PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “Language Therapy”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 685 records · Page 38Linked to original sources

Fourteen-year follow-up of children with and without speech/language impairments: speech/language stability and outcomes.

This report concerns the speech and language outcomes of young adults (N = 242) who participated in a 14-year, prospective, longitudinal study of a community sample of children with (n = 114) and without (n = 128) speech and/or language impairments. Participants were initially identified at age 5 and subsequently followed at ages 12 and 19. Direct assessments were conducted in multiple domains (communicative, cognitive, academic, behavioral, and psychiatric) at all three time periods. Major findings included (a) high rates of continued communication difficulties in those with a history of impairment; (b) considerable stability in language performance over time; (c) better long-term outcomes for those with initial speech impairments than for those with language impairments; and (d) more favorable prognoses for those with specific language impairments than for those with impairments secondary to sensory, structural, neurological, or cognitive deficits. These general conclusions held when either a liberal or a more stringent criterion for language impairment was employed. Some of these findings are consistent with those from earlier follow-up studies, which used less optimal methods. Thus, the present replication and extension of these findings with a sound methodology enables greater confidence in their use for prognostic, planning, and research purposes.

Adolescent↗

Effects of treatment on linguistic and social skills in toddlers with delayed language development.

This study investigated the effects of early language intervention on various linguistic and social skills of late-talking toddlers. The 21 children who participated in the investigation were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 11) or a control (delayed-treatment) group (n = 10). The experimental group participated in a 12-week clinician-implemented language intervention program. Groups were compared at pretest and posttest on five linguistic variables: Mean Length of Utterance, Total Number of Words, Number of Different Words, Lexical Repertoire, and Percentage of Intelligible Utterances, as well as on Socialization and Parental Stress. Significant group differences were found for each of the variables, indicating facilitative effects of the treatment. Notably, increases were observed in areas that were not specifically targeted by the intervention. Implications of these results are discussed with respect to considerations regarding clinical management decisions for toddlers with delayed language development.

Child Language↗

Language development in children with spina bifida.

Spina bifida meningomyelocele (SBM) is the most common severely disabling birth defect in North America. It is a disorder of the central nervous system that includes, in addition to the defining spinal dysraphism, congenital malformations of the cerebellum and corpus callosum that, along with hydrocephalus, produces a range of cognitive and motor difficulties, including language. In the language domain, many children with SBM demonstrate adequate development of language at the level of form and content (grammar and lexicon). However, most children with SBM experience significant difficulties in the construction of meaning and in pragmatic communication, both of which require flexible language processing in real time. Assessment and intervention should specifically attend to the development of meaning construction and semantic-pragmatic communication.

Child↗

Linguistic outcomes following traumatic brain injury in children.

Recent studies of outcome after traumatic brain injury (TBI) emphasize the adverse effect of diffuse brain injury on linguistic development. This article reviews studies of lexical development, discourse processes, and reading in children and adolescents with TBI. The child's developmental level at the time of injury is related to the pattern of deficits. Young children who sustain severe TBI are particularly vulnerable to linguistic deficits at both lexical and discourse levels. TBI in older children and adolescents preferentially disrupts higher-order discourse functions. The contribution of deficits in fundamental processes, such as working memory and processing speed, to linguistic outcomes requires further investigation.

Adolescent↗

Reading comprehension: a language intervention target from early childhood through adolescence.

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) play an important role in helping children and adolescents with language impairments to construct meaning from spoken and written language. They work in collaboration with other professionals and families to provide the optimal learning experiences and to introduce strategies for seeking meaning and monitoring understanding. This article describes language intervention techniques to enhance reading comprehension, including the development and enhancement of background knowledge and schemata, vocabulary, knowledge of text structure, and strategy use. The discussion includes suggestions for young children who are developing language comprehension, as well as for elementary students and secondary students who comprehend text with increasing independence.

Adolescent↗

Direct interventions for improving the performance of individuals with Alzheimer's disease.

Direct interventions are being used increasingly to maintain and improve the communicative and cognitive functioning of patients with Alzheimer's dementia. Speech-language pathologists can play an integral role in maximizing the functioning of dementia patients by selecting appropriate direct interventions that capitalize on spared neuropsychological abilities to compensate for impaired abilities. Successful direct interventions use techniques that facilitate learning and retention of information and skills. In this article, direct intervention techniques-repeated exposure via spaced retrieval training and quizzes; errorless learning; multisensory stimulation using music, toys, pets, and memory wallets; and other approaches to cognitive-linguistic stimulation such as the use of personal computers; the Montessori method; and activity programming-are reviewed. The rationale for use of these direct interventions and available efficacy data with Alzheimer's patients also are presented.

Aged↗

Language-based intervention for phonological disorders.

Children with phonological disorders often display difficulty in other domains of language. Language-based approaches focus on all aspects of language; therefore, little attention may be drawn to sound errors and these may not be specific targets of intervention. These approaches involve a variety of naturalistic, conversationally based techniques such as focused stimulation in the form of expansions and recasts, scaffolding narratives, and elicited production devices such as forced choice questions, cloze tasks, and preparatory sets. Results from well-controlled group studies are inconclusive regarding the cross-domain effects of morphosyntax approaches on phonology. There are, however, individual children whose phonology improves with a language-based approach. Preliminary evidence suggests that such an approach may be an appropriate choice for children with both speech and language impairments whose phonological systems are highly inconsistent. One advantage of a language-based approach is that it may lead to simultaneous improvements in both speech and language for children with difficulty in both these domains. It is also a viable option when service delivery dictates classroom and collaborative settings. When a language-based approach is chosen for children with phonological disorders, it is imperative that the practitioner monitor phonological progress closely to ensure its effectiveness.

Child↗

Pivotal responses and the natural language teaching paradigm.

This article discusses the identification of pivotal behaviors for maximizing the impact of intervention for children with autism. Language deficits are not likely to make sufficient improvement unless pivotal variables, such as motivation, are addressed in the design of intervention programs. Pivotal target behaviors related to such children's motivation to engage in social communication are discussed, and their integration into a Natural Language Teaching Paradigm is described. Of particular interest are variables related to child choice, the use of natural reinforcers, the interspersal of maintenance trials to build behavioral momentum, and reinforcing communicative attempts. When used in combination to motivate the children to engage in and initiate communicative interactions, the impact on development can be considerable in terms of rate of acquisition, generalization of gains, and normalization of language development.

Autistic Disorder↗

Peer-mediated social intervention for young children with autism.

In this paper, we trace the history of peer-mediated intervention for young children with autism. Special attention is paid to outcomes achieved, implementation strategies, practicality, combining peer-mediation and naturalistic teaching, and overall conclusions from 20 years of study.

Autistic Disorder↗

Use of the family to facilitate communicative changes in adults with neurological impairments.

Systemic concepts may be used to expand upon the traditional notion that family members influence the outcome of treatment services to adults with neurological communicative disorders. Several systemic concepts are discussed and illustrated as they are used with different clients having (1) aphasia, (2) right cerebral hemisphere dysfunction, and (3) progressive dementia. Discussion focuses on determining the unit of treatment with which to work, promoting and measuring positive communicative changes, and selecting effective intervention techniques.

Adult↗

Developing study, organization, and management strategies for adolescents with language disabilities.

Developing strategies for learning is important for all individuals, but even more so for students who have difficulty learning and processing information. Because many students with language disabilities have not developed a repertoire of such strategies or do not actively apply the strategies they know, direct instruction in this area is imperative. It is also important that any strategy taught is functional, easily and directly applied to present learning situations, and easy to generalize. Determining the variables in a learning situation (the script) should provide appropriate choices and direction for strategic teaching and learning. The acquisition of strategies involves direct, explicit teaching and requires time for modeling, practice, and discussion. Using a cognitive strategy model is critical because it supports the later use and generalization of strategies, but it is important to explore various models for strategy instruction and to work collaboratively with students and teachers. The SLP can provide direct instruction, consultation, or training, or can facilitate a collaborative model among professionals. In so doing, her impact may reach throughout a life, because learning strategies are life strategies, and if learned they are tools forever.

Adolescent↗

Neural deficits in children with dyslexia ameliorated by behavioral remediation: evidence from functional MRI.

Developmental dyslexia, characterized by unexplained difficulty in reading, is associated with behavioral deficits in phonological processing. Functional neuroimaging studies have shown a deficit in the neural mechanisms underlying phonological processing in children and adults with dyslexia. The present study examined whether behavioral remediation ameliorates these dysfunctional neural mechanisms in children with dyslexia. Functional MRI was performed on 20 children with dyslexia (8-12 years old) during phonological processing before and after a remediation program focused on auditory processing and oral language training. Behaviorally, training improved oral language and reading performance. Physiologically, children with dyslexia showed increased activity in multiple brain areas. Increases occurred in left temporo-parietal cortex and left inferior frontal gyrus, bringing brain activation in these regions closer to that seen in normal-reading children. Increased activity was observed also in right-hemisphere frontal and temporal regions and in the anterior cingulate gyrus. Children with dyslexia showed a correlation between the magnitude of increased activation in left temporo-parietal cortex and improvement in oral language ability. These results suggest that a partial remediation of language-processing deficits, resulting in improved reading, ameliorates disrupted function in brain regions associated with phonological processing and produces additional compensatory activation in other brain regions.

Brain↗

Neuropsychological treatment and longtime follow-up in an aphasic patient with very severe head trauma.

A 44-year old man with very severe head trauma had pronounced global aphasia and dyslogia for months. He received intensive neuropsychological treatment during the first two posttraumatic years and gradual improvement occurred. Notwithstanding sensory aphasia and at least moderate dementia, the patient then got sheltered work in a library. At that time a general follow-up examination took place and information on memory, language, and personality was obtained from the spouse. The procedure was repeated in exactly the same way ten years later. The great improvement in language and cognitive functions that had occurred during the decennium revealed itself in daily life as well as in clinical and psychometric findings. The case described shows that recovery neuropsychological functions can take place during many years after very severe head trauma.

Adult↗

Effects of a cycled morphological intervention on selected suppletive BE forms.

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the efficacy of a cycled morphological intervention involving copula is, by comparison to a control group, and to examine the effectiveness of this intervention in producing change in untreated auxiliary is and am. Twenty-two preschool children, who produced copula is but no other suppletive forms of BE as targets, received six sessions of naturalistic intervention cycled over 24 weeks. Production accuracy levels for treated copula and untreated auxiliary is and am were obtained from spontaneous language samples elicited after 12 and 24 weeks of intervention. The cycled intervention resulted in significant improvement in copula is in comparison to the no-treatment control group at the 12 week sampling point; similar gains were observed for the untreated auxiliary is, but not am. After 24 weeks, however, gains in untreated am were significantly greater than for copula is, providing new data to suggest that generalization may also be observed for the suppletive am.

Child↗

Organizing language intervention relative to the client's personal experience: a clinical case study.

An analysis is presented of two different therapeutic activities designed for a profoundly deaf adult with cerebral palsy, DP. The study draws on techniques of qualitative methodology to identify elements that contribute to effective intervention practices for DP. Results indicate that therapeutic materials and activities must first of all be relevant to the client's needs, interest, and personal experience to be maximally effective. The results are consistent with recent research on language and language development, particularly the cognitive linguistic view that our linguistic knowledge is rooted in our experience with the world (Kecskes). These results are also consistent with a "socially valid and consumer focused method of tracking outcome" (Simmons-Mackie and Damico) in that language intervention must typically capture the personal experience of communicatively disordered individuals. Specific recommendations are made for optimizing language intervention.

Adult↗