Paola Colozzo

Language following functional left hemispherectomy in a bilingual teenager.

A detailed language assessment was conducted with MM, a 17-year-old bilingual teenager with Rasmussen syndrome who had undergone a left functional hemispherectomy. Results revealed important deficits in French and English, affecting expressive and receptive language in both the written and the oral modality. MMs linguistic profile was coherent with previous description of language function following left hemispherectomy, and what is known of the linguistic potential of the right hemisphere (RH). The impairment pattern showed overall similarities between French and English, thus supporting the existence of a common underlying system for these two languages. However, the profiles in each language were not identical, implying that distinct subsystems may also be at play. These findings support previous descriptions of acquired language impairments and recovery in bilingual individuals.

Keeping Track of Characters: Factors Affecting Referential Adequacy in Children's Narratives.

This study considered the adequacy of references used by children to introduce, maintain, and reintroduce characters in complex narratives involving multiple characters. Sixty-three English-speaking Canadian children from kindergarten to second grade (M age 7.0 years) told two multi-episode stories from wordless picture books. Analyses considered differences in referential adequacy both within-children and between grades. There was an unexpectedly large difference in adequacy levels across stories, mostly because of an overuse of pronouns in one story. Maintenance was the easiest referential function, whereas reintroduction proved more difficult than introduction only for the story with consistently lower adequacy levels. Participants across grades were affected by referential function and by story in analogous ways. The kindergartners did nonetheless obtain lower adequacy levels than the two higher grades due to a higher use of pronouns and because they were less able to clearly refer to characters even when they were using the same linguistic forms. Participants in the three grades successfully used a diversity of linguistic forms for their character references across referential functions. Together, these findings have important implications for referential cohesion in young school-aged children. First, they invite caution when drawing conclusions regarding developmental changes based on a single story. Second, they suggest that reintroduction may be particularly sensitive to story features that make referencing more demanding. Finally, they underscore the importance of considering reference within the broader textual context in order to produce a detailed account of referential abilities.

Professional practices and opinions about services available to bilingual children with developmental disabilities: An international study

This study aimed to gather information from school- and clinic-based professionals about their practices and opinions pertaining to the provision of bilingual supports to students with developmental disabilities. Using an online survey, data were collected in six socio-culturally and linguistically diverse locations across four countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. In total, 361 surveys were included in the analysis from respondents who were primarily teachers and speech-language pathologists working in schools, daycares/preschools, or community-based clinics. The overall picture that emerged from the data reflected a disconnection between practice and opinion. In general, respondents believed that children with both mild and severe disabilities are capable of learning a second language, although their opinions were more neutral for the latter group. However, children with both mild and severe disabilities who spoke only a minority language at home had less access to services for second language learners than did their typically developing peers, although respondents agreed that such services should be more available. Regardless of clinical group, children who lived in homes where a minority language was spoken were often exposed to, assessed in, and treated in the majority language only; again, respondents generally disagreed with these practices. Finally, second language classes were less available to children in the two disability groups compared to typically developing bilingual children, with general agreement that the opportunity to acquire a second language should be more available, especially to those with mild disabilities. Although the results indicate that there is a considerable gap between current practices and professional opinions, professionals appear to be more supportive of bilingual educational opportunities for these populations than was suggested by previous research.

A multi-site review of policies affecting opportunities for children with developmental disabilities to become bilingual

This review of special education and language-in-education policies at six sites in four countries (Canada, United States, United Kingdom, and Netherlands) aimed to determine the opportunities for bilingualism provided at school for children with developmental disabilities (DD). While research has demonstrated that children with DD are capable of learning more than one language (see Kay Raining Bird, Genesee, & Verhoeven, this issue), it was not clear whether recent policies reflect these findings. The review, conducted using the same protocol across sites, showed that special education policies rarely addressed second language learning explicitly. However, at all sites, the policies favoured inclusion and educational planning based on individual needs, and thus implied that students with DD would have opportunities for second language learning. The language-in-education policies occasionally specified the support individuals with special needs would receive. At some sites, policies and educational options provided little support for minority languages, a factor that could contribute to subtractive bilingualism. At others, we found stronger support for minority languages and optional majority languages: conditions that could be more conducive to additive bilingualism.

“Well if he can do it, I can do it”: speech–language pathologist’s perspectives on what helps with and what detracts from confidence in communication for people with post-stroke aphasia

Background: The psychosocial impact of post-stroke aphasia is well-documented, with many authors highlighting the importance of quality of life issues secondary to the communicative impairments this population experiences (e.g., Ryan et al., 2017). Recently, confidence in communication has emerged as a factor which may influence the psychosocial well-being of people with aphasia (PWA) (Babbitt, Heinemann, Semik, & Cherney, 2011). However, the psychosocial needs of PWA are often insufficiently addressed, and speech–language pathologists (S-LPs) have access to few interventions that focus on these issues insofar as they pertain to communication (Ryan et al., 2017). Moreover, increasing confidence after stroke has been identified as an important area for future research by stroke survivors in a study which included PWA (Pollock, St George, Fenton, & Firkins, 2014). Therefore, investigating how to increase confidence in communication for PWA is of clinical importance to S-LPs and their clients with aphasia. Aims: The aims of this qualitative study were to (1) explore what helps confidence in communication for adults with aphasia post-stroke from the perspective of S-LPs and (2) explore what detracts from confidence in communication for adults with aphasia poststroke from the perspective of S-LPs. Methods & Procedures: This investigation was a qualitative descriptive study guided by the constructivist paradigm. The first author conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 15 S-LPs, all of whom had at least 1 year of experience working with PWA as a registered S-LP. Maximum variation sampling was used to sample participants purposefully in relation to years of experience working with PWA, workplace setting, and gender. Ten interviews were conducted face to face, whereas five telephone interviews were conducted due to participant preference or geographical distance. Interviews were audio-recorded and subsequently transcribed and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Peer debriefing and member-checking were used to increase the credibility of the data and the analysis process. Outcomes & Results: Analysis revealed 93 codes, grouped into 14 categories of what helps with PWA’s confidence in communication and 62 codes, grouped into 13 categories of what detracts from it. Categories of codes describing helpful factors included

The interplay of referential function and character primacy on referring expressions in children's narratives

This study considered the linguistic forms used by 63 English-speaking Canadian children from kindergarten to second grade (ages 5;6–8;8) to introduce, maintain reference to, and reintroduce primary and secondary characters throughout their narratives The expected referring forms were used more frequently for the best-matching referential function: indefinites for introduction, pronouns and null forms for maintenance, and identifiables (i.e., definite and possessive NPs, and proper names) for reintroduction. Developmental changes in form–function mappings were present for both introduction and reintroduction. Many children were also influenced by the relative prominence of story characters in their use of pronominals. Nonetheless, function constraints exerted a much stronger influence on referential choice than did character primacy in all grades. By systematically exploring the interplay of referential function and character primacy on referring expressions, this study adds to existing findings on many levels. It also invites future research that manipulates various features of both primary and secondary characters.

Phonological and Morphosyntactic Intervention for a Twin Pair.

Two 6-year-old male fraternal twins each received 8 weeks of morphosyntactic and phonological intervention in counterbalanced order. Progress occurred for most targets and measures, with each child making greater progress for either phonology or morphosyntax during the corresponding unitary-domain block. Gains were maintained during the subsequent alternate treatment block. Possible indirect changes in the non-treated domain were also observed in global measures. The data suggest that at least some school-aged children with concomitant difficulties in morphosyntax and phonology, perhaps those with significant constraints in each domain, can benefit from sequences of unitary-domain intervention. This study invites further research concerning many unresolved clinical issues for school-aged children with protracted development in both phonology and morphosyntax.

A Case Study on Vocal Loudness With a Young Adult With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Developmental Delay

PURPOSE This clinical focus article describes an exploratory case study addressing reduction of vocal loudness in a young adult with a history of autism spectrum disorder and developmental delay. The need for a short-term pullout individual intervention arose from his participation in the Advancing Language and Literacy group, a program that provides support for enhancement of speech, language, and literacy skills for young adults with developmental disabilities. METHOD The participant attended individual treatment sessions weekly for 9 sessions, all of which were digitally audio-recorded. Client awareness of different loudness levels was first established using nonspeech sounds and speech samples. Loudness in spontaneous speech was monitored with support of verbal and visual feedback in the individual sessions and tracked in individual sessions as well as sessions of the Advancing Language and Literacy group, which served as a generalization context. RESULTS In the individual sessions, the participants spontaneous production of acceptable volume improved from 42% to 92% of utterances. Observation of group participation indicated generalization, with the majority of utterances produced posttreatment at an acceptable volume. CONCLUSIONS This clinical focus article emphasizes suprasegmental aspects as a dimension of communicative competence and highlights the need for continued intervention research and services for young adults with developmental disabilities.