Judy K. Montgomery

Adolescent Pragmatic Skills: A Comparison of Latino Students in English as a Second Language and Speech and Language Programs.

The purpose of this study was to compare the pragmatic performance of students from two adolescent groups—students receiving. English as a second language (ESL) instruction versus bilingual student...

Responsiveness to Intervention: Teaching Before Testing Helps Avoid Labeling

Prereferral intervention is a modification of instruction before referral to accommodate underachieving students and reduce the number of inappropriate special education placements. This article reports on evaluation of a Tier 3 responsiveness to intervention (RTI) program in an urban school district with 96% minority (mostly Hispanic) students. Conducted by speech–language pathologists and resource teachers, the 45-hr intensive instructional program was based on the National Reading Panels 5 building blocks of reading. Using a paired t test, investigators found that 123 students made significant reading progress (p = .01), with moderate effect sizes of 0.60 (Year 1) and 0.40 (Year 2). The majority of students also demonstrated improvement on the statewide assessment, which was used as an external measure of RTI effectiveness. Only 8 of the original 123 students required special education service 2 years later.

High prevalence of hearing disorders at the Special Olympics indicate need to screen persons with intellectual disability

BACKGROUND Persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) are at increased risk for hearing impairment which often remains undetected. If left untreated, such hearing impairments may worsen the social and communicative problems of these persons. The aims of this study are to determine the prevalence of hearing impairment, to specify type and degree of hearing loss, and to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of the screening in this population. METHODS During the German Special Olympics Summer Games 2006, 552 athletes with ID had their hearing screened according to the international protocol of Healthy Hearing, Special Olympics. This screening protocol includes otoscopy, measurement of distortion product otoacoustic emissions, and - if necessary - tympanometry and pure tone audiometry (PTA) screening at 2 and 4 kHz. Additionally, 195 athletes underwent a full diagnostic PTA. The results of the screening and diagnostic PTA were compared. RESULTS Of the 524 athletes who completed the screening protocol, 76% passed and 24% failed it. Ear wax was removed in 48% of all athletes. 42% of the athletes were recommended to consult an otolaryngologist or an acoustician. Of the 99 athletes whose screening-based suspicion of a hearing loss was confirmed with diagnostic PTA, 74 had an undetected hearing loss. The correlation (Cramers V) between screening and diagnostic PTA was .98. The sensitivity of the screening was 100% and the specificity 98%. DISCUSSION The screening reliably detects hearing disorders among persons with ID. The prevalence of hearing impairment in this population is considerably higher than in the general population, and the proportion of undetected hearing impairments is large, even among people with only mild and moderate ID, as examined in this study. Therefore, a screening is highly recommended, and special attention from caregivers and professionals as well as regular hearing assessment and standard therapy programmes are required for persons with ID.

Auditory status of persons with intellectual disability at the German Special Olympic Games

Among persons with intellectual disability, the prevalence of hearing impairments is high. During the German Special Olympics Summer Games 2004, a hearing screening was conducted on 755 athletes with intellectual disabilities. Obligatory screening included ear inspection and recording of otoacoustic emissions, and optional screening included tympanometry and brief pure-tone audiometry. 38.0% of the athletes failed the screening. 53.0% needed ear wax removal. 56.1% of the fails indicated sensorineural hearing loss and 13.6% indicated mixed hearing loss. 12.5% of the fails were caused by unremovable ear wax, 1.4% by ear canal affections, and 16.4% by middle ear problems. Left ear fails were more frequent than right ear fails. A peripheral hearing disturbance can thus be expected in every third subject. The high failure rate, a considerable percentage of previously undetected profound hearing loss (1.1%), and the frequent need for ear wax removal, suggest that nearly half of persons with intellectual disabilities need regular otological or audiological consultations. Sumario La prevalencia de hipoacusia entre personas con discapacidad auditiva, es alta. Durante los juegos olímpicos de verano 2004 en Alemania, se realizó un tamiz auditivo en 755 atletas con discapacidad intelectual. Éste incluyó otoscopia, prueba de emisiones otoacústicas y opcionalmente una timpanometría y una audiometría breve. El 38% de los atletas no pasaron el tamiz y a 53% se les retiró cerumen. El 56.1% de los que no pasaron el tamiz presentaban hipoacusia sensorineural y 13% hipoacusia mixta; a 12.5% no fue posible retirarles el cerumen, 1.4% presentaban alteraciones del conducto auditivo externo y 16.4% tenían algún problema del oído medio. Fueron más frecuentes las alteraciones en el oído izquierdo que en el derecho. Se puede esperar una alteración auditiva periférica en un tercio de los sujetos. El alto índice de falla en el tamiz, un porcentaje considerable de hipoacusia profunda no detectada (1.1%) y la necesidad frecuente de remoción de cerumen, sugiere que casi la mitad de las personas con discapacidad intelectual necesitan consulta audiológica u otológica regular.

Serving Preschool Children with Severe Phonological Disorders.

Preschool children with multiple articulation disorders are often referred to school speech-language clinicians to be served within the constraints of itinerant service delivery programs. Although ...

Hearing screening outcomes for persons with intellectual disability: A preliminary report of findings from the 2005 Special Olympics World Winter Games

The Special Olympics Healthy Hearing Program provides a unique opportunity to determine the hearing service needs of individuals with mild intellectual disabilities participating in athletic endeavors in countries throughout the world. The Healthy Hearing Program screened 855 of 1800 athletes with intellectual disability over a period of a week at Nagano, Japan. Of 855 athletes screened, 58% passed the DPOAE screen and therefore required no further testing. Of the remaining 42%, 186 did not pass pure-tone screening. This number of athletes represents 21.8% of all athletes screened. Tympanometry outcomes for the 186 athletes failing pure-tone screening showed 56% (104) also failing this measure of middle-ear function. 65% of these 104 athletes’ outer ear canals were blocked/partially-blocked with cerumen. This amount is in contrast to the 38% presence of cerumen for the 82 athletes failing pure-tone screening but passing tympanometry.

Service delivery framework for adolescents with communication problems who are involved in violence.

UNLABELLED The purpose of this article is to provide speech-language pathologists (SLPs) with a framework to address the communication problems of adolescents involved in violence. Although it is not considered to be a comprehensive framework for planning intervention programs, it will provide suggestions to assist SLPs to conceptualize their role in addressing the communication needs of these individuals. Recommendations acquired through observations, interviews, and empirical data will form the basis for suggestions. Youth in correctional facilities come from schools and return to schools following their commitment, therefore, research from incarcerated adolescents serves as an appropriate foundation to form the basis for intervention recommendations. Hence, suggestions will apply to SLPs working in correctional facilities and school settings. Intervention programs containing socially and academically relevant activities that focus on assessment, general intervention principles, conversational interaction skills, and multidisciplinary interventions are included in the article. LEARNING OUTCOMES Readers will understand (1) a framework to address the communication problems of adolescents involved in violence and (2) how research findings support the role of SLPs in addressing the needs of adolescents involved in violence.

You Are Going To Be an Author: Adolescent Narratives as Intervention.

Student-composed narratives represent a new adolescent literacy approach in general education and an academic standard in secondary schools. Provided with an intervention of scaffolded story writing, adolescents with significant communication disabilities can write narratives also. A detailed description of the scaffolded story writing process is provided, and four case examples of the written narratives of students with communication disabilities are presented. Implications for speech and language intervention include successfully connecting the IEP goals of students with the core curriculum, engaging students in mixed-ability groups, exposing students to the elements of critical literacy, developing writing skills, and building capacity for other communication behaviors.

Outcomes from Two Treatment Approaches for Children with Communication Disorders in Head Start

This study was designed to address the paucity of empirical data regarding the outcome of treatment approaches for preschool children with communication disorders. Specifically, this study examined the differences in the effectiveness between the inclusion model of speech/language treatment and the traditional pull-out model of speech/language treatment. African American children in an inner-city Head Start program with documented speech/language delays were randomly assigned to groups using the two treatment approaches. Results supported the research hypothesis that there is no significant difference between these two models of speech/language treatment. Findings suggest that the inclusion model is just as effective as a traditional pull-out model in conducting speech/language services for children with mild, moderate and severe communication disorders.

Language assessment in a snap: Monitoring progress up to 36 months

This article describes the development and validation of the Developmental Snapshot, a 52-item parent questionnaire on child language and vocal communication development that can be administered monthly and scored automatically. The Snapshot was created to provide an easily administered monthly progress monitoring tool that enables parents to better recognize language milestones and offers professionals prompt information to fine-tune intervention strategies. Initial items were piloted by 15 families; refinement and further development of the instrument was conducted with parents of 308 typically developing children. Reliability and criterion validity metrics were examined on subsets of approximately 60 children who completed the Snapshot on a monthly basis and who were evaluated on standard assessments administered by speech language pathologists (SLPs). Divergent validity was also examined for samples of children diagnosed with language delays related to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (n = 77) or not (n = 49). Results supported the criterion validity (r = .67–.97) and test–retest reliability claims of the Snapshot (r = .95). Sensitivity and specificity for language delay detection also were good at 87%. Potential applications for progress monitoring, fidelity of intervention, and enhancing parents’ awareness of their child’s language and vocal communication changes are discussed.