Speech Therapy Sessions Research Articles

Compreensão e produção oral de interrogativas-Q em crianças portuguesas surdas com implante coclear

The present study investigates the comprehension and production of Portuguese wh-questions by hearing impaired children with cochlear implants. We investigate whether the asymmetries found in typically developing children are also present in our target group or whether the difficulties are more widespread. In particular, we investigate whether there are asymmetries between subject and (DP/PP) object wh-questions produced by these children, and whether wh-questions with a lexical restriction are more difficult than bare wh-questions. We also consider the importance of extra-linguistic variables, such as age of implantation, hearing age, early attendance of speech and language therapy sessions, and exposure to sign language.

Measuring and monitoring emotional changes in children who stutter

The assessment of clients with speech disorders presents challenges for speech-language pathologists. For example, having a reliable way of measuring the severity of the case, determining which remedial program is aligned with a patient's needs, and measuring of treatment processes. There is potential for brain-computer interface (BCI) applications to enhance speech therapy sessions by providing objective insights and real-time visualization of brain activity during the sessions. This paper presents a study on emotional state detection during speech pathology. The goal of this study is to investigate affective–motivational brain responses to stimuli in children who stutter. To this end, we conducted an experiment that involved recording frontal electroencephalography (EEG) activity from fifteen children with stuttering whilst they looked at visual stimuli. The contribution of our study is to provide a comprehensive background and a framework for emotional state detection experiments as assessment and monitoring tool in speech pathology. It mainly discusses the feasibility and potential benefits of applying EEG-based emotion detection in speech-language therapy contexts of use. The findings of our research indicate that emotional recognition using non-invasive EEG-based BCI system is sufficient to differentiate between affective states of individuals in treatment contexts.

The effects of narrative-based language intervention (NBLI) on spoken narrative structures in Persian-speaking cochlear implanted children: A prospective randomized control trial

BackgroundPrevious research has shown that narrative-based language intervention (NBLI) is a feasible approach increasing the narrative skills of hearing-impaired children. ObjectiveIn the present study, the efficacy of NBLI on the macrostructure and microstructure components of the spoken narrative of children with cochlear implants (CI) was evaluated in an experimental study. Materials and methodsThirty-six CI children between the ages of 5.5 and 7 years were randomly divided in three groups of equal size. Group 1 attended 24 1-h sessions of NBLI group therapy. Group 2 participants each attended 24 1-h private sessions of NBLI instruction. Group 3 attended 24 1-h conventional speech therapy (CST) sessions. The subjects' storytelling skills were prompted using pictures from the Persian version of the Language Sample Analysis test. The results were assessed before treatment (T0), after treatment (T1) and two months after treatment (T2) as follow-up. ResultsGroups 1 and 2 showed significantly better results over Group 3 on all microstructure components of spoken narrative at the T1 (p ≤ 0.04) and T2 (p ≤ 0.04) levels in comparison with T0, but no differences were observed between the NBLI approaches (p > 0.05). All three intervention programs significantly improved the macrostructure of the spoken narrative in CI children. ConclusionImprovements in spoken narrative structures were observed in CI children that support the efficacy of NBLI over CST for the hearing-impaired population.

Post-stroke dysphagia: novel treatment approaches

The paper presents the results of examination and treatment in patients in the early recovery period of ischemic stroke. It considers the concurrent use of drug and speech therapies to improve the rehabilitation of patients with post-stroke speech and swallowing disorders. Objective : to identify the role of speech-language therapy and neuropsychology sessions in the treatment of speech and swallowing disorders in the early recovery period of ischemic hemispheric stroke. Patients and methods . A total of 45 patients (32 (71%) men and 13 (29%) women) with a 2–3-month history of ischemic hemispheric stroke were examined. The follow-up period was 2 months. The patients were divided in two groups. Group 1 (a study group) included 30 patients who received combination therapy (drug treatment; sessions with a speech-language pathologist; and compensatory treatments for restoring swallowing function). All the patients had moderate dysphagia accompanied by speech disorders. Moderate sensorimotor aphasia was observed in 15 patients; moderate dysarthria was also seen in 15 patients. Vinpocetine (Cavinton®) and its dispersible tablets (Cavinton® Comfort) were chosen as an agent for vasoactive therapy. Group 2 (a comparison group) consisted of 15 patients with dysphagia who had only standard therapy and speech therapy sessions. There was sensorimotor aphasia in 2 (4%) patients and dysarthria in 13 (29%). A complex psychological and logopedic examination was carried out using the Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MASA), dysarthria assessment, and the scale designed by L.I. Vasserman for estimating the degree of speech disorders in patients with local brain injuries. Results and discussion . Posttreatment swallowing function improved in all the 45 patients; however, more pronounced positive changes were recorded in the patients of Group 1 (p< 0.05). Survey data, possible diet modification, better patient communications, improved quality of life in the patients, and the opinions of their relatives and medical staff served as criteria for the effectiveness of the model used to recover swallowing function. A subjective improvement showed itself as an increased ability to initialize the pharyngeal phase of swallowing in 25 (56%) patients and none mild delays (up to 5 sec) in the movement of a food bolus in the oral cavity in 10 (22%) patients and in the intake of the food of different consistency in 10 (22%). After a treatment cycle in Group 1, the number of patients with mild dysphagia increased up to 30%; moderate swallowing disorders were present in 63% of patients, which required that medical and speech correction should be continued. A significant improvement in swallowing function was noted in 10% of Group 1 patients with medium-sized cortical and cortical-subcortical lesions; a moderate improvement was seen in 67% with medium and small cerebral foci at the same location. At the same time, in Group 2 there were insignificant positive changes only in 20% of patients, most of whom had dysarthria. Conclusion. The high incidence of post-stroke makes it reasonable to use speech therapy methods in a set of multidisciplinary specialized types of care. This care should be personalized; prescribing easy-to-swallow dispersible drugs plays an important role in this case. This will improve quality of life in the patient and protect him from unwanted complications.

Evaluating satisfaction of patients with stutter regarding the tele-speech therapy method and infrastructure

ObjectiveInvestigating the required infrastructure for the implementation of telemedicine and the satisfaction of target groups improves the acceptance of this technology and facilitates the delivery of healthcare services. The aim of this study was to assess the satisfaction of patients with stutter concerning the therapeutic method and the infrastructure used to receive tele-speech therapy services. MethodsThis descriptive-analytical study was conducted on all patients with stutter aged between 14 and 39 years at Jahrom Social Welfare Bureau (n = 30). The patients underwent speech therapy sessions through video conferencing with Skype. Data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire. Its content validity was confirmed by three medical informatics specialists. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 19. ResultsThe mean and standard deviation of patient satisfaction scores concerning the infrastructure and the tele-speech therapy method were 3.15 ± 0.52 and 3.49 ± 0.52, respectively. No significant relationship was found between the patients satisfaction and their gender, education level and age (p > 0.05). The results of this study showed that the number of speech therapy sessions did not affect the overall satisfaction of the patients (p > 0.05), but the number of therapeutic sessions had a direct relationship with their satisfaction with the infrastructure used for tele-speech therapy (p < 0.05). ConclusionsThe present study showed that patients were satisfied with tele-speech therapy. According to most patients the low speed of the Internet connection in the country was a major challenge for receiving tele-speech therapy. The results suggest that healthcare planner and policy makers invest on increasing bandwidth to improve the success rate of telemedicine programs.

The Diagnosis of ADHD in Children with Language Delay in Saudi Arabia: The Impacts and Consequences

The diagnosis of communication and behavioral difficulties in Saudi Arabia is currently still an emerging field and there are few governmental schools in the field of speech therapy in Saudi Arabia. These schools offer a bachelor degree in speech hearing rehabilitation, which started only a few years ago. For this reason, the number of Saudis certified as speech and language therapists is very limited, which has led to several issues regarding diagnosis, therapy and speech services in the kingdom being raised. First hand reports from trained speech and language practitioners suggest that it is common for children with a range of communication difficulties to receive a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, with other internationally recognized diagnostic labels (e.g. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; ADHD) being far less commonly used. Due to limitation of number of certified professional speech language therapists in Saudi Arabia, a number of teachers, psychologists and even some religious individuals claim to be speech therapists. They provide unauthorized speech therapy sessions without any experience or permission, in non-authorized centres such as private schools, private centers and even in their homes. This study is aimed at highlighting the importance of accurate diagnosis and the impact of unauthorized workers on children with ADHD and autism inside Saudi Arabia.

Recovery of language function and brain metabolism in a patient with crossed aphasia: 2-year follow-up of brain FDG PET images

ABSTRACTBackground: Crossed aphasia, a language disturbance in right-handed individuals secondary to a right hemisphere lesion, is rare, occurring in only l-2% of brain-lesioned patients. The precise neurological mechanisms of crossed aphasia are still unknown, and follow-up studies in the long term of language function are sparse.Aims: We describe a detailed follow-up evaluation of language function and resting brain glucose metabolism in a well-defined crossed aphasia patient after right middle cerebral artery (MCA) infarction.Methods & Procedures: A 49-year-old man was referred for the treatment of 3-week history of aphasia after right MCA infarction. He indicated a strong right-handed preference confirmed by the Edinburgh Handedness Questionnaire, and his family members are all right handed. There was no history of developmental delay or learning disability in childhood or previous neurological disease. Formal language evaluation was carried out in the subacute phase (3 weeks after onset) and the late phase (5 and 24 months after onset) with the Korean version of Western Aphasia Battery. He received 40-min sessions of conventional speech and language therapy by a qualified therapist of comparable experience, three times a week. The serial F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET) scan was performed on 3 weeks and 24 months after onset, respectively. Subtraction PET imaging between baseline and follow-up evaluation was conducted with coregistration with the patient’s magnetic resonance imaging.Outcomes & Results: In the initial evaluation, his aphasia was categorized as Broca’s aphasia [aphasia quotients (AQs) 50.4, language quotients (LQs) 49.8]. Four months after the initial evaluation, the function of spontaneous speech, repetition, naming, and reading significantly improved, with a relatively moderate progress of comprehension (AQ 83.5, LQ 78.1). At 2-year follow-up, the function of spontaneous speech, repetition, naming, reading, and writing improved, but the comprehension revealed impairment with minimal improvement (AQ 88.9, LQ 86.8). The result revealed that the 20% increased area of F-18 FDG uptake in the subtraction PET image corresponded to the right basal ganglia, the right medial temporal lobe, both occipital lobes, and the left cerebellum.Conclusions: Our case showed long-term recovery of brain glucose metabolism and language function in a patient with mirror image crossed aphasia. The restoration of perilesional brain function and diaschisis possibly contributed to the recovery of the crossed aphasia.

Speech therapy in adolescents with Down syndrome: In pursuit of communication as a fundamental human right

Purpose: The achievement of speech intelligibility by persons with Down syndrome facilitates their participation in society. Denial of speech therapy services by virtue of low cognitive skills is a violation of their fundamental human rights as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in general and in Article 19 in particular. Here, we describe the differential response of an adolescent with Down syndrome to three speech therapy interventions and demonstrate the use of a single subject randomisation design to identify effective treatments for children with complex communication disorders.Method: Over six weeks, 18 speech therapy sessions were provided with treatment conditions randomly assigned to targets and sessions within weeks, specifically comparing auditory-motor integration prepractice and phonological planning prepractice to a control condition that included no prepractice. All treatments involved high intensity practice of nonsense word targets paired with tangible referents.Result: A measure of generalisation from taught words to untaught real words in phrases revealed superior learning in the auditory-motor integration condition.Conclusion: The intervention outcomes may serve to justify the provision of appropriate supports to persons with Down syndrome so that they may achieve their full potential to receive information and express themselves.

Intensive multidisciplinary home rehabilitation for older people with severe conditions

Introduction : Older people often demonstrate multiple physical and functional problems simultaneously. For this reason, geriatric rehabilitation (GR) is often organized as integrated care with a multidisciplinary team providing a structured care plan to alleviate or reduce the consequences of the patients’ conditions. However, some of those in need of GR have difficulties to adapt to the hospital settings and therefore do not profit from the intense multidisciplinary care provision in such a setting as would be desirable. These patients are often finishing their rehabilitation without being able to walk independently, or manage their daily life. Practice change implemented : Since 2007, the German health care system offers a home-based GR for geriatric patients, called Mobile Rehabilitation (MR), within the same framework as the standard GR in a hospital setting, providing an intensive and multidisciplinary rehabilitation program over 6 to 8 weeks. Aim and theory : There is good evidence on the effectiveness of rehabilitation and home care concepts in general. However, several risk factors such as the presence of cognitive or psychological disorders, or seeing and hearing impairments, among others, lead to unsatisfactory result of a rehabilitation program. that can be attributed to problems of a geriatric patient to adapt to the requirements of a rehabilitation program. Possible reasons are the presence of cognitive or psychological disorders, or seeing and hearing impairments, among others. Such patients can, in theory, largely profit from MR in their accustomed environment. Intervention program and timeline : The MR program consists of, on average, 40 sessions of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy or nursing care with 6 sessions each week. Regular multidisciplinary team meetings are under the leadership of a geriatrician. Highlights : First publications on this program demonstrate its general effectiveness. Additionally, results from the project MORECARE, a German-based, national research project aiming at identifying and overcoming organizational and managerial barriers in providing home-based GR in Germany will be presented. Comments on sustainability and transferability : In 2016, the concept of MR has been broadened and includes now several additional conditions associated with a decreased adaptability to conventional rehabilitation settings. This decision was based on the first evidence on it’s effectiveness. This presentation will enable stakeholders who provide integrated care for older people to reflect on the additional value of MR as an alternative to conventional GR as well as managerial prerequisites in implementing such concepts in their respective health care system. Conclusions : The MR program presented here is able to improve outcomes in a subgroup of geriatric patients who do not profit from conventional rehabilitation programs. Discussions : While the current literature demonstrates the potential benefits of MR, the evidence is still limited. Additionally, the implementation of such a program lead to some organizational problems, which have to be discussed. Lessons learned : The audience of this presentation will learn on the potential of the MR program as an alternative to conventional rehabilitation, its multidisciplinary building blocks and the identified barriers and problems in implementing and continuing this program.

Diagrama de Desvio Fonatório em dois programas de reabilitação vocal

Objetivo: Comparar a análise perceptivo-auditiva vocal, análise acústica e diagrama de desvio fonatório (DDF) de pacientes submetidos à terapia de voz com os exercícios de função vocal (EFV) e de pacientes submetidos ao Programa Integral de Reabilitação Vocal (PIRV). Métodos: 72 profissionais da voz com queixa vocal, encaminhados para reabilitação vocal por disfonia comportamental, foram acompanhados por seis sessões de terapia de voz. Os participantes foram divididos aleatoriamente em dois grupos. Um deles foi submetido ao PIRV e o outro, ao EFV. O material de fala analisado foi a vogal /ε/, gravada no módulo qualidade vocal do programa Voxmetria (CTS Informatica), para extração do DDF, nos momentos pré e pós-terapia. Os grupos foram comparados de acordo com o grau geral do desvio vocal, aspectos acústicos e com a distribuição das amostras vocais no DDF, em relação à área de normalidade, densidade, forma e localização nos quadrantes. Resultados: Houve diferença apenas quanto à densidade do registro do DDF no pós-terapia vocal, sendo que o grupo EFV apresentou registro concentrado no pós-terapia quando comparado ao grupo PIRV. Apenas indivíduos do grupo PIRV apresentaram diferenças na avaliação perceptivo-auditiva pré e pós, sendo que mais indivíduos tiveram suas vozes avaliadas como sem desvio no pós-intervenção. Conclusões: O Programa Integral de Reabilitação Vocal promoveu melhora da qualidade vocal, porém não houve correspondência da análise perceptivo-auditiva com a análise acústica, já que o diagrama de desvio fonatório foi sensível para identificar mudanças somente na avaliação dos pacientes submetidos aos exercícios de função vocal.

Intervenção fonoaudiológica precoce em afasia infantil decorrente de um acidente vascular cerebral: relato de caso

O Acidente Vascular Cerebral é menos frequente em crianças do que em adultos, porém possui um poder devastador para o futuro destes indivíduos, mesmo com indícios de melhor recuperação das alterações. O objetivo deste estudo é descrever os achados fonoaudiológicos de um caso de Acidente Vascular Cerebral infantil, evidenciando a evolução após 12 meses de terapia fonoaudiológica, iniciada precocemente, após lesão neurológica adquirida. Trata-se de um indivíduo de 11 anos, gênero masculino, com normalidade de desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor e independência para as atividades funcionais durante a primeira infância. Em março de 2015 sentiu um mal súbito, foi encaminhado para o hospital de urgência e diagnosticado com Acidente Vascular Cerebral, do tipo hemorrágico, em região fronto-parietotemporal esquerda. Foram realizados procedimentos cirúrgicos, e a internação durou 25 dias. No momento da alta hospitalar houve a orientação sobre a necessidade de atendimento fonoaudiológico. A primeira avaliação de linguagem evidenciou afasia adquirida do tipo emissiva, conforme as classificações propostas para crianças. Foram realizadas 91 sessões de terapia fonoaudiológica, com duração de 50 minutos, pelo período de 12 meses. Ao analisar as habilidades formais de linguagem que permaneceram alteradas, observa-se que as relacionadas à leitura e escrita são as de maior significância, interferindo no desempenho escolar e desenvolvimento comunicativo. Assim, além do atendimento fonoaudiológico até que seja possível uma comunicação funcional, é importante que haja o apoio escolar.

Clinical and epidemiological characterization of patients receiving home care in the city of Maceió, in the state of Alagoas, Brazil

Abstract Objective: To clinically and epidemiologically characterize patients receiving home care in the city of Maceio, in the state of Alagoas, Brazil. Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study with a sample of 859 patients was carried out, based on data obtained from the medical records of institutions that provide a home care service. A total of 445 patients were from a public service and 414 were from a private service. Descriptive analysis was used for the demographic, clinical and functional variables. Results: Most patients were elderly, female, bedridden, fed orally and had neurological disorders, with stroke the most common diagnosis. Regarding patient evolution, 16.8% of individuals were discharged from home care, 45% of patients died and 24% were hospitalized during the period of home care. A total of 9% of patients had a tracheostomy, 84.7% breathed room air, 9.3% used oxygen, 4% used noninvasive mechanical ventilation, 1.9% used invasive mechanical ventilation, and 24.9% of patients had pressure ulcers. All patients received medical visits, with 693 receiving nursing care, 767 undergoing physiotherapy, 233 receiving speech therapy sessions, 665 patients accompanied by a nutritionist, 64 undergoing occupational therapy sessions and 98 receiving counseling. Conclusion: It was noted that some results differed from literature and between the public and private service. This divergence could be related to the specific epidemiology of each region and the type of insurance paying for care (Unified Health Service or Private).

Design and Implementation of a Tactile Stimulation Device to Increase Auditory Discrimination.

Reading is a complex process that requires various simultaneous brain processes. One of the most common types of reading disorders is developmental dyslexia, and one of the objectives of speech therapy sessions for children with developmental dyslexia is to increase their auditory discrimination. One of the most commonly used AuditoryDiscrimination Tests (ADTs) isWepman's AuditoryDiscrimination Test(WADT). It includes minimal pair words categorized by characteristics of vowels and consonants. The goal of this research is to design and implement a tactile stimulation device based on Wepman's test to increase auditory discrimination in children with developmental dyslexia in therapy sessions, so that while playing each word for the children, vibrational cues are presented to their left palm and fingers. The vibrational cues provided by 23 vibration motors can notify the child of the difference or similarity between the words. First, the device was evaluated by being applied on six female participants aged 6 to 8 with no hearing disabilities and no developmental dyslexia. Scores obtained from the healthy children showed that they can perceive the tactile function of the device. Then, function of the device was tested on 8-year-old twin girls with developmental dyslexia. The test was conducted as a controlled experiment. One of the twins participated in speech therapy treatment, while the other practiced with the device. During the study, three sessions were allocated to determine the baseline of auditory discrimination, three sessions to the intervention, and two sessions (the first, one week and the second, three weeks after the intervention sessions) to determine the children's auditory discrimination (follow-up). The analysis of trend variations and changes in mean showed that both the speech therapy and the intervention based on practicing with the device were effective in increasing children's auditory discrimination (Percentage of Non-overlapping Data = 100%). The results were stable three weeks after the intervention sessions. Therefore, using the device in speech therapy sessions can be useful and effective in improving auditory discrimination.

Core vocabulary of young children with Down syndrome

The aim of this study was to develop a core vocabulary list for young children with intellectual disabilities between 2 and 7 years of age because data from this population are lacking in core vocabulary literature. Children with Down syndrome are considered one of the most valid reference groups for researching developmental patterns in children with intellectual disabilities; therefore, spontaneous language samples of 30 Dutch children with Down syndrome were collected during three different activities with multiple communication partners (free play with parents, lunch- or snack-time at home or at school, and speech therapy sessions). Of these children, 19 used multimodal communication, primarily manual signs and speech. Functional word use in both modalities was transcribed. The 50 most frequently used core words accounted for 67.2% of total word use; 16 words comprised core vocabulary, based on commonality. These data are consistent with similar studies related to the core vocabularies of preschoolers and toddlers with typical development, although the number of nouns present on the core vocabulary list was higher for the children in the present study. This finding can be explained by manual sign use of the children with Down syndrome and is reflective of their expressive vocabulary ages.

Exploring the learnability and usability of a near field communication-based application for semantic enrichment in children with language disorders

ABSTRACTRecently, a few software applications (apps) have been developed to enhance vocabulary and conceptual networks to address the needs of children with language impairments (LI), but there is no evidence about their impact and their usability in therapy contexts. Here, we try to fill this gap presenting a system aimed at improving the semantic competence and the structural knowledge of children with LI. The goal of the study is to evaluate learnability, usability, user satisfaction and quality of the interaction between the system and the children. The system consists of a tablet, hosting an app with educational and training purposes, equipped with a Near Field Communication (NFC) reader, used to interact with the user by means of objects. Fourteen preschool children with LI played with the device during one 45-minute speech therapy session. Reactions and feedbacks were recorded and rated. The system proved to be easy to understand and learn, as well as engaging and rewarding. The success of the device probably rests on the integration of smart technology and real, tangible objects. The device can be seen as a valuable aid to support and enhance communication abilities in children with LI as well as typically developing individuals.

Caractéristiques des récits d'expériences personnelles actualisés durant les traitements logopédiques à l'adolescence

Adolescents with a history of speech and language impairments still meet difficulties with their discursive production and adaptation to the interlocutor (Reed et al. 2007; Wetherell et al. 2007b). The institutional framework of speech and language therapy offers adolescents the opportunity to use different kinds of discourse taking into account the need of an adapted production to the interaction situation. Within this theme, this study highlights the work done on the personal storytelling competence during speech and language therapy sessions from a socio-interactionist perspective. The aim is to analyze the characteristics of personal storytelling initiated by the adolescents by examining if these initiations are legitimated by the therapists. This research specifies some of the characteristics of storytelling's coproduced during the treatments speech and language therapy with adolescents.

Intervenir sur l'aphasie en contexte hospitalier : analyse des pratiques de rééducation et d'évaluation

In this paper, we analyse post-stroke aphasia speech therapy sessions taking place in the hospital setting. During the acute phase of the pathology, the objective of the session is both to give a first recovery to the patient and to evaluate the troubles issued from the stroke lesion. Using an interactional perspective, we analyse the interactive organization of different tasks performed during these sessions and show the methodical practices and resources used by the participants to accomplish them. This allows us to reflect not only on how tasks are locally and interactively realized, but also on how they affect the type of engagement exhibited by the patient and the visibility of his/her different heterogeneous competences. We finally discuss the impact this can have on the assessment of the patient's residual linguistic and cognitive abilities.

Agrammatism and Other Aphasia-related Disorders in Moroccan Arabic Speaking Aphasics

This paper includes the participation of six Moroccan Arabic-speaking aphasics (four with Broca’s aphasia, one with Wernicke’s aphasia and one with global aphasia). In our work, we turn to a particular under-resourced Arabic Dialect, Moroccan Darija or Moroccan Arabic (MA), which is an agglutinative language; that is, a fairly large number of affixes may be added to the root. Negation, tense, aspect, person, number and gender are all expressed by affixes attached to the verb. The speech corpora were taken from samples collected from patients who have attended speech and language therapy sessions. The patients were presented with picture description, repetition and grammaticality judgement tasks in order to examine the extent of impairment on the phonological, lexical, semantic and morpho-syntactic levels. Although agrammatic production is usually described as impaired in all aspects of grammar and in all types of inflection, it was found out that the use of verbal and nominal bound morphemes was spared in the output of the subjects understudy. All the three groups in this study used appropriate verbal and nominal morphology, which does not support the traditional view of agrammatism as being amorphological.Keywords: Moroccan Arabic, Aphasia, Broca, Wernicke, Agrammatism, Bound morphemes-Substitution, Deletion

Health-Related Quality of Life for Children and Adolescents with Specific Language Impairment: A Cohort Study by a Learning Disabilities Reference Center.

ObjectivesTo assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children with specific language impairment (SLI).Study DesignIn a prospective sample at a Learning Disabilities Reference Center, proxy-rated HRQOL (KIDSCREEN-27) was assessed for children with SLI and unaffected children from January 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015. Quality of life predictors for children with SLI were evaluated by recording the length and number of speech therapy and psychotherapy sessions and the specific school organization that the children had participated in. The KIDSCREEN scores of the two groups were compared using nonparametric statistics.ResultsThe questionnaires were completed by the parents of 67 children with SLI and 67 unaffected children. For children with SLI, the mean HRQOL scores were significantly lower for physical and psychological well-being, autonomy and parent relation, social support, and school environment compared to the reference group, controlling for age and parental education (β = -6.7 (-12.7;-.7) P = 0.03, β = -4.9 (-9.5;-.3) P = 0.04, β = -8.4 (-14.2;-2.6) P = 0.005, β = -11.6 (-19.5;-3.7) P = 0.004, β = -7.1(-12.4;-1.7) P = 0.010, respectively). Multivariate analyses in the group of children with SLI found that children who had undergone psychotherapy sessions or who had been enrolled in specific schooling programs had reduced HRQOL scores in social support and school environment and that children who were in a special class had higher scores in physical well-being.ConclusionChildren with SLI had significantly lower HRQOL scores as compared to unaffected children. Measurement of HRQOL could serve as one of the strategies employed throughout the follow-up of these individuals to provide them with the most appropriate and comprehensive care possible.

Sintomas vocais auditivos e proprioceptivos pré e pós-terapia de grupo de pacientes com disfonia

RESUMO Objetivo: comparar os sintomas auditivos, proprioceptivos e os totais pré e pós-terapia de grupo de pacientes com disfonia, além de associar o número de sintomas vocais às variáveis sexo, faixa etária, uso profissional da voz e diagnóstico laríngeo. Métodos: participaram 27 pacientes inseridos em grupos terapêuticos. Todos responderam aos sintomas vocais auditivos, proprioceptivos e totais do Protocolo de Triagem Vocal (PTV) pré e pós-terapia de grupo, que constou de oito encontros, sendo o primeiro e último para aplicação do PTV; do segundo ao sétimo foram realizadas sessões terapêuticas fonoaudiológicas de abordagem eclética. Resultados: os participantes eram adultos, maioria do sexo feminino e diagnóstico laríngeo predominante de lesão na porção membranosa das pregas vocais. Pôde-se perceber que houve redução significante dos sintomas vocais proprioceptivos e totais quando se comparou pré e pós-terapia. Minimizaram significantemente pós-terapia os sintomas vocais: fadiga vocal, garganta seca, bolo na garganta, esforço e desconforto ao falar. Houve associação entre sintomas vocais (proprioceptivos, auditivos e totais) pós-terapia de grupo com as variáveis sexo feminino e diagnóstico laríngeo lesão de massa na porção membranosa das pregas vocais. Não houve associação dos sintomas vocais pós-terapia com faixa etária e nem uso profissional da voz. Conclusão: houve redução dos sintomas vocais totais e proprioceptivos relatados pelos pacientes ao comparar o pré e o pós-terapia. Houve associação entre sexo feminino e diagnóstico de lesão de massa na porção membranosa das pregas vocais com sintomas totais, proprioceptivos e auditivos pós-terapia de voz. A faixa etária e o uso profissional da voz não foram associados à redução dos sintomas vocais.