not be adequately capturing the children's listening challenges. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12808607


2002 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Schick

The following study is based on a sample of 241 9-13-year-old children (66 children from divorced parents, 175 children from non divorced parents). They were examined for differences regarding anxiety, self-esteem, different areas of competence, and degree of behavior problems. With a focus on the children’s experiences, the clinically significant differences were examined. Clinically significant differences, revealing more negative outcomes for the children of divorce, were only found for social anxiety and unstable performance. The frequency of clinical significant differences was independent of the length of time the parents had been separated. The perceived destructiveness of conflict between the parents one of four facets of interparental conflict in this study functioned as a central mediator of the statistically significant group differences. The children’s perception of the father’s social support was a less reliable indicator of variance. Further studies should try to make underlying theoretical assumptions about the effects of divorce more explicit, to distinguish clearly between mediating variables, and to investigate them with respect to specific divorce adjustment indicators.


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