The ASHA Leader - September 21, 2010 - (Page 20)

Schools Practice: New Research and Online Resources Research Updates Storytelling and Brain Injury Children with brain injury show marked plasticity for language learning, but limitations may be apparent in complex language tasks such as narrative production. University of Chicago researchers studied 31 children (average age 6), 11 with brain injuries and 20 without. The children were asked to create an original story in response to a story stem (e.g., “Once there was a little boy named Alan who had many different kinds of toys”). The children’s narratives were analyzed for length, diversity of vocabulary, complex syntax, and narrative structure. The children with brain injury produced shorter stories, used less diverse vocabulary, and made fewer inferences about the cognitive states of the story characters than typical peers. The differences in narratives emerged even though the children with brain injury did not differ from typical peers on measures of vocabulary and syntax. The study by Ozelm Demir and colleagues is published in the July 2010 issue of Developmental Science (www. ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/desc). (E-SLI), eight with expressive and receptive SLI (ER-SLI), and 17 agematched children with typical development—using the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, which includes addition and mathematical equivalence problems. The children’s problemsolving strategies for these items were revealed in their solutions as well as in their verbal and gestural explanations. Overall, the children with SLI showed delays in their knowledge of mathematical equivalence and were less accurate in solving addition and equivalence problems compared with their peers with typical development. The children with ER-SLI showed greater delays, and none of the children in this group solved the equivalence problems correctly. Children in the ER-SLI tended to express incorrect strategies for solving the equivalence problems in both gesture and speech, whereas children in the E-SLI group often expressed correct strategies in gestures—but not speech. This finding suggests that for children with E-SLI, knowledge is represented in a nonverbal format. Almost a quarter of adolescents with a history of SLI were classified as having poor emotional engagement in close relationships based upon their responses to a seven-item self-report questionnaire, compared to only 2% of the adolescents with typical language abilities. A regression analysis found language ability, prosocial behavior, and shyness were concurrently predictive of emotional engagement level in close relationships. SLI Affects Math Knowledge Although children with specific language impairment (SLI) do not show impairments across all mathematical domains, they may show a weakness in their understanding of mathematical equivalence problems (i.e., equations with addends on both sides), according to a study by Elina Mainela-Arnold and colleagues in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (Papers in Press, http://lshss.asha.org). The researchers assessed 34 children—nine with expressive SLI Telehealth Assessment of Language Less than 4% of Australia’s speechlanguage pathologists work in rural or remote areas that are home to 34% of the population. Additional barriers to pediatric speech-language pathology services include long distances, costs of accessing services, long waiting lists, reduced service choices, and a lack of public transportation. To overcome these barriers, Australian researchers conducted a study to validate a custom-built Internet-based telehealth system that uses real-time videoconferencing to assess childhood language disorders using a standardized assessment, the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF®, fourth edition). The researchers administered the CELF Core Language subtests to 25 children ages 5–9 using an online or face-toface SLP, but the assessment was rated simultaneously by both SLPs. No significant difference was found in the scores on the CELF-4 Core Language subtests obtained by an online and a face-to-face SLP, and good agreement was found between the two ratings on all measures. The high inter- and intra-rater reliability for the online assessments supports the feasibility of using this Internet-based telehealth system for assessing children’s language. The research by Monique Waite and colleagues appears in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (Papers in Press, http://lshss. asha.org). SLI and Close Relationships in Adolescents Engagement in close friendships and romantic relationships becomes particularly significant in adolescence, but specific language impairment (SLI) may affect some teens’ level of emotional engagement, according to a study by Ruth Wadman and colleagues published in Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools (Papers in Press, http://lshss.asha.org/papbyrecent.dtl). Researchers examined the influence of language, behavioral, and social variables on the level of emotional engagement experienced by adolescents with and without SLI. Two groups of 16- and 17-year old adolescents (90 with SLI and 91 with typical language abilities) completed two assessment sessions. The group with SLI had significantly lower emotional engagement scores than the group with typical language abilities. Although CapTel can be used for emergency calling, such emergency calling may not function the same as traditional 911/E911 services. By using CapTel for emergency calling, you agree that Sprint is not responsible for any damages resulting from errors, defects, malfunctions, interruptions or failures in accessing or attempting to access emergency services through CapTel; whether caused by the negligence of Sprint or otherwise. Sprint reserves the right to modify, extend or cancel offers at any time without notice. Other restrictions apply. ©2010 Sprint. Sprint and logos are trademarks of Sprint. CapTel is a registered trademark of Ultratec, Inc. Other registration marks are the property of their respective owners. 20 September 21, 2010 http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/desc http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bpl/desc http://lshss.asha.org http://www.sprint800.com http://www.sprint800.com http://lshss.asha.org/papbyrecent.dtl http://lshss.asha.org http://lshss.asha.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ASHA Leader - September 21, 2010

The ASHA Leader - September 21, 2010
Contents
Teens at Risk: "We're on the Edge of an Epidemic"
Bottom Line
Audiology
New Fluency, Cognition Diagnosis Codes
Schools 2010: Learning and Leadership in Las Vegas
RTI Progress-Monitoring Tools
Classroom Acoustics: What Possibly Could Be New?
Schools Practice: New Research and Online Resources
From the President
Schools Survey Caseload Data
Internet
Identification and Treatment of Landau-Kleffner Syndrome
Buyers Guide
Classifieds
First Person on the Last Page

The ASHA Leader - September 21, 2010