The effect of telepractice on vocal interaction between provider, deaf and hard-of-hearing pediatric patients, and caregivers.

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how telepractice affects a vocal interaction between a speech-language pathologist (SLP), deaf and hard-of-hearing children who received cochlear implants (n = 7), and caregivers as they engage in speech-language interventions conducted in-person and via telepractice (tele). Frequency of vocalizations, vocal turns, pause duration, fundamental frequency (F0) mean and range, utterance duration, syllable rate per utterance duration, and mean length of utterance (MLU) were examined. The SLP vocalized more during in-person than tele-sessions, opposite result for the mother. There were more SLP-child turns during in-person sessions than tele-sessions; opposite result for mother-child turns. Pauses were longer in SLP-child, mother-child turns during tele than in-person sessions. The SLP increased mean F0, SLP and child expanded F0 range in tele-sessions. The mother had longer utterance duration, higher MLU during in-person than tele-sessions. Results suggest vocal interactions between provider, patient, and caregiver are impacted by intervention service modality.