Anne Ozanne

Long-term speech and language disorders subsequent to closed head injury in children

The speech and language functioning of a group of 20 children (aged 8-16) who had sustained a closed head injury at least 12 months previously were assessed with the purpose of developing a comprehensive profile of the type and severity of the long-term speech/language disorders exhibited by this group. The subjects were administered a battery of speech/language assessments including an articulation/phonological assessment; oromotor assessment; overall language test and specific language skills assessments. Performance of the head-injured group was compared to that of a group of non-neurologically impaired accident victims matched for age, sex and socioeconomic status. Overall language performance scores of the head-injured group were found to be significantly lower than achieved by the control group.

A review of the use of self-report assessment with young children

In recent years, there has been an increase in the development of self-report assessments for children, for both clinical and research use. This increase is compatible with the increase in the use of client-centred practice and other frames of reference that give clients – including children – a greater voice in their therapy. Occupation, the focus of therapy, is best understood from the perspective of the child engaged in it (Primeau and Ferguson 1999). There is mounting evidence that the views of children are different from, but as valid as, those of their parents (Sturgess and Ziviani 1996, Bouman et al 1999). The purpose of this paper is to provide a contemporary analysis of self-report assessment for children. An extensive review of the self-report literature found a clear rationale for its use and also evidence about the features of effective self-report tools. The results of this literature review and a critique of some self-report assessments available for young children are included in this paper.

Impaired tongue strength and endurance in developmental verbal dyspraxia: a physiological analysis

Tongue strength and endurance measures were obtained from six children with developmental verbal dyspraxia (DVD) aged between 5;6 years and 11;5 years and compared to those achieved by six normal speaking controls matched for age and sex. The instrument for measuring tongue strength comprised an air-filled soft rubber bulb connected to a pressure transducer. The results indicated that the DVD group had weaker lingual musculature than the controls. In addition the DVD subjects exhibited significantly reduced tongue strength endurance compared with the controls. Overall the findings support the hypothesis that a motor impairment forms at least part of the basis of DVD and may be indicative of the presence of a concomitant dysarthria in children with DVD, or may reflect an underspecification of the motor programme. The need for revision of contemporary taxonomies relating to childhood motor speech disorders is discussed.

Performance of closed head-injured children on a naming task

The naming abilities of a group of 20 children (aged 8-16) who had sustained a closed head injury (CHI) at least 12 months previously were assessed with the purpose of examining the long-term effect of CHI on childrens naming ability. Performance of the CHI group on the Boston Naming Test was compared to that of a group of non-neurologically impaired accident victims matched for age, sex and socioeconomic status. A detailed examination of the types of naming errors exhibited by the CHI children was also carried out. Boston Naming Test scores of the CHI group were found to be significantly lower than those achieved by the control group. The error pattern demonstrated by the CHI group, however, mimicked that of the control group.

Posterior fossa tumours in childhood: Associated speech and language disorders post-surgery

Abstract Six children aged between 6 and 16 years who had undergone surgery for the removal of a posterior fossa tumour were assessed at least one year post-operatively to determine the incidence and severity of any associated speech or language deficits. Five males and one female were included in the sample. The subjects were administered a battery of speech/language assessments including: a language screening test, an articulation test, a dysarthria assessment and a perceptual speech analysis. The results indicated that dysarthria and/or language impairment occurs in some cases subsequent to surgical removal of posterior fossa tumours. The occurrence of muteness immediately post-surgery would appear to indicate a poor prognosis for speech abilities. A possible link between the occurrence of long term language disabilities in these children and post-surgical radiotherapy is documented.

Efficacy of intervention for a bilingual child making articulation and phonological errors

This treatment case study presents a five-year-old bilingual Cantonese/English speaking boy with articulation and phonological errors. It reports two treatment phases: articulation therapy and phonological therapy. The articulation therapy was given in English and targeted the distorted production of /s/. The result was a perceptually acceptable pronunciation of /s/ in both English and Cantonese. The phonological therapy, also given in English, targeted cluster reduction, but it was only effective in treating English errors. The reduction of consonant clusters in Cantonese remained unchanged. These data have implications for two issues: the separateness of bilingual childrens two phonological systems, and the differences between articulation and phonological errors.

Intentionality and communication in four children with Rett syndrome

A multiple case study design was used to describe the cognitive and communicative behaviours of four girls with Rett syndrome (RS). Three of the subjects were at a preintentional level of communication, while one subject made infrequent attempts to communicate with intent, and had retained some words acquired before the regression of skills characteristic of RS. Communication levels for all subjects seemed to be consistent with cognitive status. Dyspraxia, however, seemed to interfere with the communicative attempts of the one subject with retained speech.

Multidisciplinary Assessment of Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: Using the ICF Framework to Inform Assessment

The aim of this study was to describe relationships in young children with motor coordination problems between measures of motor, functional, self-efficacy, and communication administered by a multidisciplinary team and the fit of these measures within the framework of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) (39). Sixty children, 40 males and 20 females, with mean age 72.5 months (SD = 11.4 months) referred to a university physiotherapy clinic met the inclusion criteria for developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Each measure provided a different perspective of performance when considered within the framework of the ICF. The findings suggest caution when using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) for the purpose of diagnosis with young referred children, since 25 of the 60 children scored > 15th percentile, despite demonstrating motor deficits at home and school. Further research is needed to address assessment at the participation level. Viewing children from the multiple perspective of each discipline highlights the range of challenges faced by children with DCD.

Comprehension strategies: The bridge between literal and discourse understanding

Compensatory comprehension strategies may be a bridge between literal comprehension and understanding of language in discourse. An original method for assessment of such strategies in children aged 3;0-4;5 years is presented. Analysis of incorrect responses, given during administration of a frequently used standardized test, in this instance the Reynell Developmental Language Scales - Verbal Comprehension A (1987 version), permits assignment of such responses to previously established comprehension strategies. The analysis method found a developmental hierarchy for comprehension strategy use that is supported by previous research. This hierarchy (with the earliest appearing first) is ‘random answering’, ‘probable reasoning’ and ‘semantic probability’. This analysis of incorrect responses allows replicable, documentable and objective data to be presented to demonstrate development of receptive language prior to the achievement of full language comprehension.

Language abilities of children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: Preliminary findings

Abstract The language abilities of a group of nine children (aged between 11 years, 5 months and 17 years, 9 months) treated at least 4 years previously for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) were investigated and compared with those of a group of non-neurologically impaired, age- and sex-matched controls. The language test battery included: an age-appropriate measure from the Test of Language Development (TOLD) series comprised of either the Test of Adolescent Language (TOAL-2) or the Test of Language Development-Intermediate (TOLD-I); the timed subtests of the Clinical Evaluation of Language Function (CELF); the Boston Naming Test; and one of either the Token Test or Token Test for Children depending on the age of the subject. As a group the leukaemia subjects performed significantly worse than the controls on the TOAL-2, CELF and Boston Naming Test. Individually, the leukaemia subjects varied in their performance on the language measures. Overall, the linguistic deficits were mild. It is recommended t...