Effects of phonemic awareness instruction on the encoding skills of children with severe speech impairment

Effects of adapted Letter-Sound correspondence instruction with older learners with complex communication needs and autism spectrum disorder

Individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) are often excluded from learning literacy skills that use phonological approaches due to challenges with verbal production of speech sounds. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of systematic literacy instruction with materials modified to teach letter-sound correspondences (LSC) to pre-adolescent and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) with minimal or no speech who use AAC. A single subject design across three letter-sound sets was used, with three individuals with ASD. A total of 12 LSC were targeted in the intervention. During the intervention, the participants were instructed using model, guided, and independent practice trials using low-tech letter tiles followed by two extension activities: letter sorting and initial letter-sound picture books. A functional relationship was established between the LSC intervention and the percent of correct responses on the LSC assessment probes. Very large and large effects sizes were calculated for all participants across the three LSC sets. The study adds to the very limited research base related to phonics instruction for older learners (ages 9 to 18) with ASD, demonstrating that LSC progress can still be made at an older age with systematic instruction.

Acquisition of Reading and Intellectual Development Disorder

We propose a review of the literature of the studies investigating reading acquisition in intellectual deficiency (ID), with particular focus on the explanatory factors for reading difficulties. Indeed, we explore the role of intellectual efficiency, perceptual abilities, oral language development, phonological processing and memory. The study of reading acquisition in ID is a challenge because of a high degree of heterogeneity in the results which, together with other variables influencing learning and development. This review has allowed us to understand that there are multiple reasons why individuals with ID have difficulty learning to read. More specifically, there is a link between reading skills and certain cognitive skills, such as perception, oral language, phonological processing and working memory.

An Investigation of Spelling in the Written Compositions of Students who Read Braille

This study examined the spelling skills in the written compositions of 20 students who read braille and offers further evidence that the skills of these students are similar to those of sighted students. The assessment of writing samples focused on the number of words spelled correctly and used an error analysis to describe patterns of spelling errors.

A model of phonological processing, language, and reading for students with mild intellectual disability

Little is known about the relationships between phonological processing, language, and reading in children with intellectual disability (ID). We examined the structure of phonological processing in 294 school-age children with mild ID and the relationships between its components and expressive and receptive language and reading skills using structural equation modeling. Phonological processing consisted of two distinct but correlated latent abilities: phonological awareness and naming speed. Phonological awareness had strong relationships with expressive and receptive language and reading skills. Naming speed had moderate relationships with these variables. Results suggest that children with ID bring the same skills to the task of learning to read as children with typical development, highlighting the fact that phonologically based reading instruction should be considered a viable approach.

Reading instruction for children who use AAC: considerations in the pursuit of generalizable results

Our purpose was to review evidence-based literacy instruction for children with severe speech impairment (SSI) who communicate with AAC. This review focuses on three issues important to researchers in this area: participant heterogeneity, assessment and instruction tasks, and research design. We found eight articles that reported attempts to teach phonological awareness and individual-word reading to a total of 26 children with SSI who used AAC. We evaluated these studies based on reporting of participant characteristics, assessment and instruction modifications, and the strength of research designs. We conclude by highlighting the need for standard assessments that can be used across studies, discussing strategies for facilitating meta-analyses, and suggesting the creation of an online database for researchers to share results on literacy instruction for this population.

Single-case experimental designs: a systematic review of published research and current standards

This article systematically reviews the research design and methodological characteristics of single-case experimental design (SCED) research published in peer-reviewed journals between 2000 and 2010. SCEDs provide researchers with a flexible and viable alternative to group designs with large sample sizes. However, methodological challenges have precluded widespread implementation and acceptance of the SCED as a viable complementary methodology to the predominant group design. This article includes a description of the research design, measurement, and analysis domains distinctive to the SCED; a discussion of the results within the framework of contemporary standards and guidelines in the field; and a presentation of updated benchmarks for key characteristics (e.g., baseline sampling, method of analysis), and overall, it provides researchers and reviewers with a resource for conducting and evaluating SCED research. The results of the systematic review of 409 studies suggest that recently published SCED research is largely in accordance with contemporary criteria for experimental quality. Analytic method emerged as an area of discord. Comparison of the findings of this review with historical estimates of the use of statistical analysis indicates an upward trend, but visual analysis remains the most common analytic method and also garners the most support among those entities providing SCED standards. Although consensus exists along key dimensions of single-case research design, and researchers appear to be practicing within these parameters, there remains a need for further evaluation of assessment and sampling techniques and data analytic methods.

Validação de itens para uma escala de avaliação da inteligibilidade de fala

TEMA: avaliação da inteligibilidade de fala. OBJETIVO: esta pesquisa objetivou desenvolver e validar itens para uma escala de inteligibilidade de fala a partir da fala de sujeitos com distúrbios fonológicos (DF) que apresentassem estratégias de reparo (ER) frequentes em Português Brasileiro (PB), através da testagem de sua eficácia para classificar a fala desses sujeitos. Também observou a inteligibilidade de fala gerada pelo uso das distintas ER e a possível interferência de variáveis como sexo, idade, escolaridade e contato com crianças entre os julgadores das amostras de fala. MÉTODO: assim, narrativas espontâneas de cinco crianças cujas falas representassem casos clínicos típicos e a de um sujeito controle foram apresentadas em compact disc (CD) a 103 juízes adultos, com habilidades auditivas normais, entre 18 e 39 anos de idade, com escolaridade fundamental, média e superior. RESULTADOS: os resultados demonstraram a validade estatística dos itens da escala e que o tipo de ER é fundamental no processo de inteligibilidade. Não houve interferência estatística das variáveis sexo, idade, escolaridade ou contato com crianças nos julgamentos realizados. CONCLUSÃO: os itens da escala foram validados e demonstraram eficácia na avaliação da inteligibilidade de fala dos casos estudados.

Predictors of reading comprehension in children with cerebral palsy and typically developing children

Predictors of reading comprehension were evaluated in 41 children with cerebral palsy and 74 typically developing children between the ages of 6 and 12 years. Regression analyses were conducted to determine the relative contributions of measures of phonemic awareness, receptive vocabulary, and general reasoning to variance in reading comprehension. All three independent variables were statistically significant predictors of reading comprehension in both groups of participants. The impact of phonemic awareness on reading comprehension was moderated by age, but only in the typically developing group. Within the group with cerebral palsy, there was an indirect effect of functional expressive ability on reading comprehension, mediated by phonemic awareness. It is concluded that largely the same variables predict reading comprehension in children with cerebral palsy as in typically developing children, but that children with cerebral palsy continue to rely on phonological processing for a more protracted period of time.

Teaching sound letter correspondence and consonant-vowel-consonant combinations to young children who use augmentative and alternative communication

The purpose of this study was to provide a preliminary examination of an intervention strategy designed to teach sound-letter correspondence and spelling of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) combinations to young children who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). A multiple baseline probe design across behaviors was used to assess the effects of the intervention on the percentage of correct responses provided by two participants on the target skills during free-choice play activities in the literacy center of inclusive classrooms. The results of this study provide preliminary support for the use of the intervention strategy within inclusive classrooms.

Language intervention practices for school-age children with spoken language disorders: a systematic review

PURPOSE

This systematic review focuses on peer-reviewed articles published since 1985 that assess the outcomes of language intervention practices for school-age students with spoken language disorders.

METHOD

We conducted computer searches of electronic databases and hand searches of other sources for studies that used experimental designs that were considered to be reliable and valid: randomized clinical trials, nonrandomized comparison studies, and multiple-baseline single-subject design studies.

RESULTS

The review yielded 21 studies concerning the efficacy or effectiveness of language intervention practices with school-age children since 1985. Eleven of the studies limited participants to children in kindergarten and first grade, and no studies were located that focused on students in middle grades or high school. The relatively high quality of the studies that met our criteria, and the moderate-to-high effect sizes we calculated for the majority of studies, suggests that clinicians can have some confidence in the specific language intervention practices examined.

CONCLUSION

The fact that only 21 studies met our criteria means that there is relatively little evidence supporting the language intervention practices that are currently being used with school-age children with language disorders. We outline significant gaps in the evidence and discuss the implications for clinical practice in schools.