Describes how focus groups comprised of speech-language professionals, paraprofessionals, general and special education teachers, and parents in Iowa were used to conduct a needs assessment of issues in staff development and use of paraprofessional personnel and to design job-relevant personnel development programs. An attached chart lists themes…

Describes the role of mental health and educational consultants working with a five-year-old selectively mute child in Head Start. Describes strategies implemented in the interdisciplinary work with the teachers, parent, speech therapist, and child. Suggests that the more flexible and adaptive the consultant, the more accepted he or she will be…

Reports on research to develop a descriptive framework capable of revealing relevant linguistic features of aphasic speech. Spontaneous speech samples collected from aphasic and normal speakers in dyadic conversational settings and from monologic picture descriptions are transcribed; lexical, phrasal and causal elements are coded and quantified.…

This article reviews ethical and legal issues regarding school-based integration and application of technologies, particularly when used by speech-language pathologists and audiologists. Four issues are addressed: (1) software copyright and licensed use; (2) information access and the right to privacy; (3) computer-assisted or…

Discussion of the changing role of the speech-language pathologist in the schools notes trends toward collaborative service-delivery models in place of traditional "pull-out" approaches. A case example illustrates how speech-language services can be implemented within a collaborative framework. (Author/DB)

This article discusses four solution-focused assumptions in providing early intervention services to children with speech-language disabilities and their families. These assumptions are: a polyocular perspective promotes successful family participation in treatment, a family's story contains resources for change, successful experiences promote…

This report presents the conclusions of a consortium of organizations on the development of a framework for the appropriate preparation, use, and supervision of paraprofessionals in the delivery of speech and language services in early intervention and educational settings for children with communication disorders. The framework establishes three…

This book provides an overview of communication disorders and their causes and provides suggestions for strategies to be used by the classroom teacher in collaboration with the speech-language pathologist and audiologist to enhance communication skills development. Chapters have the following titles and authors: "Articulation Disorders" (Rhonda S.…

Trends that may impact future uses of the computer in speech-language pathology and audiology are addressed. These include broadened training applications, development of cross-platform computers, hardware and software developments in speech processing and recognition and in expert systems, and developments in telecommunications and distance…

Factors that may hinder use of computers by speech/language/hearing clinicians in the schools are limited access, lack of training, worry over time constraints, and doubts regarding efficacy of computer activities. Clinicians should explore possible benefits of computer use such as tools for linguistic and phonological analysis, treatment data…

This column about federal government actions impacting school services for students with communication disorders examines concerns related to billing by schools providing Medicaid services, summarizes federal Medicaid regulations, and discusses ethical considerations and suggested actions for speech-language pathologists and audiologists. The…

This article describes Project Access, a program at Southern University (Louisiana) designed to recruit, retain, and train speech-language/pathology students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Seminars that explore speech and language disorders of diverse populations were added to the required curriculum. Students receive support in…

The preschool teacher is in the unique position of being able to identify children who have developed language and speech problems during their early years. This paper is a detailed resource for preschool teachers on hearing and speech problems. Its purpose is two-fold: to emphasize the important role the preschool teacher plays in the lives of…

This article provides an overview of computer-based programs to assist speech-language pathologists in clinical intervention. It discusses instrumentation (sensors, signal conditioning, digitization, and parallel input); computer processing; input and output devices; and computer-based clinical applications (respiration, phonation, resonance, and…

This job analysis study examined the tasks, knowledge, and skills involved in the practice of audiology, to modify and update the audiology performance domains identified in a 1987 study. The job analysis involved a multi-method approach that included a panel of 14 subject matter experts and a survey of 1,331 practicing audiologists, 87 educators,…