|
*NSSLHA members can download the full-text versions of these articles in the "Members" section of our site.
- A Counseling Training Module for Students in Speech-Language Pathology Training Programs
- The Discrimination of English Vowels by Bilingual Spanish/English and Monolingual English Speakers
- A Clinician's Introduction to Systematic Reviews in Communication Disorders: The Course Review Paper With Muscle
- Discharge Practices in the University Clinical Setting
- Pursuit of the Speech-Language Pathology Doctorate: Who, Why, Why Not
- The Effects of Time and Temperature Changes on Liquids Thickened to Nectar and Honey Consistencies
- Perception of Hearing Loss by Graduate Students of Speech-Language Pathology
- Social Identity and the Stuttering Experience
- Perception of Muscle Strength With and Without Biofeedback During Swallowing and Fist-Clenching Tasks
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1. A Counseling Training Module for Students in Speech-Language Pathology Training Programs
Joan N. Kaderavek
John M. Laux
Norbert H. Mills
This article provides (a) a discussion of issues related to training speech-language pathology students in counseling skills, (b) a three-session counseling training module that was used to improve the counseling skills of speech-language pathology graduate students and, (c) data demonstrating the effectiveness of this training module. The training module emphasized specific counseling behaviors to facilitate a client-centered focus and enhance the emotional-affective clinical environment. Data demonstrated a significant improvement in counseling behaviors in 10 graduate students following implementation of the counseling training module.
Return to Top
2. The Discrimination of English Vowels by Bilingual Spanish/English and Monolingual English Speakers
Sandra Levey
Denise Cruz
The discrimination of English vowel contrasts in real and novel words by 40 native English and 40 bilingual Spanish/English participants was examined, with novel words representing new words in a second language. Discrimination was investigated because this factor is the basis of phonological awareness, although most practitioners focus on production when working with bilingual speakers. This study showed an interaction between bilingualism, vowel contrasts, and novel words. Bilingual participants had greater difficulty with certain vowel contrasts that were contained in novel words, whereas native English participants had no significant difficulty with vowel contrasts in either real or novel words. The main variables that affected the bilingual participants' discrimination were the age of acquisition of English, the report of problems in communication in English, and the overall percentage of time that was devoted to communication in English.
Return to Top
3. A Clinician's Introduction to Systematic Reviews in Communication Disorders: The Course Review Paper With Muscle
Rebecca J. McCauley
Patricia Hargrove
This article focuses on systematic reviews as a means of introducing readers to evidence-based practice (EBP), a widespread movement designed to facilitate the use of the highest quality evidence in clinical decision making. EBP's growing influence among the ranks of professional colleagues, third-party payers, and governmental policy makers makes this introduction quite timely. Systematic reviews offer a particularly good avenue for such an introduction because their explicit methodology mirrors many of the steps in clinical decision making that are central to EBP, including the assessment of evidence quality, and because they are themselves seen as evidence of a particularly high quality. Readers are directed to existing sources for relevant systematic reviews and are encouraged to become aware of and participate in ongoing developments in EBP.
Return to Top
4. Discharge Practices in the University Clinical Setting
Kevin M. McNamara
Jane Hindenlang
Paul W. Cascella
This study investigated the degree to which clinic directors rated the influence of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) discharge criteria and organizational factors on client discharge in the university setting. Results found that university clinic directors regarded ASHA's client-centered criteria to more strongly influence client discharge practices than did organizational factors. In fact, organizational factors (e.g., fee structure, resources, scheduling, disorder characteristics) were revealed to have little to no influence on discharge practices. Results have implications for the pre-professional education of student clinicians in the university clinic and how student clinicians are oriented to discharge practices across a variety of clinical settings.
Return to Top
5. Pursuit of the Speech-Language Pathology Doctorate: Who, Why, Why Not
Charles L. Madison
Barbara Guy
Melissa Koch
This study was designed to investigate the factors that influence the decision of individuals to pursue or not pursue a research doctoral degree in speech-language pathology or to not continue a doctoral degree program once they have enrolled. Survey 1 was mailed to 384 speech-language pathologists (SLPs) with master's degrees, and Survey 2 was sent to 168 doctoral candidate advisors throughout the United States. Three hundred and five (79%) usable questionnaires were returned by SLPs, and 92 (55%) by faculty. Results indicated that people who were most likely to pursue a doctoral degree had strong research interest, were seekers of knowledge, and currently worked in higher education. People who were least likely to pursue a research doctoral degree worked primarily in the public schools and cited family obligations as a reason for not pursuing the degree. People who did not complete a doctoral degree after they enrolled cited family obligations, frustration with losing advisors, and the length of the program as reasons why they did not complete their program. Faculty advisors of doctoral students ranked failure to complete the dissertation, program difficulty, and family considerations among the most common reasons for failure to complete the doctorate.
Return to Top
6. The Effects of Time and Temperature Changes on Liquids Thickened to Nectar and Honey Consistencies
Cathy Koperna
Kara Scarnecchia
Robert S. Pierce
Providing dysphagic patients with thickened liquids is a common part of treatment. However, obtaining and maintaining the correct consistency of these liquids is challenging. This study measured changes in consistency over time and temperature changes for a variety of liquids that were thickened to consistencies resembling nectar and honey. In general, the liquids thickened to nectar consistency remained at that consistency. However, many of the liquids thickened to honey consistency continued to thicken, sometimes substantially. Clinical implications of these results for hydration and nutrition are discussed.
Return to Top
7. Perception of Hearing Loss by Graduate Students of Speech-Language Pathology
Mary Aguila-Vinson
Jennifer Lister
Theresa Hnath-Chisolm
Patricia Blake-Rahter
The influence of presentation modality on the perception of hearing loss by graduate students of speech-language pathology was evaluated. Three levels of hearing loss (mild, moderate, severe) were introduced in two presentation modalities: (a) hearing loss classification term and (b) audio simulation of hearing loss. Following the presentation of hearing loss, the future speech-language pathologists rated the potential communication difficulty that a child with that loss might have in the classroom. Participants predicted significantly greater difficulty when presented with the simulated hearing loss than when presented with the classification term for the same degree of hearing loss. Results indicate that the standard method of classifying hearing loss may result in an oversimplification of the communication impact of hearing loss by future professionals.
Return to Top
8. Social Identity and the Stuttering Experience
Fran Hagstrom
Derek E. Daniels
This article explores the concept of social identity as applied to research and clinical work in stuttering. The article defines social identity and addresses its relevance to stuttering. Theoretical issues that link social identity to qualitative methodology are also reviewed. In addition, the functional individual system (FIS), based on sociocultural theory, is described as a framework that can be used to categorize information about and clarify social identity issues when working with people who stutter. Case study data are used to demonstrate this procedure for investigating social identity in a form that allows for research and clinical applications that contribute to evidence-based practice.
Return to Top
9. Perception of Muscle Strength With and Without Biofeedback During Swallowing and Fist-Clenching Tasks
Sarah Fitzgerald
Maggie Lee Huckabee
Emily Lin
Tanya Coombes
Melissa Bryant
The purpose of this study was to investigate the accuracy of the proprioceptive system in swallowing as compared to fist clenching. The role of surface electromyography (SEMG) biofeedback in replicating motor strength was also evaluated. It was hypothesized that (a) strength of muscle contraction during swallowing would be less accurately replicated than in a fist-clenching task, (b) there would be greater variability in motor tasks attempted without the use of biofeedback, and (c) there would be greater variability in contractions of graded strength than maximal strength. The study was completed in three phases. Phase 1 participants (N = 50) were aged 20-30 years, Phase 2 participants (N = 50) were greater than 50 years, and Phase 3 participants (N = 12) were greater than 50 years and had been diagnosed with pharyngeal phase dysphagia. It was anticipated that variation in amplitude of responses would increase with age and in patients with dysphagia.
SEMG activity was measured during performance of maximal- and graded-strength swallowing and fist-clenching tasks. Subjects performed each task eight consecutive times, under three conditions: with biofeedback; without biofeedback; and without feedback, following a delay. An SEMG biofeedback device recorded the strength and timing of muscular activity and represented the information in analog waveform on a computer screen. Under biofeedback conditions, participants were instructed to observe the SEMG waveform to determine their maximal peak SEMG amplitudes. Data were collected from the final five of eight consecutive attempts of each task and a measure of variance was calculated. Results provided partial confirmation of the hypotheses.
Research participants from Phase 1 demonstrated greater variation in strength of muscle contraction for swallowing attempts than for fist-clenching tasks; however, this effect was only statistically significant for full-strength conditions regardless of feedback. No conclusive feedback effect was identified, and performance on half-strength fist-clenching tasks evidenced more variation than performance on full-strength fist-clenching tasks. Within the Phase 2 data, no task effect was identified; variation was higher in the "with feedback" condition and, within the fist-clenching tasks, variation was higher when performed at graded than at maximal strength. Results obtained from the Phase 3 data indicated greater variation in strength of muscle contraction for fist-clenching responses than swallowing responses; no conclusive feedback effect was found, and maximal-strength responses produced greater variation of amplitude over all tasks and conditions than graded-strength responses. Implications of results and suggestions for future research are discussed.
Return to Top
|