Purpose: This study measures the experience of spontaneous speech in everyday speaking situations. Spontaneity of speech is a novel concept developed to account for the subjective experience of speaking. Spontaneous speech is characterized by little premeditation and effortless production, and it is enjoyable and meaningful. Attention is not…

The world often goes too fast for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to process. We tested the therapeutic effectiveness of input slowing in children with ASD. Over 12 months, 12 children with ASD had weekly speech therapy sessions where stimuli were slowly played on a PC, while 11 age- and level-matched children with ASD had speech…

Children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) often demonstrate pragmatic language difficulties which can impact academic and social outcomes. This randomized control trial for DHH children, ages 3-12 years, explored the Technology-Assisted Language Intervention (TALI), incorporating augmentative and alternative communication technology (AAC)…

Purpose: The speech of some children does not follow a typical normalization trajectory, and they develop speech sound disorders (SSD). This study investigated predictive correlates of speech sound normalization in children who were at risk of SSD. Method: A prospective population cohort study of 845 Cantonese-speaking preschoolers was conducted…

The incorporation of health professionals into inclusive schools is increasingly necessary. However, the work of these professionals has not yet been studied globally. This qualitative research analyses the perceptions of speech therapists, psychologists, physical therapists and occupational therapists on the role that educational policy defines…

Background: The conceptualisation of autism as a disorder where Theory of Mind (ToM) and pragmatics are fundamentally impaired has prompted a wealth of research on autistic deficits, most of which is characterised by two main assumptions: first, that autistic people would display said deficits, if present, with any conversation partner and in any…

Background: Over 50% of individuals with aphasia face ongoing word-finding issues. Studies have found phonologically oriented therapy helpful for English speakers, but this has not yet been studied in French. It is essential to assess the effectiveness of such a therapy in French, considering the distinct linguistic typologies between both…

Background: Communication disabilities, such as primary progressive aphasia (PPA), impact family members as well as the individuals with the condition. To provide adequate communication care to people with PPA (PwPPA) and their family members, it is crucial to understand the communication needs from the family members' perspectives. To date,…

Purpose: This study examines the accuracy of Interaction Detection in Early Childhood Settings (IDEAS), a program that automatically transcribes audio files and estimates linguistic units relevant to speech-language therapy, including part-of-speech units that represent features of language complexity, such as adjectives and coordinating…

Background: Healthcare professionals without specialist training in communication disorders may not know how to identify and support patients with communication disabilities during mental capacity assessments. To meet this need, a novel communication screening tool was developed and tested as part of a mental capacity assessment support toolkit.…

Background: The COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) is an international initiative that offers standardized and validated tools to guide the appraisal of patient-reported outcome measures in healthcare. Aims: To explore the use of a new set of tools from the COSMIN to appraise studies on one…

Background: Debilitating speech and communication changes in Parkinson's disease (PD) lead to diminished quality of life for people with PD and their communication partners. Maintenance of the long-term effects of treatment such as LSVT LOUD® remains equivocal. Development of supported long-term maintenance programs is warranted. Aims: This…

Purpose: Although mobile apps are used extensively by speech-language pathologists, evidence for app-based treatments remains limited in quantity and quality. This study investigated the efficacy of app-based visual-acoustic biofeedback relative to nonbiofeedback treatment using a single-case randomization design. Because of COVID-19, all…

Purpose: This study sought to train cueing skills in first-year graduate students when working with bilingual children with speech sound disorders to ensure fidelity of intervention of a larger research investigation. Method: Before explicitly training cueing skills, three students were randomly assigned bilingual clients that had been previously…

Worldwide, 15 million babies are "born too soon" every year (Blencowe et al., 2012; Howson et al., 2013). Remarkably, prematurity survival rates now exceed 93% across all countries. More than 360,000 preterm babies survived in the United States in 2020; 10% of all births (Blencowe et al., 2012; Howson et al., 2013). While this is an…