Hearing thresholds and distortion product otoacoustic emissions were measured for teachers of vocal performance who were gathered for a national conference. Results showed mean audiometric thresholds to be consistent with noise induced hearing loss, more than what would be expected with normal aging. Years of instruction and age were considered as factors in the hearing loss observed. It was concluded that hearing conservation should be initiated with this group to help raise awareness and protect them from hearing loss due to occupational noise exposure.
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Παρασκευή 8 Δεκεμβρίου 2017
SIG 8 Perspectives Vol. 16, No. 1, November 2015: Earn 0.10 CEUs on This Issue
Download the CE Questions PDF from the toolbar, above. Use the questions to guide your Perspectives reading. When you're ready, purchase the activity from the ASHA Store and follow the instructions to take the exam in ASHA's Learning Center. Available until November 21, 2018.
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Improving the Quality of Auditory Training by Making Tasks Meaningful
Traditional auditory training (AT) typically includes activities that focus on the formal properties of sounds without requiring attention to meaning. After reviewing the psycholinguistic bases for requiring attention to meaning, the authors present a series of examples of how to modify purely form-oriented AT activities so that they become meaning oriented. For example, a purely form-oriented same–different task with /ba/–/pa/ or /ba/–/ba/ can be modified using minimal pairs such as /bear/–/pear/ or /bear/–/bear/ and by requiring listeners to identify appropriate picture pairs in order (i.e., pictures of a bear and then a pear, or of a bear and then another bear). The modified version requires attention to meaning, whereas the original version does not. The authors promote a nonhierarchical and interactive approach to AT in which activities at 3 linguistic levels (word, sentence, and discourse) are included from the beginning and throughout AT, but with activities that are carefully designed to be meaning oriented and in which comprehension is the central focus. In the Summary By Example section, the authors describe an AT program (I Hear What You Mean; Tye-Murray, Barcroft, & Sommers, in press) that was designed to be meaning oriented at the word, sentence, and discourse levels. Specific benefits of providing meaning-based AT, such as higher levels of participant engagement, are highlighted.
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Quality 101: What Every Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathologist Should Know But Is Afraid to Ask
The United States has the highest per capita health care costs of any industrialized nation in the world. Increasing costs are reducing access to care and constitute an increasingly heavy burden on employers and consumers. Yet as much as 20 to 30 percent of these costs may be unnecessary, or even counterproductive, to improved health (Wennberg, Brownless, Fisher, Skinner, & Weinstein, 2008). Addressing these unwanted costs is essential in the survival of providing quality health care. This article reviews 11 dimensions that should be considered when starting a quality improvement program as well as one quality improvement tool, the Juran model, that is commonly used in the healthcare and business settings. Implementing a quality management program is essential for survival in today’s market place and is no longer an option. While it takes time to implement a quality management program, the costs are too high not to.
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Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists: Making Critical Cross-Disciplinary Connections For Quality Care in Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
Widespread realization of newborn hearing screening has made it possible to routinely identify hearing loss shortly after birth, expanding opportunities for children born with permanent hearing loss. For children to reach their full potential, high-quality comprehensive services need to be provided in a timely manner. Because the roles of the audiologist and speech-language pathologist vary significantly from family to family in an American Sign Language approach, this article focuses primarily on the roles these professionals serve within a listening and spoken language communication approach. An overview of components of quality assessment and intervention for audiology and speech-language pathology are discussed, as are the benefits and opportunities of interdisciplinary collaboration. Newborn hearing screenings, advanced hearing technology, and early education have the potential to affect the lives of children with hearing loss and their families; however, successful families and children rely on quality, collaborative intervention from their service providers. Together, speech-language pathologists and audiologists can better understand a child’s responses to sound, more effectively set hearing technology to maximize access to sound, and support parents in their ability to help their children reach their full potential.
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Healthy People 2020
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched Healthy People 2020 in December 2010, announcing the new 10-year goals and objectives for health promotion and disease prevention. Healthy People is designed to improve the quality of the nation’s health and provide a framework for public health prevention priorities and actions. A newly redesigned website (http://ift.tt/17QFO9U) allows users to tailor information to individual or community needs and to explore evidence-based resources. A major principle states that national objectives and monitoring progress are critical factors in motivating action. An extensive feedback process was initiated by the Department of Health and Human Services to develop comprehensive objectives; previous topic areas were carried forward, and new areas were identified. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park stated, “This milestone in disease prevention and health promotion creates an opportunity to leverage information technology to make Healthy People come alive for all Americans in their communities and workplaces” (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2011). Healthy People 2020 includes initiatives to hearing and communication disorders which are considered important to the overall well being of the population.
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Can Behavioral Speech-In-Noise Tests Improve the Quality of Hearing Aid Fittings?
The purpose of this article is to propose 4 dimensions for consideration in hearing aid fittings and 4 tests to evaluate those dimensions. The 4 dimensions and tests are (a) working memory, evaluated by the Revised Speech Perception in Noise test (Bilger, Nuetzel, & Rabinowitz, 1984); (b) performance in noise, evaluated by the Quick Speech in Noise test (QSIN; Killion, Niquette, Gudmundsen, Revit, & Banerjee, 2004); (c) acceptance of noise, evaluated by the Acceptable Noise Level test (ANL; Nabelek, Tucker, & Letowski, 1991); and (d) performance versus perception, evaluated by the Perceptual–Performance test (PPT; Saunders & Cienkowski, 2002). The authors discuss the 4 dimensions and tests in the context of improving the quality of hearing aid fittings.
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Motivation to Address Self-Reported Hearing Problems in Adults With Normal Hearing Thresholds
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to compare the motivation to change in relation to hearing problems in adults with normal hearing thresholds but who report hearing problems and that of adults with a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Factors related to their motivation were also assessed.
Method
The motivation to change in relation to self-reported hearing problems was measured using the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (McConnaughy, Prochaska, & Velicer, 1983). The relationship between objective and subjective measures and an adult's motivation was examined.
Results
The level of hearing handicap did not differ significantly between adults with normal hearing who reported problems hearing in background noise and adults who had a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Hearing handicap, personal distress, and minimization of hearing loss were factors significantly related to motivation. Age, degree of hearing loss, speech-in-noise scores, working memory, and extended high-frequency average thresholds were not significantly related to their motivation.
Conclusions
Adults with normal hearing thresholds but self-reported hearing problems had the same level of hearing handicap and were equally motivated to take action for their hearing problems as age-matched adults with a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Hearing handicap, personal distress, and minimization of hearing loss were most strongly correlated with an individual's motivation to change.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AoVvKF
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Accentuate the Negative: Grammatical Errors During Narrative Production as a Clinical Marker of Central Nervous System Abnormality in School-Aged Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine (a) whether increased grammatical error rates during a standardized narrative task are a more clinically useful marker of central nervous system abnormality in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) than common measures of productivity or grammatical complexity and (b) whether combining the rate of grammatical errors with the rate of cohesive referencing errors can improve utility of a standardized narrative assessment task for FASD diagnosis.
Method
The method used was retrospective analysis of narrative and clinical data from 138 children (aged 7–12 years; 69 with FASD, 69 typically developing). Narrative analysis was conducted blind to diagnosis. Measures of grammatical error, productivity and complexity, and cohesion were used independently and in combination to predict whether a story was told by a child with an FASD diagnosis.
Results
Elevated grammatical error rates were more common in children with FASD, and this difference facilitated a more accurate prediction of FASD status than measures of productivity and grammatical complexity and, when combined with an accounting of cohesive referencing errors, significantly improved sensitivity to FASD over standard practice.
Conclusion
Grammatical error rates during a narrative are a viable behavioral marker of the kinds of central nervous system abnormality associated with prenatal alcohol exposure, having significant potential to contribute to the FASD diagnostic process.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AoWzhC
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Identifying Children at Risk for Language Impairment or Dyslexia With Group-Administered Measures
Purpose
The study aims to determine whether brief, group-administered screening measures can reliably identify second-grade children at risk for language impairment (LI) or dyslexia and to examine the degree to which parents of affected children were aware of their children's difficulties.
Method
Participants (N = 381) completed screening tasks and assessments of word reading, oral language, and nonverbal intelligence. Their parents completed questionnaires that inquired about reading and language development.
Results
Despite considerable overlap in the children meeting criteria for LI and dyslexia, many children exhibited problems in only one domain. The combined screening tasks reliably identified children at risk for either LI or dyslexia (area under the curve = 0.842), but they were more accurate at identifying risk for dyslexia than LI. Parents of children with LI and/or dyslexia were frequently unaware of their children's difficulties. Parents of children with LI but good word reading skills were the least likely of all impairment groups to report concerns or prior receipt of speech, language, or reading services.
Conclusions
Group-administered screens can identify children at risk of LI and/or dyslexia with good classification accuracy and in less time than individually administered measures. More research is needed to improve the identification of children with LI who display good word reading skills.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nJZXNZ
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The Effect of Adaptive Nonlinear Frequency Compression on Phoneme Perception
Purpose
This study implemented a fitting method, developed for use with frequency lowering hearing aids, across multiple testing sites, participants, and hearing aid conditions to evaluate speech perception with a novel type of frequency lowering.
Method
A total of 8 participants, including children and young adults, participated in real-world hearing aid trials. A blinded crossover design, including posttrial withdrawal testing, was used to assess aided phoneme perception. The hearing aid conditions included adaptive nonlinear frequency compression (NFC), static NFC, and conventional processing.
Results
Enabling either adaptive NFC or static NFC improved group-level detection and recognition results for some high-frequency phonemes, when compared with conventional processing. Mean results for the distinction component of the Phoneme Perception Test (Schmitt, Winkler, Boretzki, & Holube, 2016) were similar to those obtained with conventional processing.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that both types of NFC tested in this study provided a similar amount of speech perception benefit, when compared with group-level performance with conventional hearing aid technology. Individual-level results are presented with discussion around patterns of results that differ from the group average.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AHAeuu
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Motivation to Address Self-Reported Hearing Problems in Adults With Normal Hearing Thresholds
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to compare the motivation to change in relation to hearing problems in adults with normal hearing thresholds but who report hearing problems and that of adults with a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Factors related to their motivation were also assessed.
Method
The motivation to change in relation to self-reported hearing problems was measured using the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (McConnaughy, Prochaska, & Velicer, 1983). The relationship between objective and subjective measures and an adult's motivation was examined.
Results
The level of hearing handicap did not differ significantly between adults with normal hearing who reported problems hearing in background noise and adults who had a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Hearing handicap, personal distress, and minimization of hearing loss were factors significantly related to motivation. Age, degree of hearing loss, speech-in-noise scores, working memory, and extended high-frequency average thresholds were not significantly related to their motivation.
Conclusions
Adults with normal hearing thresholds but self-reported hearing problems had the same level of hearing handicap and were equally motivated to take action for their hearing problems as age-matched adults with a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Hearing handicap, personal distress, and minimization of hearing loss were most strongly correlated with an individual's motivation to change.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AoVvKF
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Accentuate the Negative: Grammatical Errors During Narrative Production as a Clinical Marker of Central Nervous System Abnormality in School-Aged Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine (a) whether increased grammatical error rates during a standardized narrative task are a more clinically useful marker of central nervous system abnormality in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) than common measures of productivity or grammatical complexity and (b) whether combining the rate of grammatical errors with the rate of cohesive referencing errors can improve utility of a standardized narrative assessment task for FASD diagnosis.
Method
The method used was retrospective analysis of narrative and clinical data from 138 children (aged 7–12 years; 69 with FASD, 69 typically developing). Narrative analysis was conducted blind to diagnosis. Measures of grammatical error, productivity and complexity, and cohesion were used independently and in combination to predict whether a story was told by a child with an FASD diagnosis.
Results
Elevated grammatical error rates were more common in children with FASD, and this difference facilitated a more accurate prediction of FASD status than measures of productivity and grammatical complexity and, when combined with an accounting of cohesive referencing errors, significantly improved sensitivity to FASD over standard practice.
Conclusion
Grammatical error rates during a narrative are a viable behavioral marker of the kinds of central nervous system abnormality associated with prenatal alcohol exposure, having significant potential to contribute to the FASD diagnostic process.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AoWzhC
via IFTTT
Identifying Children at Risk for Language Impairment or Dyslexia With Group-Administered Measures
Purpose
The study aims to determine whether brief, group-administered screening measures can reliably identify second-grade children at risk for language impairment (LI) or dyslexia and to examine the degree to which parents of affected children were aware of their children's difficulties.
Method
Participants (N = 381) completed screening tasks and assessments of word reading, oral language, and nonverbal intelligence. Their parents completed questionnaires that inquired about reading and language development.
Results
Despite considerable overlap in the children meeting criteria for LI and dyslexia, many children exhibited problems in only one domain. The combined screening tasks reliably identified children at risk for either LI or dyslexia (area under the curve = 0.842), but they were more accurate at identifying risk for dyslexia than LI. Parents of children with LI and/or dyslexia were frequently unaware of their children's difficulties. Parents of children with LI but good word reading skills were the least likely of all impairment groups to report concerns or prior receipt of speech, language, or reading services.
Conclusions
Group-administered screens can identify children at risk of LI and/or dyslexia with good classification accuracy and in less time than individually administered measures. More research is needed to improve the identification of children with LI who display good word reading skills.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nJZXNZ
via IFTTT
The Effect of Adaptive Nonlinear Frequency Compression on Phoneme Perception
Purpose
This study implemented a fitting method, developed for use with frequency lowering hearing aids, across multiple testing sites, participants, and hearing aid conditions to evaluate speech perception with a novel type of frequency lowering.
Method
A total of 8 participants, including children and young adults, participated in real-world hearing aid trials. A blinded crossover design, including posttrial withdrawal testing, was used to assess aided phoneme perception. The hearing aid conditions included adaptive nonlinear frequency compression (NFC), static NFC, and conventional processing.
Results
Enabling either adaptive NFC or static NFC improved group-level detection and recognition results for some high-frequency phonemes, when compared with conventional processing. Mean results for the distinction component of the Phoneme Perception Test (Schmitt, Winkler, Boretzki, & Holube, 2016) were similar to those obtained with conventional processing.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that both types of NFC tested in this study provided a similar amount of speech perception benefit, when compared with group-level performance with conventional hearing aid technology. Individual-level results are presented with discussion around patterns of results that differ from the group average.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AHAeuu
via IFTTT
Motivation to Address Self-Reported Hearing Problems in Adults With Normal Hearing Thresholds
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to compare the motivation to change in relation to hearing problems in adults with normal hearing thresholds but who report hearing problems and that of adults with a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Factors related to their motivation were also assessed.
Method
The motivation to change in relation to self-reported hearing problems was measured using the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (McConnaughy, Prochaska, & Velicer, 1983). The relationship between objective and subjective measures and an adult's motivation was examined.
Results
The level of hearing handicap did not differ significantly between adults with normal hearing who reported problems hearing in background noise and adults who had a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Hearing handicap, personal distress, and minimization of hearing loss were factors significantly related to motivation. Age, degree of hearing loss, speech-in-noise scores, working memory, and extended high-frequency average thresholds were not significantly related to their motivation.
Conclusions
Adults with normal hearing thresholds but self-reported hearing problems had the same level of hearing handicap and were equally motivated to take action for their hearing problems as age-matched adults with a mild-to-moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Hearing handicap, personal distress, and minimization of hearing loss were most strongly correlated with an individual's motivation to change.from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AoVvKF
via IFTTT
Accentuate the Negative: Grammatical Errors During Narrative Production as a Clinical Marker of Central Nervous System Abnormality in School-Aged Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine (a) whether increased grammatical error rates during a standardized narrative task are a more clinically useful marker of central nervous system abnormality in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) than common measures of productivity or grammatical complexity and (b) whether combining the rate of grammatical errors with the rate of cohesive referencing errors can improve utility of a standardized narrative assessment task for FASD diagnosis.
Method
The method used was retrospective analysis of narrative and clinical data from 138 children (aged 7–12 years; 69 with FASD, 69 typically developing). Narrative analysis was conducted blind to diagnosis. Measures of grammatical error, productivity and complexity, and cohesion were used independently and in combination to predict whether a story was told by a child with an FASD diagnosis.
Results
Elevated grammatical error rates were more common in children with FASD, and this difference facilitated a more accurate prediction of FASD status than measures of productivity and grammatical complexity and, when combined with an accounting of cohesive referencing errors, significantly improved sensitivity to FASD over standard practice.
Conclusion
Grammatical error rates during a narrative are a viable behavioral marker of the kinds of central nervous system abnormality associated with prenatal alcohol exposure, having significant potential to contribute to the FASD diagnostic process.from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AoWzhC
via IFTTT
Identifying Children at Risk for Language Impairment or Dyslexia With Group-Administered Measures
Purpose
The study aims to determine whether brief, group-administered screening measures can reliably identify second-grade children at risk for language impairment (LI) or dyslexia and to examine the degree to which parents of affected children were aware of their children's difficulties.
Method
Participants (N = 381) completed screening tasks and assessments of word reading, oral language, and nonverbal intelligence. Their parents completed questionnaires that inquired about reading and language development.
Results
Despite considerable overlap in the children meeting criteria for LI and dyslexia, many children exhibited problems in only one domain. The combined screening tasks reliably identified children at risk for either LI or dyslexia (area under the curve = 0.842), but they were more accurate at identifying risk for dyslexia than LI. Parents of children with LI and/or dyslexia were frequently unaware of their children's difficulties. Parents of children with LI but good word reading skills were the least likely of all impairment groups to report concerns or prior receipt of speech, language, or reading services.
Conclusions
Group-administered screens can identify children at risk of LI and/or dyslexia with good classification accuracy and in less time than individually administered measures. More research is needed to improve the identification of children with LI who display good word reading skills.from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nJZXNZ
via IFTTT
The Effect of Adaptive Nonlinear Frequency Compression on Phoneme Perception
Purpose
This study implemented a fitting method, developed for use with frequency lowering hearing aids, across multiple testing sites, participants, and hearing aid conditions to evaluate speech perception with a novel type of frequency lowering.
Method
A total of 8 participants, including children and young adults, participated in real-world hearing aid trials. A blinded crossover design, including posttrial withdrawal testing, was used to assess aided phoneme perception. The hearing aid conditions included adaptive nonlinear frequency compression (NFC), static NFC, and conventional processing.
Results
Enabling either adaptive NFC or static NFC improved group-level detection and recognition results for some high-frequency phonemes, when compared with conventional processing. Mean results for the distinction component of the Phoneme Perception Test (Schmitt, Winkler, Boretzki, & Holube, 2016) were similar to those obtained with conventional processing.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that both types of NFC tested in this study provided a similar amount of speech perception benefit, when compared with group-level performance with conventional hearing aid technology. Individual-level results are presented with discussion around patterns of results that differ from the group average.from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AHAeuu
via IFTTT
Satisfaction With Communication Using Remote Face-to-Face Language Interpretation Services With Spanish-Speaking Parents: A Pilot Study
Effective communication in clinical encounters is dependent upon the exchange of accurate information between clinician and patient and the use of interpersonal skills that foster development of the patient-provider relationship and demonstrate understanding of the patient's social and cultural background. These skills are of critical importance in the diagnosis and management of hearing loss in children of Spanish-speaking families. While the provision of family friendly, culturally sensitive services to families of children with hearing loss can be challenging for audiologists and speech-language pathologists, the quality and satisfaction of these services is widely recognized as the cornerstone of patient satisfaction and improved outcomes. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore patient, audiologist, and interpreter satisfaction of the use of remote face-to-face language interpretation technologies in the context of audiology services. Parent participants rated each session regarding satisfaction with the communication exchange, audiology services, and the interpreting experience. Audiologists rated their satisfaction with the communication exchange, relationship with the parent, and experience with the interpreter. Interpreters rated their satisfaction with the logistics regarding the appointment, information exchange, and experience in working with the audiologist. Audiologists and interpreters were asked to identify what worked well and what challenges needed to be addressed. Data from this pilot study can be used to guide future efforts in providing high quality language interpretation services to Spanish-speaking families of young children who are at risk for or have been diagnosed with hearing loss.
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Phonological Awareness at 5 years of age in Children Who Use Hearing Aids or Cochlear Implants
Children with hearing loss typically underachieve in reading, possibly as a result of their underdeveloped phonological skills. This study addressed the questions of (1)whether or not the development of phonological awareness (PA) is influenced by the degree of hearing loss and (2) whether or not performance of children with severe-profound hearing loss differed according to the hearing devices used. Drawing on data collected as part of the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI, http://ift.tt/2hDgsG6) study, the authors found that sound-matching scores of children with hearing loss ranging from mild to profound degrees were, on average, within the normal range. The degree of hearing loss did not have a significant impact on scores, but there was a non-significant tendency for the proportion of children who achieved zero scores to increase with increase in hearing loss. For children with severe hearing loss, there was no significant group difference in scores among children who used bilateral hearing aids, bimodal fitting (a cochlear implant and a hearing aid in contralateral ears), and bilateral cochlear implants. Although there is a need for further prospective research, professionals have an important role in targeting PA skills for rehabilitation of young children with hearing loss.
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Language Outcomes in Children With Unilateral Hearing Loss: A Review
Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) in children is only recently beginning to be widely appreciated as having a negative impact. We now understand that simply having one normal-hearing ear may not be sufficient for typical child development, and leads to impairments in speech and language outcomes. Unfortunately, UHL is not a rare problem among children in the United States, and is present among more than 1 out of every 10 of adolescents in this country. How UHL specifically affects development of speech and language, however, is currently not well understood. While we know that children with UHL are more likely than their normal-hearing siblings to have speech therapy and individualized education plans at school, we do not yet understand the mechanism through which UHL causes speech and language problems. The objective of this review is to describe what is currently known about the impact of UHL on speech and language development in children. Furthermore, we discuss some of the potential pathways through which the impact of unilateral hearing loss on speech and language might be mediated.
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SIG 9 Perspectives Vol. 25, No. 2, September 2015: Earn 0.15 CEUs on This Issue
Download the CE Questions PDF from the toolbar, above. Use the questions to guide your Perspectives reading. When you're ready, purchase the activity from the ASHA Store and follow the instructions to take the exam in ASHA's Learning Center. Available until March 26, 18.
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via IFTTT
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via IFTTT
Satisfaction With Communication Using Remote Face-to-Face Language Interpretation Services With Spanish-Speaking Parents: A Pilot Study
Effective communication in clinical encounters is dependent upon the exchange of accurate information between clinician and patient and the use of interpersonal skills that foster development of the patient-provider relationship and demonstrate understanding of the patient's social and cultural background. These skills are of critical importance in the diagnosis and management of hearing loss in children of Spanish-speaking families. While the provision of family friendly, culturally sensitive services to families of children with hearing loss can be challenging for audiologists and speech-language pathologists, the quality and satisfaction of these services is widely recognized as the cornerstone of patient satisfaction and improved outcomes. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore patient, audiologist, and interpreter satisfaction of the use of remote face-to-face language interpretation technologies in the context of audiology services. Parent participants rated each session regarding satisfaction with the communication exchange, audiology services, and the interpreting experience. Audiologists rated their satisfaction with the communication exchange, relationship with the parent, and experience with the interpreter. Interpreters rated their satisfaction with the logistics regarding the appointment, information exchange, and experience in working with the audiologist. Audiologists and interpreters were asked to identify what worked well and what challenges needed to be addressed. Data from this pilot study can be used to guide future efforts in providing high quality language interpretation services to Spanish-speaking families of young children who are at risk for or have been diagnosed with hearing loss.
from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AmW6fx
via IFTTT
from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AmW6fx
via IFTTT
Phonological Awareness at 5 years of age in Children Who Use Hearing Aids or Cochlear Implants
Children with hearing loss typically underachieve in reading, possibly as a result of their underdeveloped phonological skills. This study addressed the questions of (1)whether or not the development of phonological awareness (PA) is influenced by the degree of hearing loss and (2) whether or not performance of children with severe-profound hearing loss differed according to the hearing devices used. Drawing on data collected as part of the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI, http://ift.tt/2hDgsG6) study, the authors found that sound-matching scores of children with hearing loss ranging from mild to profound degrees were, on average, within the normal range. The degree of hearing loss did not have a significant impact on scores, but there was a non-significant tendency for the proportion of children who achieved zero scores to increase with increase in hearing loss. For children with severe hearing loss, there was no significant group difference in scores among children who used bilateral hearing aids, bimodal fitting (a cochlear implant and a hearing aid in contralateral ears), and bilateral cochlear implants. Although there is a need for further prospective research, professionals have an important role in targeting PA skills for rehabilitation of young children with hearing loss.
from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2kFAqEG
via IFTTT
from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2kFAqEG
via IFTTT
Language Outcomes in Children With Unilateral Hearing Loss: A Review
Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) in children is only recently beginning to be widely appreciated as having a negative impact. We now understand that simply having one normal-hearing ear may not be sufficient for typical child development, and leads to impairments in speech and language outcomes. Unfortunately, UHL is not a rare problem among children in the United States, and is present among more than 1 out of every 10 of adolescents in this country. How UHL specifically affects development of speech and language, however, is currently not well understood. While we know that children with UHL are more likely than their normal-hearing siblings to have speech therapy and individualized education plans at school, we do not yet understand the mechanism through which UHL causes speech and language problems. The objective of this review is to describe what is currently known about the impact of UHL on speech and language development in children. Furthermore, we discuss some of the potential pathways through which the impact of unilateral hearing loss on speech and language might be mediated.
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SIG 9 Perspectives Vol. 25, No. 2, September 2015: Earn 0.15 CEUs on This Issue
Download the CE Questions PDF from the toolbar, above. Use the questions to guide your Perspectives reading. When you're ready, purchase the activity from the ASHA Store and follow the instructions to take the exam in ASHA's Learning Center. Available until March 26, 18.
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With Some Help From Others' Hands: Iconic Gesture Helps Semantic Learning in Children With Specific Language Impairment
Purpose
Semantic learning under 2 co-speech gesture conditions was investigated in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children. Learning was analyzed between conditions.
Method
Twenty children with SLI (aged 4 years), 20 TD children matched for age, and 20 TD children matched for language scores were taught rare nouns and verbs. Children heard the target words while seeing either iconic gestures illustrating a property of the referent or a control gesture focusing children's attention on the word. Following training, children were asked to define the words' meaning. Responses were coded for semantic information provided on each word.
Results
Performance of the SLI and age-matched groups proved superior to that of the language-matched group. Overall, children defined more words taught with iconic gestures than words taught with attention-getting gestures. However, only children with SLI, but not TD children, provided more semantic information on each word taught with iconic gestures. Performance did not differ in terms of word class.
Conclusions
Results suggest that iconic co-speech gestures help both children with and without SLI learn new words but, in particular, assist children with SLI understand and reflect the words' meaning.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AI18Cp
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Infant-Directed Speech Enhances Attention to Speech in Deaf Infants With Cochlear Implants
Purpose
Both theoretical models of infant language acquisition and empirical studies posit important roles for attention to speech in early language development. However, deaf infants with cochlear implants (CIs) show reduced attention to speech as compared with their peers with normal hearing (NH; Horn, Davis, Pisoni, & Miyamoto, 2005; Houston, Pisoni, Kirk, Ying, & Miyamoto, 2003), which may affect their acquisition of spoken language. The main purpose of this study was to determine (a) whether infant-directed speech (IDS) enhances attention to speech in infants with CIs, as compared with adult-directed speech (ADS), and (b) whether the degree to which infants with CIs pay attention to IDS is associated with later language outcomes.
Method
We tested 46 infants—12 prelingually deaf infants who received CIs before 24 months of age and had 12 months of hearing experience (CI group), 22 hearing experience–matched infants with NH (NH-HEM group), and 12 chronological age–matched infants with NH (NH-CAM group)—on their listening preference in 3 randomized blocks: IDS versus silence, ADS versus silence, and IDS versus ADS. We administered the Preschool Language Scale–Fourth Edition (PLS-4; Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002) approximately 18 months after implantation to assess receptive and expressive language skills of infants with CIs.
Results
In the IDS versus silence block, all 3 groups looked significantly longer to IDS than to silence. In the ADS versus silence block, both the NH-HEM and NH-CAM groups looked significantly longer to ADS relative to silence; however, the CI group did not show any preference. In the IDS versus ADS block, whereas both the CI and NH-HEM groups preferred IDS over ADS, the NH-CAM group looked equally long to IDS and ADS. IDS preference quotient among infants with CIs in the IDS versus ADS block was associated with PLS-4 Auditory Comprehension and PLS-4 Expressive Communication measures.
Conclusions
Two major findings emerge: (a) IDS enhances attention to speech in deaf infants with CIs; (b) the degree of IDS preference over ADS relates to language development in infants with CIs. These results support a focus on input in developing intervention strategies to mitigate the effects of hearing loss on language development in infants with hearing loss.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nJVdrF
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Predicting Intelligibility Gains in Dysarthria Through Automated Speech Feature Analysis
Purpose
Behavioral speech modifications have variable effects on the intelligibility of speakers with dysarthria. In the companion article, a significant relationship was found between measures of speakers' baseline speech and their intelligibility gains following cues to speak louder and reduce rate (Fletcher, McAuliffe, Lansford, Sinex, & Liss, 2017). This study reexamines these features and assesses whether automated acoustic assessments can also be used to predict intelligibility gains.
Method
Fifty speakers (7 older individuals and 43 with dysarthria) read a passage in habitual, loud, and slow speaking modes. Automated measurements of long-term average spectra, envelope modulation spectra, and Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients were extracted from short segments of participants' baseline speech. Intelligibility gains were statistically modeled, and the predictive power of the baseline speech measures was assessed using cross-validation.
Results
Statistical models could predict the intelligibility gains of speakers they had not been trained on. The automated acoustic features were better able to predict speakers' improvement in the loud condition than the manual measures reported in the companion article.
Conclusions
These acoustic analyses present a promising tool for rapidly assessing treatment options. Automated measures of baseline speech patterns may enable more selective inclusion criteria and stronger group outcomes within treatment studies.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nKcd0Q
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Distributional Learning in College Students With Developmental Language Disorder
Purpose
This study examined whether college students with developmental language disorder (DLD) could use distributional information in an artificial language to learn about grammatical category membership in a way similar to their typically developing (TD) peers.
Method
Seventeen college students with DLD and 17 TD college students participated in this task. We used an artificial grammar in which certain combinations of words never occurred during training. At test, participants had to use knowledge of category membership to determine which combinations were allowable in the grammar, even though they had not been heard.
Results
College students with DLD performed similarly to TD peers in distinguishing grammatical from ungrammatical combinations.
Conclusion
Differences in ratings between grammatical and ungrammatical items in this task suggest that college students with DLD can form grammatical categories from novel input and more broadly use distributional information.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nKJZ62
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Intelligibility of Noise-Adapted and Clear Speech in Child, Young Adult, and Older Adult Talkers
Purpose
This study examined intelligibility of conversational and clear speech sentences produced in quiet and in noise by children, young adults, and older adults. Relative talker intelligibility was assessed across speaking styles.
Method
Sixty-one young adult participants listened to sentences mixed with speech-shaped noise at −5 dB signal-to-noise ratio. The analyses examined percent correct scores across conversational, clear, and noise-adapted conditions and the three talker groups. Correlation analyses examined whether talker intelligibility is consistent across speaking style adaptations.
Results
Noise-adapted and clear speech significantly enhanced intelligibility for young adult listeners. The intelligibility improvement varied across the three talker groups. Notably, intelligibility benefit was smallest for children's speaking style modifications. Listeners also perceived speech produced in noise by older adults to be less intelligible compared to the younger talkers. Talker intelligibility was correlated strongly between conversational and clear speech in quiet, but not for conversational speech produced in quiet and in noise.
Conclusions
Results provide evidence that intelligibility variation related to age and communicative barrier has the potential to aid clinical decision making for individuals with speech disorders, particularly dysarthria.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AKDnth
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Predicting Intelligibility Gains in Individuals With Dysarthria From Baseline Speech Features
Purpose
Across the treatment literature, behavioral speech modifications have produced variable intelligibility changes in speakers with dysarthria. This study is the first of two articles exploring whether measurements of baseline speech features can predict speakers’ responses to these modifications.
Methods
Fifty speakers (7 older individuals and 43 speakers with dysarthria) read a standard passage in habitual, loud, and slow speaking modes. Eighteen listeners rated how easy the speech samples were to understand. Baseline acoustic measurements of articulation, prosody, and voice quality were collected with perceptual measures of severity.
Results
Cues to speak louder and reduce rate did not confer intelligibility benefits to every speaker. The degree to which cues to speak louder improved intelligibility could be predicted by speakers' baseline articulation rates and overall dysarthria severity. Improvements in the slow condition could be predicted by speakers' baseline severity and temporal variability. Speakers with a breathier voice quality tended to perform better in the loud condition than in the slow condition.
Conclusions
Assessments of baseline speech features can be used to predict appropriate treatment strategies for speakers with dysarthria. Further development of these assessments could provide the basis for more individualized treatment programs.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nI32OJ
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Acoustics of Clear and Noise-Adapted Speech in Children, Young, and Older Adults
Purpose
This study investigated acoustic–phonetic modifications produced in noise-adapted speech (NAS) and clear speech (CS) by children, young adults, and older adults.
Method
Ten children (11–13 years of age), 10 young adults (18–29 years of age), and 10 older adults (60–84 years of age) read sentences in conversational and clear speaking style in quiet and in noise. A number of acoustic measurements were obtained.
Results
NAS and CS were characterized by a decrease in speaking rate and an increase in 1–3 kHz energy, sound pressure level (SPL), vowel space area (VSA), and harmonics-to-noise ratio. NAS increased fundamental frequency (F0) mean and decreased jitter and shimmer. CS increased frequency and duration of pauses. Older adults produced the slowest speaking rate, longest pauses, and smallest increase in F0 mean, 1–3 kHz energy, and SPL when speaking clearly. They produced the smallest increases in VSA in NAS and CS. Children slowed down less, increased the VSA least, increased harmonics-to-noise ratio, and decreased jitter and shimmer most in CS. Children increased mean F0 and F1 most in noise.
Conclusions
Findings have implications for a model of speech production in healthy speakers as well as the potential to aid in clinical decision making for individuals with speech disorders, particularly dysarthria.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AK9Lwj
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Academic Vocabulary Learning in First Through Third Grade in Low-Income Schools: Effects of Automated Supplemental Instruction
Purpose
This study investigated cumulative effects of language learning, specifically whether prior vocabulary knowledge or special education status moderated the effects of academic vocabulary instruction in high-poverty schools.
Method
Effects of a supplemental intervention targeting academic vocabulary in first through third grades were evaluated with 241 students (6–9 years old) from low-income families, 48% of whom were retained for the 3-year study duration. Students were randomly assigned to vocabulary instruction or comparison groups.
Results
Curriculum-based measures of word recognition, receptive identification, expressive labeling, and decontextualized definitions showed large effects for multiple levels of word learning. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that students with higher initial Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition scores (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) demonstrated greater word learning, whereas students with special needs demonstrated less growth in vocabulary.
Conclusion
This model of vocabulary instruction can be applied efficiently in high-poverty schools through an automated, easily implemented adjunct to reading instruction in the early grades and holds promise for reducing gaps in vocabulary development.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nHU2ZV
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Preliminary Evidence That Growth in Productive Language Differentiates Childhood Stuttering Persistence and Recovery
Purpose
Childhood stuttering is common but is often outgrown. Children whose stuttering persists experience significant life impacts, calling for a better understanding of what factors may underlie eventual recovery. In previous research, language ability has been shown to differentiate children who stutter (CWS) from children who do not stutter, yet there is an active debate in the field regarding what, if any, language measures may mark eventual recovery versus persistence. In this study, we examined whether growth in productive language performance may better predict the probability of recovery compared to static profiles taken from a single time point.
Method
Productive syntax and vocabulary diversity growth rates were calculated for 50 CWS using random coefficient models. Logistic regression models were then used to determine whether growth rates uniquely predict likelihood of recovery, as well as if these rates were predictive over and above currently identified correlates of stuttering onset and recovery.
Results
Different linguistic profiles emerged between children who went on to recover versus those who persisted. Children who had steeper productive syntactic growth, but not vocabulary diversity growth, were more likely to recover by study end. Moreover, this effect held after controlling for initial language ability at study onset as well as demographic covariates.
Conclusions
Results are discussed in terms of how growth estimates can be incorporated in recommendations for fostering productive language skills among CWS. The need for additional research on language in early stuttering and recovery is suggested.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nI30GB
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Developing Appreciation for Sarcasm and Sarcastic Gossip: It Depends on Perspective
Background
Speakers use sarcasm to criticize others and to be funny; the indirectness of sarcasm protects the addressee's face (Brown & Levinson, 1987). Thus, appreciation of sarcasm depends on the ability to consider perspectives.
Purpose
We investigated development of this ability from late childhood into adulthood and examined effects of interpretive perspective and parties present.
Method
We presented 9- to 10-year-olds, 13- to 14-year-olds, and adults with sarcastic and literal remarks in three parties–present conditions: private evaluation, public evaluation, and gossip. Participants interpreted the speaker's attitude and humor from the addressee's perspective and, when appropriate, from the bystander's perspective.
Results
Children showed no influence of interpretive perspective or parties present on appreciation of the speaker's attitude or humor. Adolescents and adults, however, shifted their interpretations, judging that addressees have less favorable views of criticisms than bystanders. Further, adolescents and adults differed in their perceptions of the social functions of gossip, with adolescents showing more positive attitudes than adults toward sarcastic gossip.
Conclusions
We suggest that adults' disapproval of sarcastic gossip shows a deeper understanding of the utility of sarcasm's face-saving function. Thus, the ability to modulate appreciation of sarcasm according to interpretive perspective and parties present continues to develop in adolescence and into adulthood.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AIOhjf
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Generalized Adaptation to Dysarthric Speech
Purpose
Generalization of perceptual learning has received limited attention in listener adaptation studies with dysarthric speech. This study investigated whether adaptation to a talker with dysarthria could be predicted by the nature of the listener's prior familiarization experience, specifically similarity of perceptual features, and level of intelligibility.
Method
Following an intelligibility pretest involving a talker with ataxic dysarthria, 160 listeners were familiarized with 1 of 7 talkers with dysarthria—who differed from the test talker in terms of perceptual similarity (same, similar, dissimilar) and level of intelligibility (low, mid, high)—or a talker with no neurological impairment (control). Listeners then completed an intelligibility posttest on the test talker.
Results
All listeners benefited from familiarization with a talker with dysarthria; however, adaptation to the test talker was superior when the familiarization talker had similar perceptual features and reduced when the familiarization talker had low intelligibility.
Conclusion
Evidence for both generalization and specificity of learning highlights the differential value of listeners' prior experiences for adaptation to, and improved understanding of, a talker with dysarthria. These findings broaden our theoretical knowledge of adaptation to degraded speech, as well as the clinical application of training paradigms that exploit perceptual processes for therapeutic gain.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AJjxyI
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Verbal Working Memory in Children With Cochlear Implants
Purpose
Verbal working memory in children with cochlear implants and children with normal hearing was examined.
Participants
Ninety-three fourth graders (47 with normal hearing, 46 with cochlear implants) participated, all of whom were in a longitudinal study and had working memory assessed 2 years earlier.
Method
A dual-component model of working memory was adopted, and a serial recall task measured storage and processing. Potential predictor variables were phonological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, nonverbal IQ, and several treatment variables. Potential dependent functions were literacy, expressive language, and speech-in-noise recognition.
Results
Children with cochlear implants showed deficits in storage and processing, similar in size to those at second grade. Predictors of verbal working memory differed across groups: Phonological awareness explained the most variance in children with normal hearing; vocabulary explained the most variance in children with cochlear implants. Treatment variables explained little of the variance. Where potentially dependent functions were concerned, verbal working memory accounted for little variance once the variance explained by other predictors was removed.
Conclusions
The verbal working memory deficits of children with cochlear implants arise due to signal degradation, which limits their abilities to acquire phonological awareness. That hinders their abilities to store items using a phonological code.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nJ7vR4
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Neural Indices of Semantic Processing in Early Childhood Distinguish Eventual Stuttering Persistence and Recovery
Purpose
Maturation of neural processes for language may lag in some children who stutter (CWS), and event-related potentials (ERPs) distinguish CWS who have recovered from those who have persisted. The current study explores whether ERPs indexing semantic processing may distinguish children who will eventually persist in stuttering (CWS-ePersisted) from those who will recover from stuttering (CWS-eRecovered).
Method
Fifty-six 5-year-old children with normal receptive language listened to naturally spoken sentences in a story context. ERP components elicited for semantic processing (N400, late positive component [LPC]) were compared for CWS-ePersisted, CWS-eRecovered, and children who do not stutter (CWNS).
Results
The N400 elicited by semantic violations had a more focal scalp distribution (left lateralized and less anterior) in the CWS-eRecovered compared with CWS-ePersisted. Although the LPC elicited in CWS-eRecovered and CWNS did not differ, the LPC elicited in the CWS-ePersisted was smaller in amplitude compared with that in CWNS.
Conclusions
ERPs elicited in 5-year-old CWS-eRecovered compared with CWS-ePersisted suggest that future recovery from stuttering may be associated with earlier maturation of semantic processes in the preschool years. Subtle differences in ERP indices offer a window into neural maturation processes for language and may help distinguish the course of stuttering development.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AJjnr6
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Consonant Age-of-Acquisition Effects in Nonword Repetition Are Not Articulatory in Nature
Purpose
Most research examining long-term-memory effects on nonword repetition (NWR) has focused on lexical-level variables. Phoneme-level variables have received little attention, although there are reasons to expect significant sublexical effects in NWR. To further understand the underlying processes of NWR, this study examined effects of sublexical long-term phonological knowledge by testing whether performance differs when the stimuli comprise consonants acquired later versus earlier in speech development.
Method
Thirty (Experiment 1) and 20 (Experiment 2) college students completed tasks that investigated whether an experimental phoneme-level variable (consonant age of acquisition) similarly affects NWR and lexical-access tasks designed to vary in articulatory, auditory-perceptual, and phonological short-term-memory demands. The lexical-access tasks were performed in silence or with concurrent articulation to explore whether consonant age-of-acquisition effects arise before or after articulatory planning.
Results
NWR accuracy decreased on items comprising later- versus earlier-acquired phonemes. Similar consonant age-of-acquisition effects were observed in accuracy measures of nonword reading and lexical decision performed in silence or with concurrent articulation.
Conclusion
Results indicate that NWR performance is sensitive to phoneme-level phonological knowledge in long-term memory. NWR, accordingly, should not be regarded as a diagnostic tool for pure impairment of phonological short-term memory.
Supplemental Materials
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Influence of Altered Auditory Feedback on Oral–Nasal Balance in Speech
Purpose
This study explored the role of auditory feedback in the regulation of oral–nasal balance in speech.
Method
Twenty typical female speakers wore a Nasometer 6450 (KayPentax) headset and headphones while continuously repeating a sentence with oral and nasal sounds. Oral–nasal balance was quantified with nasalance scores. The signals from 2 additional oral and nasal microphones were played back to the participants through the headphones. The relative loudness of the nasal channel in the mix was gradually changed so that the speakers heard themselves as more or less nasal. An additional amplitude control group of 9 female speakers completed the same task while hearing themselves louder or softer in the headphones.
Results
A repeated-measures analysis of variance of the mean nasalance scores of the stimulus sentence at baseline, minimum, and maximum nasal feedback conditions demonstrated a significant effect of the nasal feedback condition. Post hoc analyses found that the mean nasalance scores were lowest for the maximum nasal feedback condition. The scores of the minimum nasal feedback condition were significantly higher than 2 of the 3 baseline feedback conditions. The amplitude control group did not show any effects of volume changes on nasalance scores.
Conclusions
Increased nasal feedback led to a compensatory adjustment in the opposite direction, confirming that oral–nasal balance is regulated by auditory feedback. However, a lack of nasal feedback did not lead to a consistent compensatory response of similar magnitude.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nJ7dts
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Satisfaction With Communication Using Remote Face-to-Face Language Interpretation Services With Spanish-Speaking Parents: A Pilot Study
Effective communication in clinical encounters is dependent upon the exchange of accurate information between clinician and patient and the use of interpersonal skills that foster development of the patient-provider relationship and demonstrate understanding of the patient's social and cultural background. These skills are of critical importance in the diagnosis and management of hearing loss in children of Spanish-speaking families. While the provision of family friendly, culturally sensitive services to families of children with hearing loss can be challenging for audiologists and speech-language pathologists, the quality and satisfaction of these services is widely recognized as the cornerstone of patient satisfaction and improved outcomes. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore patient, audiologist, and interpreter satisfaction of the use of remote face-to-face language interpretation technologies in the context of audiology services. Parent participants rated each session regarding satisfaction with the communication exchange, audiology services, and the interpreting experience. Audiologists rated their satisfaction with the communication exchange, relationship with the parent, and experience with the interpreter. Interpreters rated their satisfaction with the logistics regarding the appointment, information exchange, and experience in working with the audiologist. Audiologists and interpreters were asked to identify what worked well and what challenges needed to be addressed. Data from this pilot study can be used to guide future efforts in providing high quality language interpretation services to Spanish-speaking families of young children who are at risk for or have been diagnosed with hearing loss.
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Phonological Awareness at 5 years of age in Children Who Use Hearing Aids or Cochlear Implants
Children with hearing loss typically underachieve in reading, possibly as a result of their underdeveloped phonological skills. This study addressed the questions of (1)whether or not the development of phonological awareness (PA) is influenced by the degree of hearing loss and (2) whether or not performance of children with severe-profound hearing loss differed according to the hearing devices used. Drawing on data collected as part of the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI, http://ift.tt/2hDgsG6) study, the authors found that sound-matching scores of children with hearing loss ranging from mild to profound degrees were, on average, within the normal range. The degree of hearing loss did not have a significant impact on scores, but there was a non-significant tendency for the proportion of children who achieved zero scores to increase with increase in hearing loss. For children with severe hearing loss, there was no significant group difference in scores among children who used bilateral hearing aids, bimodal fitting (a cochlear implant and a hearing aid in contralateral ears), and bilateral cochlear implants. Although there is a need for further prospective research, professionals have an important role in targeting PA skills for rehabilitation of young children with hearing loss.
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Language Outcomes in Children With Unilateral Hearing Loss: A Review
Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) in children is only recently beginning to be widely appreciated as having a negative impact. We now understand that simply having one normal-hearing ear may not be sufficient for typical child development, and leads to impairments in speech and language outcomes. Unfortunately, UHL is not a rare problem among children in the United States, and is present among more than 1 out of every 10 of adolescents in this country. How UHL specifically affects development of speech and language, however, is currently not well understood. While we know that children with UHL are more likely than their normal-hearing siblings to have speech therapy and individualized education plans at school, we do not yet understand the mechanism through which UHL causes speech and language problems. The objective of this review is to describe what is currently known about the impact of UHL on speech and language development in children. Furthermore, we discuss some of the potential pathways through which the impact of unilateral hearing loss on speech and language might be mediated.
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SIG 9 Perspectives Vol. 25, No. 2, September 2015: Earn 0.15 CEUs on This Issue
Download the CE Questions PDF from the toolbar, above. Use the questions to guide your Perspectives reading. When you're ready, purchase the activity from the ASHA Store and follow the instructions to take the exam in ASHA's Learning Center. Available until March 26, 18.
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With Some Help From Others' Hands: Iconic Gesture Helps Semantic Learning in Children With Specific Language Impairment
Purpose
Semantic learning under 2 co-speech gesture conditions was investigated in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children. Learning was analyzed between conditions.
Method
Twenty children with SLI (aged 4 years), 20 TD children matched for age, and 20 TD children matched for language scores were taught rare nouns and verbs. Children heard the target words while seeing either iconic gestures illustrating a property of the referent or a control gesture focusing children's attention on the word. Following training, children were asked to define the words' meaning. Responses were coded for semantic information provided on each word.
Results
Performance of the SLI and age-matched groups proved superior to that of the language-matched group. Overall, children defined more words taught with iconic gestures than words taught with attention-getting gestures. However, only children with SLI, but not TD children, provided more semantic information on each word taught with iconic gestures. Performance did not differ in terms of word class.
Conclusions
Results suggest that iconic co-speech gestures help both children with and without SLI learn new words but, in particular, assist children with SLI understand and reflect the words' meaning.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AI18Cp
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Infant-Directed Speech Enhances Attention to Speech in Deaf Infants With Cochlear Implants
Purpose
Both theoretical models of infant language acquisition and empirical studies posit important roles for attention to speech in early language development. However, deaf infants with cochlear implants (CIs) show reduced attention to speech as compared with their peers with normal hearing (NH; Horn, Davis, Pisoni, & Miyamoto, 2005; Houston, Pisoni, Kirk, Ying, & Miyamoto, 2003), which may affect their acquisition of spoken language. The main purpose of this study was to determine (a) whether infant-directed speech (IDS) enhances attention to speech in infants with CIs, as compared with adult-directed speech (ADS), and (b) whether the degree to which infants with CIs pay attention to IDS is associated with later language outcomes.
Method
We tested 46 infants—12 prelingually deaf infants who received CIs before 24 months of age and had 12 months of hearing experience (CI group), 22 hearing experience–matched infants with NH (NH-HEM group), and 12 chronological age–matched infants with NH (NH-CAM group)—on their listening preference in 3 randomized blocks: IDS versus silence, ADS versus silence, and IDS versus ADS. We administered the Preschool Language Scale–Fourth Edition (PLS-4; Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002) approximately 18 months after implantation to assess receptive and expressive language skills of infants with CIs.
Results
In the IDS versus silence block, all 3 groups looked significantly longer to IDS than to silence. In the ADS versus silence block, both the NH-HEM and NH-CAM groups looked significantly longer to ADS relative to silence; however, the CI group did not show any preference. In the IDS versus ADS block, whereas both the CI and NH-HEM groups preferred IDS over ADS, the NH-CAM group looked equally long to IDS and ADS. IDS preference quotient among infants with CIs in the IDS versus ADS block was associated with PLS-4 Auditory Comprehension and PLS-4 Expressive Communication measures.
Conclusions
Two major findings emerge: (a) IDS enhances attention to speech in deaf infants with CIs; (b) the degree of IDS preference over ADS relates to language development in infants with CIs. These results support a focus on input in developing intervention strategies to mitigate the effects of hearing loss on language development in infants with hearing loss.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nJVdrF
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Predicting Intelligibility Gains in Dysarthria Through Automated Speech Feature Analysis
Purpose
Behavioral speech modifications have variable effects on the intelligibility of speakers with dysarthria. In the companion article, a significant relationship was found between measures of speakers' baseline speech and their intelligibility gains following cues to speak louder and reduce rate (Fletcher, McAuliffe, Lansford, Sinex, & Liss, 2017). This study reexamines these features and assesses whether automated acoustic assessments can also be used to predict intelligibility gains.
Method
Fifty speakers (7 older individuals and 43 with dysarthria) read a passage in habitual, loud, and slow speaking modes. Automated measurements of long-term average spectra, envelope modulation spectra, and Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients were extracted from short segments of participants' baseline speech. Intelligibility gains were statistically modeled, and the predictive power of the baseline speech measures was assessed using cross-validation.
Results
Statistical models could predict the intelligibility gains of speakers they had not been trained on. The automated acoustic features were better able to predict speakers' improvement in the loud condition than the manual measures reported in the companion article.
Conclusions
These acoustic analyses present a promising tool for rapidly assessing treatment options. Automated measures of baseline speech patterns may enable more selective inclusion criteria and stronger group outcomes within treatment studies.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nKcd0Q
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Distributional Learning in College Students With Developmental Language Disorder
Purpose
This study examined whether college students with developmental language disorder (DLD) could use distributional information in an artificial language to learn about grammatical category membership in a way similar to their typically developing (TD) peers.
Method
Seventeen college students with DLD and 17 TD college students participated in this task. We used an artificial grammar in which certain combinations of words never occurred during training. At test, participants had to use knowledge of category membership to determine which combinations were allowable in the grammar, even though they had not been heard.
Results
College students with DLD performed similarly to TD peers in distinguishing grammatical from ungrammatical combinations.
Conclusion
Differences in ratings between grammatical and ungrammatical items in this task suggest that college students with DLD can form grammatical categories from novel input and more broadly use distributional information.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nKJZ62
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Intelligibility of Noise-Adapted and Clear Speech in Child, Young Adult, and Older Adult Talkers
Purpose
This study examined intelligibility of conversational and clear speech sentences produced in quiet and in noise by children, young adults, and older adults. Relative talker intelligibility was assessed across speaking styles.
Method
Sixty-one young adult participants listened to sentences mixed with speech-shaped noise at −5 dB signal-to-noise ratio. The analyses examined percent correct scores across conversational, clear, and noise-adapted conditions and the three talker groups. Correlation analyses examined whether talker intelligibility is consistent across speaking style adaptations.
Results
Noise-adapted and clear speech significantly enhanced intelligibility for young adult listeners. The intelligibility improvement varied across the three talker groups. Notably, intelligibility benefit was smallest for children's speaking style modifications. Listeners also perceived speech produced in noise by older adults to be less intelligible compared to the younger talkers. Talker intelligibility was correlated strongly between conversational and clear speech in quiet, but not for conversational speech produced in quiet and in noise.
Conclusions
Results provide evidence that intelligibility variation related to age and communicative barrier has the potential to aid clinical decision making for individuals with speech disorders, particularly dysarthria.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AKDnth
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Predicting Intelligibility Gains in Individuals With Dysarthria From Baseline Speech Features
Purpose
Across the treatment literature, behavioral speech modifications have produced variable intelligibility changes in speakers with dysarthria. This study is the first of two articles exploring whether measurements of baseline speech features can predict speakers’ responses to these modifications.
Methods
Fifty speakers (7 older individuals and 43 speakers with dysarthria) read a standard passage in habitual, loud, and slow speaking modes. Eighteen listeners rated how easy the speech samples were to understand. Baseline acoustic measurements of articulation, prosody, and voice quality were collected with perceptual measures of severity.
Results
Cues to speak louder and reduce rate did not confer intelligibility benefits to every speaker. The degree to which cues to speak louder improved intelligibility could be predicted by speakers' baseline articulation rates and overall dysarthria severity. Improvements in the slow condition could be predicted by speakers' baseline severity and temporal variability. Speakers with a breathier voice quality tended to perform better in the loud condition than in the slow condition.
Conclusions
Assessments of baseline speech features can be used to predict appropriate treatment strategies for speakers with dysarthria. Further development of these assessments could provide the basis for more individualized treatment programs.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nI32OJ
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Acoustics of Clear and Noise-Adapted Speech in Children, Young, and Older Adults
Purpose
This study investigated acoustic–phonetic modifications produced in noise-adapted speech (NAS) and clear speech (CS) by children, young adults, and older adults.
Method
Ten children (11–13 years of age), 10 young adults (18–29 years of age), and 10 older adults (60–84 years of age) read sentences in conversational and clear speaking style in quiet and in noise. A number of acoustic measurements were obtained.
Results
NAS and CS were characterized by a decrease in speaking rate and an increase in 1–3 kHz energy, sound pressure level (SPL), vowel space area (VSA), and harmonics-to-noise ratio. NAS increased fundamental frequency (F0) mean and decreased jitter and shimmer. CS increased frequency and duration of pauses. Older adults produced the slowest speaking rate, longest pauses, and smallest increase in F0 mean, 1–3 kHz energy, and SPL when speaking clearly. They produced the smallest increases in VSA in NAS and CS. Children slowed down less, increased the VSA least, increased harmonics-to-noise ratio, and decreased jitter and shimmer most in CS. Children increased mean F0 and F1 most in noise.
Conclusions
Findings have implications for a model of speech production in healthy speakers as well as the potential to aid in clinical decision making for individuals with speech disorders, particularly dysarthria.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AK9Lwj
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Academic Vocabulary Learning in First Through Third Grade in Low-Income Schools: Effects of Automated Supplemental Instruction
Purpose
This study investigated cumulative effects of language learning, specifically whether prior vocabulary knowledge or special education status moderated the effects of academic vocabulary instruction in high-poverty schools.
Method
Effects of a supplemental intervention targeting academic vocabulary in first through third grades were evaluated with 241 students (6–9 years old) from low-income families, 48% of whom were retained for the 3-year study duration. Students were randomly assigned to vocabulary instruction or comparison groups.
Results
Curriculum-based measures of word recognition, receptive identification, expressive labeling, and decontextualized definitions showed large effects for multiple levels of word learning. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that students with higher initial Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–Fourth Edition scores (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) demonstrated greater word learning, whereas students with special needs demonstrated less growth in vocabulary.
Conclusion
This model of vocabulary instruction can be applied efficiently in high-poverty schools through an automated, easily implemented adjunct to reading instruction in the early grades and holds promise for reducing gaps in vocabulary development.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nHU2ZV
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Preliminary Evidence That Growth in Productive Language Differentiates Childhood Stuttering Persistence and Recovery
Purpose
Childhood stuttering is common but is often outgrown. Children whose stuttering persists experience significant life impacts, calling for a better understanding of what factors may underlie eventual recovery. In previous research, language ability has been shown to differentiate children who stutter (CWS) from children who do not stutter, yet there is an active debate in the field regarding what, if any, language measures may mark eventual recovery versus persistence. In this study, we examined whether growth in productive language performance may better predict the probability of recovery compared to static profiles taken from a single time point.
Method
Productive syntax and vocabulary diversity growth rates were calculated for 50 CWS using random coefficient models. Logistic regression models were then used to determine whether growth rates uniquely predict likelihood of recovery, as well as if these rates were predictive over and above currently identified correlates of stuttering onset and recovery.
Results
Different linguistic profiles emerged between children who went on to recover versus those who persisted. Children who had steeper productive syntactic growth, but not vocabulary diversity growth, were more likely to recover by study end. Moreover, this effect held after controlling for initial language ability at study onset as well as demographic covariates.
Conclusions
Results are discussed in terms of how growth estimates can be incorporated in recommendations for fostering productive language skills among CWS. The need for additional research on language in early stuttering and recovery is suggested.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nI30GB
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Developing Appreciation for Sarcasm and Sarcastic Gossip: It Depends on Perspective
Background
Speakers use sarcasm to criticize others and to be funny; the indirectness of sarcasm protects the addressee's face (Brown & Levinson, 1987). Thus, appreciation of sarcasm depends on the ability to consider perspectives.
Purpose
We investigated development of this ability from late childhood into adulthood and examined effects of interpretive perspective and parties present.
Method
We presented 9- to 10-year-olds, 13- to 14-year-olds, and adults with sarcastic and literal remarks in three parties–present conditions: private evaluation, public evaluation, and gossip. Participants interpreted the speaker's attitude and humor from the addressee's perspective and, when appropriate, from the bystander's perspective.
Results
Children showed no influence of interpretive perspective or parties present on appreciation of the speaker's attitude or humor. Adolescents and adults, however, shifted their interpretations, judging that addressees have less favorable views of criticisms than bystanders. Further, adolescents and adults differed in their perceptions of the social functions of gossip, with adolescents showing more positive attitudes than adults toward sarcastic gossip.
Conclusions
We suggest that adults' disapproval of sarcastic gossip shows a deeper understanding of the utility of sarcasm's face-saving function. Thus, the ability to modulate appreciation of sarcasm according to interpretive perspective and parties present continues to develop in adolescence and into adulthood.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AIOhjf
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Generalized Adaptation to Dysarthric Speech
Purpose
Generalization of perceptual learning has received limited attention in listener adaptation studies with dysarthric speech. This study investigated whether adaptation to a talker with dysarthria could be predicted by the nature of the listener's prior familiarization experience, specifically similarity of perceptual features, and level of intelligibility.
Method
Following an intelligibility pretest involving a talker with ataxic dysarthria, 160 listeners were familiarized with 1 of 7 talkers with dysarthria—who differed from the test talker in terms of perceptual similarity (same, similar, dissimilar) and level of intelligibility (low, mid, high)—or a talker with no neurological impairment (control). Listeners then completed an intelligibility posttest on the test talker.
Results
All listeners benefited from familiarization with a talker with dysarthria; however, adaptation to the test talker was superior when the familiarization talker had similar perceptual features and reduced when the familiarization talker had low intelligibility.
Conclusion
Evidence for both generalization and specificity of learning highlights the differential value of listeners' prior experiences for adaptation to, and improved understanding of, a talker with dysarthria. These findings broaden our theoretical knowledge of adaptation to degraded speech, as well as the clinical application of training paradigms that exploit perceptual processes for therapeutic gain.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AJjxyI
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Verbal Working Memory in Children With Cochlear Implants
Purpose
Verbal working memory in children with cochlear implants and children with normal hearing was examined.
Participants
Ninety-three fourth graders (47 with normal hearing, 46 with cochlear implants) participated, all of whom were in a longitudinal study and had working memory assessed 2 years earlier.
Method
A dual-component model of working memory was adopted, and a serial recall task measured storage and processing. Potential predictor variables were phonological awareness, vocabulary knowledge, nonverbal IQ, and several treatment variables. Potential dependent functions were literacy, expressive language, and speech-in-noise recognition.
Results
Children with cochlear implants showed deficits in storage and processing, similar in size to those at second grade. Predictors of verbal working memory differed across groups: Phonological awareness explained the most variance in children with normal hearing; vocabulary explained the most variance in children with cochlear implants. Treatment variables explained little of the variance. Where potentially dependent functions were concerned, verbal working memory accounted for little variance once the variance explained by other predictors was removed.
Conclusions
The verbal working memory deficits of children with cochlear implants arise due to signal degradation, which limits their abilities to acquire phonological awareness. That hinders their abilities to store items using a phonological code.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nJ7vR4
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Neural Indices of Semantic Processing in Early Childhood Distinguish Eventual Stuttering Persistence and Recovery
Purpose
Maturation of neural processes for language may lag in some children who stutter (CWS), and event-related potentials (ERPs) distinguish CWS who have recovered from those who have persisted. The current study explores whether ERPs indexing semantic processing may distinguish children who will eventually persist in stuttering (CWS-ePersisted) from those who will recover from stuttering (CWS-eRecovered).
Method
Fifty-six 5-year-old children with normal receptive language listened to naturally spoken sentences in a story context. ERP components elicited for semantic processing (N400, late positive component [LPC]) were compared for CWS-ePersisted, CWS-eRecovered, and children who do not stutter (CWNS).
Results
The N400 elicited by semantic violations had a more focal scalp distribution (left lateralized and less anterior) in the CWS-eRecovered compared with CWS-ePersisted. Although the LPC elicited in CWS-eRecovered and CWNS did not differ, the LPC elicited in the CWS-ePersisted was smaller in amplitude compared with that in CWNS.
Conclusions
ERPs elicited in 5-year-old CWS-eRecovered compared with CWS-ePersisted suggest that future recovery from stuttering may be associated with earlier maturation of semantic processes in the preschool years. Subtle differences in ERP indices offer a window into neural maturation processes for language and may help distinguish the course of stuttering development.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AJjnr6
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Consonant Age-of-Acquisition Effects in Nonword Repetition Are Not Articulatory in Nature
Purpose
Most research examining long-term-memory effects on nonword repetition (NWR) has focused on lexical-level variables. Phoneme-level variables have received little attention, although there are reasons to expect significant sublexical effects in NWR. To further understand the underlying processes of NWR, this study examined effects of sublexical long-term phonological knowledge by testing whether performance differs when the stimuli comprise consonants acquired later versus earlier in speech development.
Method
Thirty (Experiment 1) and 20 (Experiment 2) college students completed tasks that investigated whether an experimental phoneme-level variable (consonant age of acquisition) similarly affects NWR and lexical-access tasks designed to vary in articulatory, auditory-perceptual, and phonological short-term-memory demands. The lexical-access tasks were performed in silence or with concurrent articulation to explore whether consonant age-of-acquisition effects arise before or after articulatory planning.
Results
NWR accuracy decreased on items comprising later- versus earlier-acquired phonemes. Similar consonant age-of-acquisition effects were observed in accuracy measures of nonword reading and lexical decision performed in silence or with concurrent articulation.
Conclusion
Results indicate that NWR performance is sensitive to phoneme-level phonological knowledge in long-term memory. NWR, accordingly, should not be regarded as a diagnostic tool for pure impairment of phonological short-term memory.
Supplemental Materials
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Influence of Altered Auditory Feedback on Oral–Nasal Balance in Speech
Purpose
This study explored the role of auditory feedback in the regulation of oral–nasal balance in speech.
Method
Twenty typical female speakers wore a Nasometer 6450 (KayPentax) headset and headphones while continuously repeating a sentence with oral and nasal sounds. Oral–nasal balance was quantified with nasalance scores. The signals from 2 additional oral and nasal microphones were played back to the participants through the headphones. The relative loudness of the nasal channel in the mix was gradually changed so that the speakers heard themselves as more or less nasal. An additional amplitude control group of 9 female speakers completed the same task while hearing themselves louder or softer in the headphones.
Results
A repeated-measures analysis of variance of the mean nasalance scores of the stimulus sentence at baseline, minimum, and maximum nasal feedback conditions demonstrated a significant effect of the nasal feedback condition. Post hoc analyses found that the mean nasalance scores were lowest for the maximum nasal feedback condition. The scores of the minimum nasal feedback condition were significantly higher than 2 of the 3 baseline feedback conditions. The amplitude control group did not show any effects of volume changes on nasalance scores.
Conclusions
Increased nasal feedback led to a compensatory adjustment in the opposite direction, confirming that oral–nasal balance is regulated by auditory feedback. However, a lack of nasal feedback did not lead to a consistent compensatory response of similar magnitude.from #Audiology via ola Kala on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nJ7dts
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With Some Help From Others' Hands: Iconic Gesture Helps Semantic Learning in Children With Specific Language Impairment
Purpose
Semantic learning under 2 co-speech gesture conditions was investigated in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children. Learning was analyzed between conditions.
Method
Twenty children with SLI (aged 4 years), 20 TD children matched for age, and 20 TD children matched for language scores were taught rare nouns and verbs. Children heard the target words while seeing either iconic gestures illustrating a property of the referent or a control gesture focusing children's attention on the word. Following training, children were asked to define the words' meaning. Responses were coded for semantic information provided on each word.
Results
Performance of the SLI and age-matched groups proved superior to that of the language-matched group. Overall, children defined more words taught with iconic gestures than words taught with attention-getting gestures. However, only children with SLI, but not TD children, provided more semantic information on each word taught with iconic gestures. Performance did not differ in terms of word class.
Conclusions
Results suggest that iconic co-speech gestures help both children with and without SLI learn new words but, in particular, assist children with SLI understand and reflect the words' meaning.from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2AI18Cp
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Infant-Directed Speech Enhances Attention to Speech in Deaf Infants With Cochlear Implants
Purpose
Both theoretical models of infant language acquisition and empirical studies posit important roles for attention to speech in early language development. However, deaf infants with cochlear implants (CIs) show reduced attention to speech as compared with their peers with normal hearing (NH; Horn, Davis, Pisoni, & Miyamoto, 2005; Houston, Pisoni, Kirk, Ying, & Miyamoto, 2003), which may affect their acquisition of spoken language. The main purpose of this study was to determine (a) whether infant-directed speech (IDS) enhances attention to speech in infants with CIs, as compared with adult-directed speech (ADS), and (b) whether the degree to which infants with CIs pay attention to IDS is associated with later language outcomes.
Method
We tested 46 infants—12 prelingually deaf infants who received CIs before 24 months of age and had 12 months of hearing experience (CI group), 22 hearing experience–matched infants with NH (NH-HEM group), and 12 chronological age–matched infants with NH (NH-CAM group)—on their listening preference in 3 randomized blocks: IDS versus silence, ADS versus silence, and IDS versus ADS. We administered the Preschool Language Scale–Fourth Edition (PLS-4; Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002) approximately 18 months after implantation to assess receptive and expressive language skills of infants with CIs.
Results
In the IDS versus silence block, all 3 groups looked significantly longer to IDS than to silence. In the ADS versus silence block, both the NH-HEM and NH-CAM groups looked significantly longer to ADS relative to silence; however, the CI group did not show any preference. In the IDS versus ADS block, whereas both the CI and NH-HEM groups preferred IDS over ADS, the NH-CAM group looked equally long to IDS and ADS. IDS preference quotient among infants with CIs in the IDS versus ADS block was associated with PLS-4 Auditory Comprehension and PLS-4 Expressive Communication measures.
Conclusions
Two major findings emerge: (a) IDS enhances attention to speech in deaf infants with CIs; (b) the degree of IDS preference over ADS relates to language development in infants with CIs. These results support a focus on input in developing intervention strategies to mitigate the effects of hearing loss on language development in infants with hearing loss.from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nJVdrF
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Predicting Intelligibility Gains in Dysarthria Through Automated Speech Feature Analysis
Purpose
Behavioral speech modifications have variable effects on the intelligibility of speakers with dysarthria. In the companion article, a significant relationship was found between measures of speakers' baseline speech and their intelligibility gains following cues to speak louder and reduce rate (Fletcher, McAuliffe, Lansford, Sinex, & Liss, 2017). This study reexamines these features and assesses whether automated acoustic assessments can also be used to predict intelligibility gains.
Method
Fifty speakers (7 older individuals and 43 with dysarthria) read a passage in habitual, loud, and slow speaking modes. Automated measurements of long-term average spectra, envelope modulation spectra, and Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients were extracted from short segments of participants' baseline speech. Intelligibility gains were statistically modeled, and the predictive power of the baseline speech measures was assessed using cross-validation.
Results
Statistical models could predict the intelligibility gains of speakers they had not been trained on. The automated acoustic features were better able to predict speakers' improvement in the loud condition than the manual measures reported in the companion article.
Conclusions
These acoustic analyses present a promising tool for rapidly assessing treatment options. Automated measures of baseline speech patterns may enable more selective inclusion criteria and stronger group outcomes within treatment studies.from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nKcd0Q
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Distributional Learning in College Students With Developmental Language Disorder
Purpose
This study examined whether college students with developmental language disorder (DLD) could use distributional information in an artificial language to learn about grammatical category membership in a way similar to their typically developing (TD) peers.
Method
Seventeen college students with DLD and 17 TD college students participated in this task. We used an artificial grammar in which certain combinations of words never occurred during training. At test, participants had to use knowledge of category membership to determine which combinations were allowable in the grammar, even though they had not been heard.
Results
College students with DLD performed similarly to TD peers in distinguishing grammatical from ungrammatical combinations.
Conclusion
Differences in ratings between grammatical and ungrammatical items in this task suggest that college students with DLD can form grammatical categories from novel input and more broadly use distributional information.from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2nKJZ62
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