This article proposes a synergistic, interactive model of cluttering, a fluency disorder manifested in rapid or erratic speech rates, reduced intelligibility, and language deviations. Clinical strategies are presented in a framework of several working assumptions about cluttering. Despite encouraging reports, further research into the nature and…

Evidence of the positive outcomes of phonological treatment is reviewed, with particular emphasis on treatment procedures that have been deemed effective, the specific effects of these treatment on improving intelligibility, and comparisons between treatments in facilitating improved sound production. The effect of phonological disorders on…

A panel of speech professionals was randomly presented with speech samples from four neurogenic and four developmental stutterers and was asked to classify them accordingly without any patient knowledge. Results support the view that, based on the patient's verbal output only, it is difficult to distinguish between neurogenic and developmental…

The purpose of this tutorial is to enhance the familiarity and accessibility of meta-analyses in the domains of audiology and speech-language pathology for investigating questions of treatment efficacy and treatment effectiveness. Steps to conducting a meta-analysis are explained and an example of meta-analysis using published data is included.…

A survey of 241 school-based speech-language pathologists examined numbers of confirmed and suspected concomitant speech/language disorders in children who stutter and the preferred intervention approaches. Of 467 children, 44 percent had a verified concomitant phonological and/or language disorder with additional children suspected of having such…

This article reviews issues in speech motor control and a class of communication disorders known as motor speech disorders that include dysarthrias, apraxia of speech, developmental apraxia of speech, developmental stuttering, acquired (neurogenic and psychogenic) stuttering, and cluttering. Assessment, classification, and treatment of these…

Eight American values/beliefs that affect speech/language service delivery are examined: the importance of time, the need for directness in communication, the appropriateness of informality in communication, the belief in equality, the necessity and efficacy of rehabilitation, the importance of independence, family involvement in rehabilitation,…

This article reviews the legislative/regulatory, societal, professional, and demographic influences that shaped and defined school-based speech-language practice as it is today. Emphasis is on the fundamental elements of contextually based assessments, educationally relevant intervention plans, and increased collaboration/consultation. Strategies…

Four crisis-precipitating events are identified that have the potential to interfere with the individual's overall adjustment following laryngectomy. Important to the success of alaryngeal speech rehabilitation is the clinician's ability to recognize how laryngectomy may influence the individual's physical, social, psychological, and occupational…

This case study follows Casey, a child with significant speech and language deficits, from age 4 years 2 months until 9 years 9 months. It focuses on a 9-month period starting at age 5 years 9 months during which a meaning-based phonological intervention was used to improve his intelligibility and language skills. Clinicians evoked frequent word…

A traditional method of localizing brain functions has been to identify shared areas of brain damage in individuals who have a particular deficit. The rationale of this "lesion overlap" approach is straightforward: if the individuals can no longer perform the function, the area of brain damaged in most of these individuals must have been…

Reports describing subcortical apraxia of speech (AOS) have received little consideration in the development of recent speech processing models because the speech characteristics of patients with this diagnosis have not been described precisely. We describe a case of AOS with aphasia secondary to basal ganglia hemorrhage. Speech-language symptoms…

The true impact of speech and language difficulties (SaLD) on children's lives and the effectiveness of intervention is unknown. Within other fields of paediatric healthcare, clinicians and policy-makers are increasingly emphasizing the utility of Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) studies and measures. SaLT has a variety of measures to assess…

Purpose: The primary goal of this case study was to describe the speech, prosody, and voice characteristics of a mother and daughter with a breakpoint in a balanced 7;13 chromosomal translocation that disrupted the transcription gene, "FOXP2" (cf. J. B. Tomblin et al., 2005). As with affected members of the widely cited KE family, whose…

Approximately 10 percent of Latino preschoolers are at risk for developing communication problems unrelated to second language acquisition. Many of these children are Spanish-speaking and have difficulties in producing speech sounds in their native language. One of the services afforded Latino preschoolers by speech-language pathologists is the…