Language Disabilities Research Articles

Developing standardized speech and language assessment tools in Mandarin Chinese: A context for improving reading and writing

Discussion to improve reading/writing competences of all students too often assumes ‘normal’ language development, hence it easily omits consideration of language disability and overlooks significant groups of learners – in China, potentially 70 million children and adults with speech and language therapy needs. However, little information is available about practices for language assessments in Chinese and about how language assessment tools are used in kindergartens and schools in China. To address this gap, this study explores the circumstances and provisions for assessing Mandarin-speaking children; through a survey, interviews and observations it ascertains the needs for assessment tools and identifies associated challenges. Specifically, data are analysed through 145 questionnaires gathered from Chinese speech and language therapists (SLTs) to help identify key difficulties in using current language assessment tools. In addition, seven individual interviews with SLTs and two focus-group interviews were conducted to probe the reasons underlying the difficulties and to identify strategies for improvement. The analysis shows a severe shortage of reliable and valid speech and language assessment tools in Chinese. With due training for language teachers and SLTs, these standardized tools could be applied in kindergarten and school contexts. If systematic and affordable pre- and in-service language assessment training programmes are established, they can support teachers in kindergartens and schools to develop reading and writing in Chinese with solid evidence, besides identifying children who may have delays in language development. Without standardized tools to measuring reading and writing abilities accurately, and without early assessment and appropriate intervention, some children with language disabilities will face lifelong disadvantages. In this way, developing Mandarin Chinese assessment tools for SLTs is part of wider literacy development for all.

The impact of lexical specificity training on at-risk emergent bilinguals

AbstractEmergent bilinguals (EBs) who are exposed to societal language at school but use another language at home may experience difficulties in mastering the societal language, especially those at risk for language and reading disabilities. Learning phonologically specific new words that discriminate between phonemes may foster phonological awareness and word reading. This study examined the effectiveness of a lexical specificity intervention program that targeted phoneme discrimination in EBs at risk for reading disabilities. EBs who scored below the 25th percentile on the screening measures were selected and randomly assigned to one of two conditions: at-risk intervention or at-risk control. Of the 76 EBs in the at-risk group, 40 were randomly assigned to receive the intervention. A group of 51 typically developing EBs who did not meet the risk criteria were selected as typical controls. The pre- and post-tests include phoneme discrimination, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, fluency, and decoding. The at-risk intervention group showed improvement on the phoneme discrimination task after the intervention and outperformed the at-risk control group but not the typical control group. In addition, growth was observed during both the training and testing sessions of the intervention. The lexical specificity intervention could be a good resource to enhance a key precursor to literacy development for at-risk EBs.

Communicative accessibility and prospective acceptability of a digital behavioural activation intervention for people with aphasia

ABSTRACT Background Behavioural Activation (BA) is a mental health treatment that encourages a person to develop or re-engage in activities that are pleasurable and meaningful to them. It is important to consider the ways such interventions can be made accessible and acceptable to individuals with communication disabilities like aphasia after stroke. Digital technologies may provide a scalable approach to increasing dissemination of BA to this population. Aims The aim of this study was to examine the communicative accessibility and prospective acceptability of a digital BA intervention developed for this population. Methods & Procedures A qualitative research design was used, involving semi-structured interviews with 11 people with aphasia caused by stroke. Data were subject to qualitative content analysis. Outcomes & Results The results suggest that participants found the developed intervention to be both overall accessible and acceptable. Participants suggested improvements that highlighted the importance of considering how an individual’s psychosocial and cognitive experience of stroke aphasia may influence their preferences for intervention layout and content. Conclusions Results of our study reiterated the importance of a user-centred design process to ensure the accessibility and acceptability of digital interventions. This work provides the foundation for ongoing design of the intervention. The continued development may also provide a framework for future development of accessible and acceptable digital interventions not only for those living with aphasia after stroke but others living with acquired language or cognitive disabilities.

English learners who are blind or visually impaired: A participatory design approach to enhancing fairness and validity for language testing accommodations

Standardizing accessible test design and development to meet students’ individual access needs is a complex task. The following study provides one approach to accessible test design and development using participatory design methods with school community members. Participatory research provides opportunities to empower collaborators by co-creating knowledge that is useful for assessment development. In this study, teachers of students who are visually impaired, students who are blind or are visually impaired, English language teachers, and test administrators provided feedback at critical stages of the development process to explore the construct validity of English language proficiency (ELP) assessments. Students who are blind or visually impared need to be able to show what they know and can do without impact from construct-irrelevant variance like language acquisition or disability characteristics. Building on our iterative accessible test design, development, and delivery practices, and as part of a large project on English-learner proficiency test accessibility and usability, we collected rich observation and interview data from 17 students who were blind or visually impaired and were enrolled in grades kindergarten through Grade 12. We examined the ratings and item metadata, including assistive technology preferences and interactions, while we used grounded theory approaches to examine qualitative thematic findings. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Universal Design and Communication Rights: Meeting the Challenge of Linguistic and Communicative Diversity.

This essay discusses Universal Design (UD) with respect to language and communication rights. Because Universal Design approaches aim at meeting human variability from the get-go, they must be able to address linguistic and communicative variability. Variability must individual variation in language functions and communication activities in the absence of disability and variability when speech, language or communicative disorders are present. Current conceptualizations of speech, language and communication disabilities take a person-centered approach and a bio-psycho-social framework of health and disease (WHO-ICF) that encompass three ontological domains: body functions and structures, activities, and participation. The framework crucially lists environmental factors that interact with each domain. I illustrate how UD can successfully be integrated with an ICF framework in the domain of speech, language and communication impairments; I then propose that the ICF model can be extended beyond disability to non-clinical populations and settings, to meet the communication rights for all.

The Combine Effect of Suvarnaprashan with Speech-Language Therapy in Children with Delayed Speech and Language Disorder

Suvarnaprashan is ancient oral vaccination technique describe Ayurvedic texts. Delayed in acquiring language are most common symptoms of childhood developmental disability affecting around 5 to 10% of all children. The effectiveness of Suvarnaprashan in various developmental disabilities in children was reported earlier studies. However, its effectiveness for children with pure delayed speech and language disorder without any associated developmental difficulties was not studied previously. Hence, the study taken with aim of the combine outcome of Suvarnaprashan with speech-language therapy in children with delayed speech and language disorder. Total no. of 50 participants with early diagnosed delayed speech and language disorder with age range from 02 to 05 were included for this study. The participants were divided in two subgroups in which group A underwent for speech language therapy only and group B underwent for both speech-language therapy and Suvarnayaprashan sanskara. Children with delayed speech and language disorder showed significant improvement with Speech language therapy plus Suvarnayaprashan intervention compare to speech and language therapy alone. Suvarnaprashan can be utilized effectively as a therapeutic tool for children with delayed speech and language disorder. It is very simple, cost effective, infrastructure compatible, safe and prevention–centric approach. Hence, it should be adopted globally as immunization program also for preventive measure of delayed speech and language disorders and disability. The present study opened new dimensions and need of further research in different area of disability with large sample and long term follow up.

Analyzing interaction involving wheelchairs

Background: This study shows how the use of wheelchairs due to mobility impairment influences the configuration of interactional spaces and the initiation of conversation. It takes as a case in point the spatial arrangements and interactions between sports students using wheelchairs and their co-participants in a Danish sports high school. Method: Using the framework of research into ethnomethodological conversation analysis (EMCA) in atypical multimodal interaction, this study demonstrates how co-participants with and without impairments consider factors such as the position, size, design, and maneuverability of the wheelchair when they configure interactional spaces and organize conversational beginnings, and how the bodily orientation of the wheelchair user toward a specific physical environment and space is also taken into account. Furthermore, the co-participants’ conversation is adapted to fit these arrangements. The study describes features of spatial configurations that apply irrespective of the presence, type, and degree of disability in speech, language, and communication among the co-participants. The study draws on 10 hours of video recordings. Results and conclusion: The study indicates a need to investigate everyday conversation in its natural surroundings. Detailed descriptions of how co-participants draw upon available material, technological, and bodied ‘modes’ as resources may re-specify our understanding of aspects of conversations when impairments are involved.

Assessing Restricted and Repetitive Behaviours in Online-Sampled Autistic and Non-autistic Individuals: Factor Structure of the Repetitive Behaviours Questionnaire for Adults (RBQ-2A)

The Repetitive Behaviours Questionnaire for Adults (RBQ-2A) measures two factors of restricted and repetitive behaviours (RRBs) associated with autism. However, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) provides four criteria for RRBs: repetitive motor behaviours, insistence on sameness, restricted interests, and interest in sensory aspects of the environment (or atypical sensitivity). The current paper aimed to examine whether the RBQ-2A is a psychometrically sound measure of these four factors. Study 1 had university students (N = 368) complete the RBQ-2A and other related measures online and revealed that the RBQ-2A can assess the factors highlighted in the DSM-5 and that these four factors comprise a general RRB construct. Study 2 had individuals disclosing a diagnosis of autism (N = 283) complete the RBQ-2A and other related measures online and supported that this four-factor structure provided good psychometric properties. While the current paper provides findings for an online autistic population, further research is needed to generalize these findings to autistic individuals less likely to partake in online studies (e.g., those with intellectual or language disabilities). Overall, the results suggest that the RBQ-2A reliably and validly assesses RRBs.

The NDIS at ten years: designing an equitable scheme for the next decade.

The NDIS at ten years: designing an equitable scheme for the next decade.

Analysis of Networker's Language Disability in the Comments Column Instagram Account @Medantalk

Social media is part of communication media. Instagram is one of the social media that is being loved by many people. Its use is also very diverse, ranging from children to the elderly. Social media, which focuses on photo and video sharing platforms, has skyrocketed in popularity, but it is undeniable that the various impacts that can be caused are due to responses from each netizen as a social media user, for example the emergence of the use of impolite language which causes a violation of the principle of politeness speak. The results of this analysis indicate that there is impoliteness in the language of netizens in the comments column of the @medantalk Instragram account, causing a violation of the principle of politeness in language put forward by Leech. The politeness principle put forward by Leech consists of six maxims, namely the maxim of wisdom, the maxim of generosity, the maxim of appreciation, the maxim of modesty, the maxim of agreement and the maxim of sympathy.

Attainment and loss of early social-communication skills across neurodevelopmental conditions in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study.

Delays and loss of early-emerging social-communication skills are often discussed as unique to autism. However, most studies of regression have relied on retrospective recall and clinical samples. Here, we examine attainment and loss of social-communication skills in the population-based Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Mothers rated their child's attainment of 10 early-emerging social-communication skills at ages 18 and 36 months (N=40,613, 50.9% male). Prospectively reported loss was defined as skill presence at 18 months but absence at 36 months. At 36 months, mothers also recalled whether the child had lost social-communication skills. The Norwegian Patient Registry was used to capture diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder (autism) and other neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDDs). Delay in at least one skill was observed in 14% of the sample and loss in 5.4%. Recalled loss of social-communication skills was rare (0.86%) and showed low convergence with prospectively reported loss. Delay and especially loss were associated with elevated odds of an autism diagnosis (n=383) versus no autism diagnosis (n=40,230; ≥3 skills delayed: OR=7.09[4.15,12.11]; ≥3 skills lost: OR=30.66[17.30,54.33]). They were also associated with an increased likelihood of autism compared to some other NDDs. Delay (relative risk [RR]=4.16[2.08, 8.33]) and loss (RR=10.00[3.70, 25.00]) associated with increased likelihood of autism versus ADHD, and loss (RR=4.35[1.28,14.29]), but not delay (RR=2.00[0.78,5.26]), associated with increased likelihood of autism compared to language disability. Conversely, delay conferred decreased likelihood of autism versus intellectual disability (RR=0.11[0.06,0.21]), and loss was not reliably associated with likelihood of autism versus intellectual disability (RR=1.89[0.44,8.33]). This population-based study suggests that loss of early social communication skills is more common than studies using retrospective reports have indicated and is observed across several NDD diagnoses (not just autism). Nevertheless, most children with NDD diagnoses showed no reported delay or loss in these prospectively measured skills.

Mismatch Negativity and Auditory Brain Stem Response in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Language Disorders.

Language disorders (LD) in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are highly variable and has a severe impact on the level of functioning in autistic children. Early diagnosis of these language disorders is essential for early interventions for children at risk. The electrophysiological measurements are considered valuable tools for determining language disabilities in children with ASD. This study aimed to study and compare ABR and MMN in autistic children with language disorders. This study included a group of typically developing children and a group of children diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders and language disorders. Both groups were matching according to age and gender. After confirming bilateral normal peripheral hearing sensitivity, ABR was done and both absolute and interpeak wave latencies were correlated. MMN using frequency oddball paradigms were also obtained and correlated. More abnormalities were reported in ABR test results in the form of delayed absolute latencies and prolonged interpeak intervals. Also, we reported prolonged latencies of MMN. Consequently, both ABR and MMN are complementary test in evaluating autistic children with language disorders. Our results support the hypothesis of remarkable dysfunction in basic auditory sound processing that may impact the linguistic development of autistic children.

Psychosocial impact of COVID-19 on achievement of adolescents with hearing impairment in English language

This study examined psychosocial impact of Covid-19 on the achievement of secondary school adolescents with hearing disabilities in English Language in Lagos State. A survey research design was employed with population of hearing-impaired adolescents. A sample of hundred adolescents with hearing impairment was selected for the study using purposive sampling technique to select the participants and simple random sampling to select four schools practicing inclusion. The instruments for data collection were ELAT (English Language Achievement Test) and Psychosocial Scale (PSS) with reliabilities of 0.69 and 0.79 respectively. Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient and Multiple Regression were used to analyse data collected. The hypotheses formulated were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results of the four hypotheses tested revealed that aggression, self-esteem and communication have positive relationship to the academic achievement of the hearing-impaired adolescents in English Language as a result of Covid-19. Further findings discovered that there was a combined effect of aggression, self-esteem and communication on academic performance of secondary school adolescents with hearing impairment in English Language. Therefore, teaching methodology should be more of cooperative learning approach to motivate sense of belongings and friendliness of adolescents with hearing impairment in Lagos State.

Teaching Expository Text Management and Proficiency Skills for Comprehension for Students With Language/Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this registered report study was to determine the effects of explicit text structure instruction on the expository text comprehension of students with language and learning disabilities (LLD) using a multiple baseline design across conditions (e.g., compare–contrast and cause–effect) and participants. Participants included four children enrolled in the fifth grade with previous diagnoses of language impairment and reading comprehension deficits. Text structure instruction was provided during the intervention phases using a researcher-designed intervention program called TEXT-MAPS. The dependent variables included text structure and signal word identification and percentage of idea units recalled from expository text. All participants showed improved recall of idea units for compare–contrast and cause–effect texts with maintained performance 1-month post-intervention. The program also had notable effects on participants’ identification of signal words and text structures in compare–contrast and cause–effect texts. The magnitude of the Tau- U effect sizes was in the large, medium, and small range, and varied across participants. The results indicate that short-term, explicit text structure instruction can be effective for children with LLD with deficits in expository reading comprehension. Considerations for further research and practical implications are presented.

Examining the impact of YouTube vlogging on communication skills in teens with speech and language disorders

The major goal of this research is to examine how vlogging on YouTube affects the communication skills of Jordan teenagers with language and speech disorders. Fifty people, ranging in age from 13 to 18, participated in an eight-week vlogging intervention program designed to improve their communication skills. The results of the pre- and post-tests showed a statistically significant improvement in communicative competence, with the mean difference between the two measures being 10.5. Vlogging has a significant effect as an intervention because of its remarkable ability to actively engage participants in the creation of relevant content, the facilitation of authentic real-life communication experiences, the encouragement of creative and self-expressive expression, and the provision of individualized therapeutic approaches. Adolescents with speech and language disabilities have unique obstacles in communicating, and this study gives insight on the possible use of novel tools, such as vlogging, to address these issues.

TERM CONCEPTS FOR DISABILITY: SPECIFICS OF NOMINATION, FUNCTIONING AND TRANSLATION (BASED ON MATERIALS OF TURKISH)

Background. In linguistics only few works are dedicated to the study of the vocabulary to denote people with disabilities in the Turkish language (Y. Şişman, M. Öztürk, Z. Baykan, A. Demir, A. Efe), just as there are few specialized works in this filed in Ukrainian linguistics, who describe in their studies the problem of terminological irregularity and the lack of terms approved at the state level to denote disability. The relevance of this study is due to the need to popularize the principles of barrier-free society and inclusiveness, the large request for the translation of texts of rehabilitation and treatment, as well as the revitalization of relations between Ukraine and Turkey in these spheres. Methods. During the course of the study over two hundred term concepts used to denote disability and rehabilitation terms functioning from the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 21th century were analyzed with the complex methodology including methods of cognitive linguistics and sociolinguistic approach, the method of contextual analysis and the method of dictionary definitions analysis. Results. The terminology on disabilities in modern Turkish has disorganization that can be explained by such factors as: simultaneous usage of Turkish and foreign lexemes (Arabic Persian, English, French, Latin), euphemization of terms, orientation to international standards and agreements and, as a result, use of English lexemes etc. The vocabulary of international agreements and national legislation was found to differ in some cases. Quick formation of negative connotation is the main influencing factor on the terminology formation process and results in creation of a new replacing term without negative meaning. Conclusions. Summarizing the main difficult issues in translation we suggest to use the complex of methods and approaches, translation tactics and strategies to help for choosing an equivalent according to the type of discourse, such as using WHO classification for translation of medical documentation, taking into account the requirements of the legislation in force and amendments to it for official documents, being careful using periphrastic explanations, making the person as the main concept but not their characteristic. Adaptation for correctness is essential when translating social texts, advertising, fiction, excessive euphemization of concepts should be avoided when working with any type of text and terms for disability.

Early predictors in learning-based language disabilities: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Early predictors in learning-based language disabilities: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The Effect of Vocabulary Intervention Based on a Semantic Network on Vocabulary Learning in Children with Language Delay

Objectives: In order to find effective vocabulary intervention methods for children with delayed language, this study focused on a vocabulary list that teaches them. In this study, we examined whether arbitrating a vocabulary list that shared the same semantic network with children with delayed language would help children’s receptive and expressive vocabulary learning. Methods: For this study, A total of 13 children with specific impairment language aged 4-5 years participated in this study. We conducted a Mann-Whitney U test with the data. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in receptive vocabulary learning rates between groups arbitrated under a Semantic Network and those that were not. In the case of expressive vocabulary learning rates, it was significantly higher in groups taught under the Semantic Network. Results showed that generalizations to expressive vocabulary exhibited no statistically significant differences between the two groups, but generalizations to receptive vocabulary showed significantly higher rates in groups that applied the Semantic Network. Conclusion: We found that when teaching vocabulary to children with Specific language disabilities, arbitrating a list of vocabulary sharing semantic networks is more effective when learning expressive vocabulary and generalizing receptive vocabulary. In addition, the correlation coefficient between children’s episodic buffers and receptiveness, and expressive vocabulary learning rates was low in groups learning under the Semantic Network, while in groups learning independent vocabulary.

Categorical perception of Mandarin lexical tones in language-delayed autistic children.

Some theories suggested that autistic people have better pitch perception skills than non-autistic people. However, in a context where pitch patterns are used to differentiate word meanings (i.e. lexical tones), autistic people may encounter difficulties, especially those with less language experience. We tested this by asking language-delayed autistic children to identify and discriminate two Mandarin lexical tones (/yi/ with Tone 1, meaning 'clothes'; /yi/ with Tone 2, meaning 'aunt'; /yi/: the standard romanization of Mandarin Chinese). On average, these autistic children were 7.35 years old, but their developmental age in language ability was 4.20, lagging behind 7-year-old non-autistic children in terms of language ability. Autistic children's performance in identifying and discriminating lexical tones was compared with two groups of non-autistic children: one group was matched with the autistic group on age, and the other was matched based on language ability. Autistic children performed differently from the non-autistic children matched on age, while autistic and non-autistic children matched on language ability exhibited seemingly similar performance. However, both the non-autistic groups have developed the perceptual ability to process lexical tones as different categories, but this ability was still developing in autistic children. Finally, we found autistic children who performed worse in identifying lexical tones had poorer language ability. The results suggest that language disability might have adverse influence on the development of skills of speech sound processing.

Clinical, neuroimaging and molecular characteristics of PPP2R5D-related neurodevelopmental disorders: an expanded series with functional characterisation and genotype–phenotype analysis

BackgroundVariants in PPP2R5D, affecting the regulatory B56δ subunit of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), have been identified in individuals with neurodevelopmental abnormalities. However, the molecular and clinical spectra remain incompletely understood.MethodsIndividuals...