Elizabeth U. Grillo

Laryngeal resistance distinguished pressed, normal, and breathy voice in vocally untrained females

The purpose of this study was to determine if pressed, normal, and breathy voice can be distinguished by laryngeal resistance (LR) in vocally untrained females. Twelve adult females, with no vocal expertise or training, produced each of the voice qualities on the pitch A3 (220 Hz) during a repeated consonant-vowel utterance of /pi/ into a Rothenberg vented face-mask with attached microphone, pressure, and air-flow transducers. Results indicated that LR was successful in distinguishing pressed, normal, and breathy voice in vocally untrained females. The results are consistent with previous research and further support the suggestion that LR is a useful measure for studying the co-ordinative interactions across respiratory and laryngeal subsystems of voice production.

Voice Characteristics of Female Physical Education Student Teachers

In this study, the subjective and objective voice measures of seven female physical education student teachers during a semester of student teaching were investigated. The participants completed the voice measures at three data collection time points: baseline, middle, and end of the semester. The voice measures included acoustic and aerodynamic data, perceptual rating scales of vocal quality and vocal fatigue, an end-of-semester questionnaire, and the Voice Handicap Index. Results demonstrated that the subjective and objective voice measures changed at the middle and the end of the semester as compared with those at baseline. The change in the voice measures may suggest that the vocal mechanism was adapting to the increased vocal demands of teaching physical education.

Clinical investigation of the Global Voice Therapy Model

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the Global Voice Therapy Model (GVTM) on acoustic, aerodynamic, and perceptual voice measures of four adults seeking voice therapy for a voice disorder. A speech-language pathologist facilitated speaking voice therapy with the four participants using the GVTM. Participants completed acoustic, aerodynamic, and perceptual voice measures at pre- and post-therapy time points. Differences were seen in the voice measures from pre- to post-therapy. The GVTM was successful in facilitating an improvement in the acoustic, aerodynamic, and perceptual measures of the participants.

Teaching CSD Graduate Students to Think Critically, Apply Evidence, and Write Professionally

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of teaching modules designed to enhance the use of critical thinking (CT), evidence-based practice (EBP), and professional writing (PW) skills by graduate students in communication sciences and disorders. Three single-session teaching modules were developed to highlight key features of CT, EBP, and PW. Participants were presented with one module per week during the first month of their 2-year graduate program. Each participant’s performance was assessed four times by analyzing his or her written responses to clinical scenarios during the first fall semester and the last spring semester of the program. Results demonstrated that the EBP teaching module was effective in improving the participants’ application of EBP principles. The CT and PW teaching modules were not as effective, suggesting that instruction in these areas requires more than a single-session teaching module.

Do Vision and Audition Influence Bimanual Timing Coordination for In-Phase and Anti-Phase Patterns in a Linear Slide Task?

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of vision and audition in the coordination of in-phase and anti-phase movement patterns at increasing frequency of oscillation in a bimanual linear slide task. The dependent variables were mean error of relative phase and standard deviation of relative phase. Results indicated that vision and audition did not influence the accuracy and the variability in performance of the two relative phase patterns, whereas increasing frequency influenced the performance of the anti-phase pattern, but not the in-phase pattern. As a potential explanation of the current findings, it is hypothesized that the bimanual linear coordination task did not rely on vision and audition because the task was perhaps governed by proprioception. With consideration for specific motor tasks, investigating the role of vision, audition, and proprioception on the performance of coordinative movements remains an important question for continued research.

Do Vision and Audition Influence Bimanual Timing Coordination for In-Phase and Anti-Phase Patterns in a Linear Slide Task?~!2010-03-11~!2010-05-07~!2010-07-13~!

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of vision and audition in the coordination of in-phase and anti-phase movement patterns at increasing frequency of oscillation in a bimanual linear slide task. The dependent variables were mean error of relative phase and standard deviation of relative phase. Results indicated that vision and audition did not influence the accuracy and the variability in performance of the two relative phase patterns, whereas increasing frequency influenced the performance of the anti-phase pattern, but not the in-phase pattern. As a potential explanation of the current findings, it is hypothesized that the bimanual linear coordination task did not rely on vision and audition because the task was perhaps governed by proprioception. With consideration for specific motor tasks, investigating the role of vision, audition, and proprioception on the performance of coordinative movements remains an important question for continued research.

Results of a Voice-Related Survey of Physical Education Student Teachers:

The current study investigated physical education (PE) student teachers’ understanding of the vocal demands of their future profession, interest in participating in a voice-training program, and the current impact of the voice on quality-of-life by the Voice Handicap Index (VHI). Seventy-four PE student teachers completed a voice-related survey and the VHI. Forty-three percent of participants indicated that teaching will negatively affect the voice and 29% of participants reported that they may develop a voice problem because of teaching; however, only 17% of participants indicated that a voice-training program was needed to learn healthy and effective voice use for teaching. Based on the results, participants knew that teaching may negatively impact the voice, but they were not convinced that a voice-training program was necessary. In addition, the student teachers’ voices were not negatively impacting quality-of-life, as determined by the VHI.

Results of a Survey Offering Clinical Insights into Speech-Language Pathology Telepractice Methods

A telepractice survey was administered to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Special Interest Group 18 Telepractice affiliates and attendees of the Waldo County General Hospital Speech-Language Pathology Telepractice Training program in Maine, USA over the summer of 2016. Sixty-seven respondents completed the survey. The survey explored demographics of clients and clinicians, costs and equipment, learning opportunities, use of the client’s environment and caregivers/e-helpers, and method adaptations in telepractice. The results of the survey provide information on the current state of telepractice methods in speech-language pathology from experienced practitioners. This information may be used to develop telepractice models and to prepare speech-language pathology graduate students in the delivery of telepractice methods.

Influence of Smartphones and Software on Acoustic Voice Measures.

This study assessed the within-subject variability of voice measures captured using different recording devices (i.e., smartphones and head mounted microphone) and software programs (i.e., Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice (ADSV), Multi-dimensional Voice Program (MDVP), and Praat). Correlations between the software programs that calculated the voice measures were also analyzed. Results demonstrated no significant within-subject variability across devices and software and that some of the measures were highly correlated across software programs. The study suggests that certain smartphones may be appropriate to record daily voice measures representing the effects of vocal loading within individuals. In addition, even though different algorithms are used to compute voice measures across software programs, some of the programs and measures share a similar relationship.