Nicole Müller

The handbook of language and speech disorders

List of Figures. Notes on Contributors. Introduction (Jack S. Damico, Nicole Muller and MartinJ. Ball). Part I Foundations. 1 Social and Practial Considerations in Labeling (JackS. Damico, Nicole Muller, and Martin J. Ball). 2 Diversity Considerations in Speech and Language Disorders(Brian A. Goldstein and Ramonda Horton-Ikard). 3 Intervention for Children with Auditory or Visual SensoryImpairments (Laura W. Kretschmer and Richard. R.Kretschmer). 4 Intelligibility Impairments (Megan Hodge and TaraWhitehill). 5 Genetic Syndromes and Communication Disorders (VesnaStojanovik). 6 Principles of Assessment and Intervention (Bonnie Brintonand Martin Fujiki). Part II Language Disorders. 7 Autism Spectrum Disorders: The State of the Art (John Mumaand Steven Cloud). 8 Delayed Language Development in Preschool Children (DeborahWeiss and Rhea Paul). 9 Specific Language Impairment (Sandra L. Gillam and Alan G.Kamhi). 10 Pragmatic Impairment (Michael R. Perkins). 11 Learning Disabilities (Robert Reid and LauraJacobson). 12 Reading and Reading Impairments (Jack S. Damico and RyanNelson). 13 Substance Abuse and Childhood Language Disorders (TrumanE. Coggins and John C. Thorne). 14 Aphasia (Chris Code). Part III Speech Disorders. 15 Children with Speech Sound Disorders (SaraHoward). 16 Dysarthria (Hermann Ackermann, IngoHertrich, and Wolfram Ziegler). 17 Apraxia of Speech (Adam Jacks and Donald A.Robin). 18 Augmentative and Alternative Communication: An Introduction(Kathryn D. R. Drager, Erinn F. Finke, and ElizabethC. Serpentine). 19 Fluency and Fluency Disorders (John A. Tetnowski andKathy Scaler Scott). 20 Describing Voice Disorders (Richard Morris and ArchieBernard Harmon). 21 Orofacial Anomalies (Jane Russell). 22 Speech Disorders Related to Head and Neck Cancer:Laryngectomy, Glossectomy, and Velopharyngeal and MaxillofacialDefects (Tim Bressmann). Part IV Cognitive and Intellectual Disorders. 23 ADHD and Communication Disorders (Carol Westby and SilvanaWatson). 24 Communication Deficits Associated with Right Hemisphere BrainDamage (Margaret Lehman Blake). 25 Traumatic Brain Injury (Jennifer Mozeiko, KarenLe, and Carl Coelho). 26 Dementia (Nicole Muller). Author Index. Subject Index.

Order and Disorder in Conversation: Encounters with Dementia of the Alzheimer's Type.

After a brief introduction to Dementia of the Alzheimers Type (DAT), its behavioral diagnostic symptom complex and a summary of communicative implications, we present data from two conversations involving participants with and without DAT. We discuss the concept of “order” in conversation, and the central importance of interactional monitoring. Conversational success and problems in interactions with persons with DAT are seen as emergent from situationally embedded conversations in the presence of cognitive and linguistic impairments on the part of the person with DAT, and of contextually situated communicative impairment resulting therefrom.

The acquisition of the Rhotic Consonants by Welsh-English bilingual children:

This article reports on a study into the acquisition of Welsh and English phonology in Welsh-English bilingual children. It concentrates on the acquisition of the rhotic consonants, that is the trilled-r of Welsh and the approximant- r of English. The trilled-r shows differential patterns of acquisition depending on the age and language dominance of the subjects. It also demonstrates a wide range of substitutions, and it is argued that some of these may be due to influence from English, while others seem to be used because of their acoustic similarity to the target. Much less variation is found with the substitutions used for approximant-r, and it is shown that, again, there is an acoustic reason for the choice of the commonest of them. While the two sounds clearly are different, neither the trill nor the approximant demonstrate 100% accurate usage even in the oldest age group of subjects (4;6—5;0) (although the approximant does approach 90%). Therefore, they belong to the group of consonants acquired last in their respective languages.

A transcription toolkit: theoretical and clinical considerations

This paper discusses theoretical and clinical aspects of transcription practices in clinical linguistics and phonetics, and speech-language pathology. We consider the purpose of transcribing and transcripts, and distinguish between the transcript as a product and transcribing as a complex, cyclical process that forms an integral part of data analysis. Operational relationships between transcriber, data and data source, and the reader are addressed. We suggest a multi-layered toolkit approach to transcribing, based on six guiding principles.

The use of conversational laughter by an individual with dementia

While laughter has been shown to play a significant role in any social interaction; its conversational usage by a person with dementia has rarely been investigated. This paper will investigate the functional aspects of laughter during conversation in an individual with dementia. Conversation analysis is used in order to investigate laughter as a social phenomenon and to be able to investigate laughter in an empirical and authentic manner. The conversational strategies employed through laughter will be detailed and implications will be discussed.

Staging casual conversations for people with dementia

Social isolation is a key concern for individuals with dementia in long-term care. A possible solution is to promote social interaction between residents. A first step toward facilitating positive relationships between residents with dementia is to understand the mechanisms behind their interactions with each other, and also how their relationships with each other are built through such interactions. Drawing on casual conversations between residents in a special care unit for dementia, this paper uses systemic functional linguistics to examine how people with dementia use language to enact and construct their role-relations with each other. Results suggest people with dementia are able and willing conversationalists. However, factors such as the extent of communication breakdown and compatibility of the interlocutors may influence whether positive relations develop or not. Casual conversation is suggested to be a promising activity to encourage positive interpersonal processes between individuals with dementia in residential care.

Applying Systemic Functional Linguistics to Conversations with Dementia: The Linguistic Construction of Relationships between Participants

Social isolation in dementia is a growing concern as the incidence and prevalence of dementing conditions is on the rise in many societies. Positive social interactions, which foster the construction and enactment of positive interpersonal relationships and therefore positive discursive identities, make an important contribution to emotional well-being. In this article, we investigate how two women diagnosed with dementia of the Alzheimers type use language to relate to each other and two visiting graduate students. We use Systemic Functional Linguistics as an analytical framework, specifically investigating the use of vocatives and naming, and conversational moves and exchanges.

Syntactic impairments can emerge later: Progressive agrammatic agraphia and syntactic comprehension impairment

Background & Aims: Recent studies suggest that agrammatism is not a major feature of progressive nonfluent aphasia, at least not in the earlier years post-onset. We investigated the emergence of syntactic impairments over a 3-year period in CS, a 63-year-old man 8 years post-onset of progressive speech difficulties. CS has a range of progressive cognitive impairments, including progressive nonfluent aphasia, and limb and other apraxias (with a progressive non-aphasic and mostly non-dysarthric speech deterioration), but relatively intact intelligence, perception, orientation, long-term memory, semantics, and phonology. Writing impairments did not emerge until some 8 years after naming and speech impairments were first noticed, and after CS became mute. Methods & Procedures: We undertook detailed longitudinal examination of word and sentence writing and syntactic comprehension across a range of tasks and examined the impact of short-term memory. We were concerned to examine the data for evidence of agrammatic features, particularly in noun and verb use, and use of formulaic and simplified syntactic structures as the condition progressed. Outcomes & Results: Analysis showed a progressive emergence of deficits on tests of written syntax, syntactic comprehension, and auditory-verbal short-term memory. There was a progressive reduction in verb and noun use, but this was related to the kind of stimulus used. Features of agrammatism were evident in writing with a progressive dependence on formulaic and simplified syntax. Conclusions: It may be that agrammatism in PNFA is a feature that develops late in the progression, showing up only in writing because it is masked in speech by motor speech impairment. Increasing reliance on formulaic and simplified structures with progression suggests compensatory adaptation of CSs system. Impairments appeared to emerge in parallel with deterioration of syntactic comprehension and phonological short-term memory.

Phonological acquisition in Welsh – English bilingual children

Adequate assessment, diagnosis and treatment of phonological disorders require information on normal phonological development. While such data exist for many languages, they often do not exist for minority languages such as Welsh. An added factor is that speakers of such languages are often bilingual so, in the case of Welsh, it is necessary to examine norms in bilingual acquisition of Welsh and English. This article reports such a study and provides benchmarks for use by speech-language therapists in the assessment of phonological disorders in Welsh – English bilingual children. Eighty-three children from south-east Wales took part in the study. They were divided into five 6-month age groups (from 2;6 to 5;0), and into two language dominance groups (Welsh and English). There were 42 male subjects and 41 females. Data were collected via two word-lists and from spontaneous speech. The results present the ages at which the consonant systems of the two languages are acquired, and statistical analysis examines the relationships between the linguistic factors and the non-linguistic variables of age, sex and language dominance. Also important to assessment are the normal patterns of substitution used by children in phonological development for sounds not yet acquired. These are described for the present data, especially important being the substitution patterns used for consonants present in Welsh but not in English.

The importance of narrow phonetic transcription for highly unintelligible speech: Some examples

The importance of the use of narrow phonetic transcription in transcribing a variety of speech disorders is emphasized. This point is illustrated with clinical data from the authors’ own research. The examples used are the transcription of a severely disfluent client, a child with progressive hearing loss, repair sequences in dysarthric speakers, a child with idiosyncratic velar articulations, and an adult with progressive speech degeneration. The use of the extended International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) for the transcription of disordered speech and the Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS) system for transcribing voice quality is introduced and illustrated in the examples provided. The need for training in narrow transcription is discussed as part of a combination of impressionistic and instrumental description techniques.