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Investigation of the Processes Underlying Developmental Coordination Disorder and Learning Disability: Determining Optimal Diagnostic Measures
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Abstract
The primary objective of this study is to obtain a detailed understanding of the skills, abilities and problems associated with Development Coordination Disorder (DCD) and Learning Disability (LD). Currently, the nature of the problems associated with DCD and LD are not well distinguished and the mechanisms underlying these disorders are not known. This study will provide not only a detailed model of the abilities of each of these two groups and their comparison to normal children, but will also identify problems common to DCD and LD. This work will lead to the refinement of a set of measures that optimally diagnose and distinguish DCD and LD, and to the development of effective treatments.
DCD and LD are widely prevalent disorders with profound impact on children’s literacy and academic achievement. Approximately 7 to 9% of school-aged children are affected by DCD, and 3 to 30% are affected by LD. The economic cost to treating these disorders is inflated by misdiagnosis, a lack of early diagnosis, and the ineffective remedial interventions. Inaccurate diagnosis and ineffective interventions are the result of a lack of understanding of the processes underlying the disorders. This study can contribute to earlier, more accurate diagnosis and the development of effective interventions, thereby significantly reducing the economic costs and increasing children’s opportunities for literacy development
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Preventing Literacy Defecits in Children with Articulation/Phonological Disorders
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Abstract
Phonological awareness refers to the knowledge that spoken words can be segmented into abstract units that represent individual speech sounds, or phonemes (i.e., the word “top” can be segmented into the sounds /t/, /a/, and /p/). Children who have good phonological awareness are likely to become good readers, while children who have poor phonological awareness are at risk for delayed acquisition of reading ability. Children who have a history of specific language impairment and/or delayed articulation skills as preschoolers are at particular risk for delayed development of phonological awareness and reading skills. Efficacious and time-effective tools for integrating phonological awareness therapy with speech therapy need to be developed. The ultimate goal of the proposed research program is to develop an effective, computer-driven program for facilitating the acquisition of phonological awareness skills that could be used by speech-language pathologists, speech aides, teachers and/or parents to help children who are at-risk for reading problems because of delayed speech and language development during the preschool period.
The proposed research program is comprised of two studies. The purpose of Study I is to describe the phonological awareness skills of children with delayed articulation development in relation to the severity of their articulation deficit, the presence of concomitant difficulties such as language disorder, and their speech therapy experiences. The purpose of Study II is to develop a computer-driven program for teaching phonological awareness skills and to assess the effectiveness of this program with children who have difficulty with the articulation of speech sounds.
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Efficacy Research with Down Syndrome: Interventions Designed to Impact Reading Ability
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Abstract
Network Investigators propose to study the efficacy of a number of language and literacy interventions for a variety of special populations. Two of these interventions will target language abilities that are known to impact literacy development (phonological awareness and narrative skills). Other interventions will target the acquisition of decoding skills directly through a rime-based approach, and fluency and text comprehension skills. Initially, the phonological awareness and decoding interventions will be implemented with children with Down syndrome (DS). There are plans to add the other interventions and to include children with cerebral palsy (CP) and language-learning disabilities (LLD) and French speaking children in the future. Given its focus upon special populations and multiple language and literacy levels, this project is expected to provide insights that will assist in the development of more appropriate educational programs.
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Language Stimulation and Intervention in Day Care Centres
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Abstract
Many childcare providers have daily contact with young children who have or are at risk for language delay and who are integrated into community-based day care centres. Language delay is a serious condition that can affect children's relationships with their peers, their emotional well being, and their future academic success in school. Therefore, it is important for childcare providers to provide optimal language learning experiences for these children to prevent their language delay from becoming a long-lasting, pervasive problem. The quality and quantity of caregiver-child interactions has been identified as a critical factor in determining child well being and development in the childcare environment.
The aims of this research program are to (a) determine the effectiveness of training teachers to facilitate language and social development, (b) investigate the language used by teachers of children with other handicaps (such as language delay due to hearing impairment or autism) in order to further inform the development of training programs for caregivers, (c) bring together researchers to discuss professional development and in-service training for child care providers in the area of language facilitation in the Canadian childcare context and (d) integrate and disseminate the important research findings for speech-language pathologists, teachers, administrators and policy makers so that we can improve the quality of care for all children in day care.
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A Proposal for the Development and Testing of Computer Software to Teach Children to Read and Spell
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Abstract
Network researchers propose to develop and test computer software employing an innovative rime-based method for teaching basic reading and spelling vocabulary. They will also further develop phonological tests for identifying children at risk of reading failure. Children will be tested on reading and spelling, phonological processing, speed of naming letters, word retrieval fluency, verbal short-term memory, nonverbal reasoning, mathematics achievement, vocabulary knowledge, and listening comprehension. They expect all children will benefit from the experimental program, including children with poor phonological processing who usually have literacy difficulties. They also predict that the children who had received the experimental rime-based program will have higher scores on the reading and spelling tests and possibly on some of the phonological processing tests than the control children. Three different versions of the program will be tested in which children engage in different activities: hand-printing the words they learn, spelling words by clicking letters on the computer screen, and selecting written words to match spoken words or pictures. They expect that spelling the words either by printing or by clicking on letters will produce higher spelling achievement than the matching activity.
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A Longitudinal Study of Children Enrolled in Early Intervention and Prevention Programs: A National Perspective
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Abstract
There is now widespread awareness of the importance of the early years in preparing children for school and for social adaptation. Although a range of prevention and early intervention programs have been implemented for infants and preschoolers who are at risk, there is virtually no information on whether those programs implemented in Canada succeed in reaching these goals. Rather, most of their information that we have comes from studies in the U.S.. The proposed research will follow 431 children who participated in a national demonstration project utilizing a range of interventions aimed at enhancing the language and cognitive development of children 0 to 5 years within the context of important early relationships. Most of these children live in families at risk because of factors associated with low socioeconomic status. The proposed study will follow these children at an important transition point in development, entry to Grade 1. Results will indicate whether these children have an advantage over those who have not had enhanced early experiences in terms of language, cognition, literacy, and social skills when compared to local, provincial, and national samples.
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Impact of Early Onset Otitis Media on Speech Perception and Production Skills in Infancy
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Abstract
Ear infections are the most common reason for Canadian children to visit a doctor. Chronic ear infections can have persistent effects on all aspects of language development, especially if ear they begin during the first year of life. The purpose of this project is to investigate the impact of early-onset otitis media (Otitis Media with effusion refers to the condition involving the presence of fluid in the middle ear, with or without an accompanying infection) on speech perception and speech production development in infancy, with a view to developing tools for early identification and intervention for OM-related speech and language delay. The specific objectives are to assess middle ear function, hearing activity, speech discrimination, selective attending, speech production (babbling), and early vocabulary and word learning skills on a longitudinal basis from 2 through 18 months of age. The measure of selective attending will be developed specifically for this project. Data analysis will be directed at testing the hypothesis that auditory attention to speech is an intervening variable that may explain some of the between-subjects variability that is observed in the outcomes associated with early onset otitis media.
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Measuring, modeling, and maximizing the spoken language intelligibility and spelling strategies of children with Dysarthria
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Abstract
This project will build on an existing analog test of children’s speech intelligibility (Test of Children’s Speech or TOCS) developed by the researchers. The new work will greatly increase the scope, power and clinical usefulness of this instrument by moving it to a computer-based platform, by expanding the perceptual and acoustic analyses of the test recordings of the children’s spoken responses and by including facilities to test related speech perception and spelling abilities. The new system will be called the Test of Children’s Speech and Spelling Plus (TOCS+).
The practical impact of this computer-based assessment, analysis and treatment system includes: 1) the time that will be saved by speech-language pathologists in obtaining relevant diagnostic information; 2) the value of this information for management programming; 3) availability of a standardized tool to monitor longitudinal change in speech intelligibility as a result of specific interventions; and 4) the availability of treatment modules to assist clinicians in focusing intervention on specific error patterns that have been identified as contributing to the speech intelligibility deficit. This project will provide a significant tool for research on speech intelligibility and in building models of how speech intelligibility develops in children with normal and disordered speech motor control. Speech-language pathologists and the agencies that employ them will benefit in saved time and improved practice. Ultimately, Canadian children with speech motor control problems should receive appropriate treatment and should have better outcomes that enhance both speech production and literacy skills. Many aspects of TOCS+ could also be used to identify and help other children with potential speech intelligibility deficits due to hearing loss or of unknown origin, all of whom who are at risk for reading and spelling disabilities.
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Acoustic properties of children's voices and their impact on communication
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Abstract
Academic, social, and economic success depends on the ability to communicate using language. When we use oral language, the acoustic properties of our voices have two functions. The first is to produce speech segments that are intelligible to the listener, and the second is to produce “suprasegmental” characteristics that influence the listener’s thoughts and feelings. This second function can be thought of as the “rhetoric” of voice acoustics. For example, by slightly increasing the intensity of your voice, or decreasing the pitch of your voice, you can increase the degree to which you are perceived as intelligent and competent. Humans are sensitive to subtle differences in the acoustic properties of speech; we recognize and remember others merely by the sound of their voices. However, the connection between the acoustics and its social-emotional impact has not been well described for adult speech, and we know even less about this connection in child speech.
Network researchers will study how the sound of children’s voices (the suprasegmental characteristics) elicits social-emotional responses in listeners at home, in school, and at play. They will begin by examining how the acoustic property of nasality of voice affects reactions to children when they speak, and then will test the use of CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) as a new treatment for reducing nasal resonance.This research is designed to study individual children who have special voice disabilities, such as hypernasal voices subsequent to repaired cleft palates or hearing impairments, as well as typically developing children who have habits of speech which disadvantage them in the classroom (e.g., not being called upon to speak) or playground (e.g., bully victims). By mapping the relationship between acoustic features of voice and their social-emotional impact and acceptability, researcher will provide social perception criteria for speech therapy. Data will also help parents and teachers to recognize and remedy their own negative reactions to children with unfavourable voices.
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Facilitating practice change by Speech Language Pathologists: Phonological Disorders and computer-based interventions
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Abstract
The opportunities for technically-assisted therapy are increasing rapidly, with several methods now available for use by speech-language pathologists when treating children with speech or language disorders. Some of these treatment tools have been shown to be very effective in laboratory studies, and these have the potential to significantly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of conventional treatment approaches. However, practice change is a complex process and Speech-language pathologists, clinicians, managers and policy makers, do not always consider the scientific evidence when choosing treatment approaches. As a result, new technologies are adapted very slowly in speech-language pathology practice, even when the weight of evidence encourages new approaches to treatment.
The purpose of this project is to help speech-language pathologists integrate new technologies into their clinical practice and to evaluate both the process of introducing such new practices and the impact of new technologies on clinics and the services provided to clients.
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Last Modified: July 11 2002 08:49:44.
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