H M Harbers | PubMed Health

PubMed1996

Moving toward a systemic training model in a university program.

While the medical model continues to provide a basis for clinical service and the preparation of future speech-language pathologists, the instructor who teaches and uses systemic principles enriches the world view of students and prepares them for new roles being assumed by speech-language pathologists. Experiences of the author are described as she became aware of systemic principles and began teaching them to undergraduate and graduate students. Two formal strategies are discussed. These are linked to a Triadic Interaction Model and a Family-Based Treatment model. Students commented favorably on their experiences as they attempted to learn systemic principles and put them into practice in their clinical practicum.

Humans↗

PubMed1995

Measuring children's lexical diversity: differentiating typical and impaired language learners.

This study evaluated the extent to which measures of lexical diversity (type-token ratio and number of different words produced) differentiated children with specific language impairment (SLI) from children whose language skills were following typical developmental expectations. Analysis of 50- and 100-utterance samples revealed that children with SLI did not significantly differ from their age- and language-equivalent peers on type-token ratio; however, children with SLI did use significantly fewer different words than their age-equivalent peers in these samples. When samples of 100 and 200 tokens were considered, the children with SLI also used significantly fewer different words than their age-equivalent counterparts. Overall, the findings of this study discourage the use of type-token ratio, as traditionally calculated, in many clinical and research activities related to children with SLI. In contrast, the number of different words produced provides a more sensitive and informative estimate of lexical diversity.

Child Language↗