Background: Spoken discourse is commonly affected after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Although guidelines recommend prioritizing discourse-level skills in cognitive communication management, previous literature has highlighted challenges in managing discourse clinically. Little is known about how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) assess and…

Cerebral visual impairment is a high incidence visual issue with a prevalence rate of 3.4% of children in mainstream education (Williams et al., 2021). However, it is still a very unknown condition with very little awareness in the general public (Ravenscroft et al., 2021). The aim of this research was to better understand how CVI related visual…

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder estimated to affect around 1% of children worldwide. Although advances in pharmacological and behavioural treatments appear promising, there is a paucity of research, especially in New Zealand, where little is known about parents' and caregivers' attitudes and experiences. The current study aimed…

Background: The involvement of speech and language therapists (SLTs) within paediatric palliative care (PPC) settings has been recognized within the extant literature. However, there is little understanding of SLT's specific roles and practices when working with this vulnerable cohort of children and their families. As part of a larger body of…

Background: Concussion-related guidelines appear to be inconsistently implemented in secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. The purpose of this qualitative Participatory Action Research study was to describe key school stakeholders' perceptions of their current concussion management processes. Methods: Seventeen focus groups, two dyad, and…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe evidenced-based assessment practices for school-age children with any severity of traumatic brain injury (TBI) that could inform the practice of speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Method: A scoping review of the literature was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic…

Purpose: In healthy speakers, the more frequent and probable a word is in its context, the shorter the word tends to be. This study investigated whether these probabilistic effects were similarly sized for speakers with dysarthria of different severities. Method: Fifty-six speakers of New Zealand English (42 speakers with dysarthria and 14 healthy…

While discussions on patient engagement commonly focus on patient behaviors, a small body of research highlights the patient-practitioner relationship as critical in engagement. Understanding this relationship might be facilitated through a relationally-oriented methodology. The Voice Centred Relational Approach is one such qualitative…

This two-phase study investigated New Zealand primary school teachers' knowledge and perceptions of childhood mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI), and evaluated the effectiveness of a professional development workshop for enhancing teacher knowledge regarding mTBI. In phase one, 19 teachers from schools in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty engaged in…

New Zealand has few estimates of the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder and no national registry. The use of administrative data sources is expanding and could be useful in autism spectrum disorder research. However, the extent to which autism spectrum disorder can be captured in these data sources is unknown. In this study, we utilised three…

Approximately 15% of New Zealand children will experience a traumatic brain injury during their school years. Given that educators play an important role in facilitating the successful school re-entry and recovery of these students, it is paramount that educators have adequate knowledge of childhood traumatic brain injury. This study used an…

Introduction: Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) typically affects children's overall functioning in visually cluttered environments. This study aims to consider whether the removal of classroom clutter ameliorates visual problems and the associated behavioral difficulties for these children. Methods: Two classrooms at a special school were…

Purpose: To examine the cross-cultural applicability of the Communicative Participation Item Bank (CPIB) through a comparison of respondents with Parkinson's disease (PD) from the United States and New Zealand. Method: A total of 428 respondents--218 from the United States and 210 from New Zealand-completed the self-report CPIB and a series of…

Aim: Achondroplasia is characterized by delays in the development of communication and motor skills. While previously reported developmental profiles exist across gross motor, fine motor, feeding, and communication skills, there has been no prospective study of development across multiple areas simultaneously. Method: This Australasian…

In 2007, a 4-year longitudinal study of all people admitted to the two New Zealand spinal units commenced. It aims to (a) explore interrelationship(s) of body, self, and society for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and (b) investigate how entitlement to rehabilitation and compensation through New Zealand's Accident Compensation Corporation…