Sixteen severely-to-profoundly hearing-impaired students, aged 7-8, received training using a curriculum for remediating monotone voice. Some students also used visual or tactile sensory aids. All students evidenced marked improvement in remediating monotonous pitch, with those using the curriculum in conjunction with a tactile display showing the…

Two preschool children with phonological disorders were administered a linguistically based treatment program that utilized minimal pair words. Only when motoric components (models and phonetic placement cues) were added did both subjects successfully pass through all treatment steps, though neither subject generalized trained sounds to treated…

This study, with 45 elementary school classroom teachers and 64 elementary education majors, found that the classroom teachers were able to consistently identify children with disordered voices. Students were somewhat inclined to underrefer children with possible voice disorders. (Author/DB)

This study provides a clinical profile of 178 children (ages 3-6) with developmental phonological disorders, based on prior reports and new data on 64 children. Data discussed include gender, age, and severity; speech profiles; prosody-voice profiles; causal-correlates profiles; and a prevalence profile. (Author/JDD)

Survey data from 21 otolaryngologists (70 percent return rate) and 32 speech-language pathologists (46 percent return rate) in Maine found differences in opinions between the 2 professional groups concerning referral patterns and treatment of vocal nodules in children and adults. Attitudinal problems were found to hamper a teamwork approach for…

This investigation compared 19 adolescents' perceptions of the nonspeech personality characteristics of voice-disordered and normal-speaking children. Listeners, who rated recorded speech samples, showed a significant tendency to judge the normal speakers more positively than the voice-disordered speakers. Results suggest developmental trends in…

This study compared the phonological awareness ability of 11 children (ages 6-8) with persistent phonological impairment to that of 11 phonologically normal children. Phonologically normal children scored higher on three of the four phonological awareness measures, with no differences on word recognition. Speech intelligibility was a significant…

Performance on measures of phonology, reading, and spelling was evaluated for subjects (including 20 preschoolers, 23 grade school children, 17 adolescents, and 17 adults). Subjects had a history of a preschool phonology disorder. Although relative performance improved across age groups, at each age group subjects performed more poorly than…

A survey of 128 females (ages 2-58) with Turner syndrome found almost one quarter were receiving or had received treatment for stuttering, articulation problems, and/or delayed language development, with the latter two disorders being checked most frequently. Only 4 or the 68 individuals receiving growth hormone treatment reported voice changes.…

The role of the speech-language pathologist (SLP) has developed considerably over the last 10 years given the medical and technological advances in life-sustaining procedures. Over time, children born with congenital, surgical, or "medically fragile" conditions have become mainstreamed into regular school-based settings, thus extending…

Fifty hearing-impaired students, aged 8-12 and 15-19, who used an auditory, visual, or tactile aid in speech training made more progress than controls who received speech training without sensory aids. A visual display was more effective for conveying appropriate average pitch, while the "Portapitch" was useful for conveying dynamic…

Ten preschool children with developmental phonological disorders were followed for seven years. Analyses characterize the sequence, rates, and error patterns of long-term speech-sound normalization in relation to developmental perspectives. Findings support the hypothesis of a critical period for speech-sound development, with long-term…

A conceptual framework for short-term and long-term speech-sound normalization research is presented, and 1-year normalization outcomes for the 54 children described in EC 609 708 are reported. Although certain individual speech variables were significantly associated with normalization, there were no speech, prosody-voice, or risk-factor…

A study gathered perceptions from persons with communication disorders (CD) (n=78), 13 service providers, and 22 employers on barriers to work integration. Results show many barriers are common across types of CD, including noise, tasks requiring speed, having to speak to groups of persons, and attitudes of others. (Contains references.)…

Verifies observations made of the American Indian population, who appear to demonstrate a high incidence of chronic hoarseness. Examines hoarseness in the general population, American Indian communication styles, causes of Indian voice disorders, study methods, and study results. Speculates that one possibility for the hoarseness is the…