The following paper provides an overview of public health research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with emphasis on research involving speech, language and hearing disorders. Public health research involves a sequence of activities from disease tracking to disease prevention. Public health focuses on populations and works…

The pragmatic mapping process and its variants have proven effective in second language learning and teaching. The goal of this paper is to show that the same process applies in teaching and intervention with disordered populations. A secondary goal, ultimately more important, is to give clinicians, teachers, and other educators a tool-kit, or a…

Purpose: To examine the prevalence and characteristics of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries reporting a communication disability and the relationship between that disability and dissatisfaction with medical care. Method: A total of 12,769 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey respondents age 65 and older in 2001 were categorized by level of…

Jaw movement patterns were examined longitudinally in a 3-year-old male with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and compared with a typically developing control group. The child with CAS was followed for 8 months, until he began accurately and consistently producing the bilabial phonemes /p/, /b/, and /m/. A movement tracking system was used to…

In this interview, Dave Krupke, retired speech-language pathologist in the Davenport, Iowa public schools, describes "See The Sound/Visual Phonics," whose shortened name is "Visual Phonics," and its use with struggling readers and students with communication disabilities. What distinguishes See The Sound/Visual Phonics from…

There is growing interest in the role that physical illness and pain might play in exacerbating problem behavior in individuals with developmental disabilities. Assessment of these factors, however, is often difficult since many individuals have minimal verbal communication skills. In response to this difficulty, we developed a sequential method…

Little evidence-based research has been published within the field of communication disorders on the role of dogs as catalysts for human communication. This single participant study, a point of entry into this realm of research, explores the effects of a therapy dog on the communication skills of a patient with aphasia receiving intensive speech…

The purpose of this study is to provide new perspectives on correlates of phonetic transcription agreement. Our research focuses on phonetic transcription and coding of infant vocalizations. The findings are presumed to be broadly applicable to other difficult cases of transcription, such as found in severe disorders of speech, which similarly…

The current study investigated the effectiveness of an integrated word identification and communication intervention for children with complex communication needs. Using a nonconcurrent, multiple baseline design, the study involved three participants who completed 75 lessons across 4 to 6 weeks of instruction. All three participants improved their…

Resurgence refers to the recovery of previously extinguished responding when a recently reinforced response is extinguished. Although the topic of resurgence has received limited experimental attention, there recently have been an increased number of investigations involving the topic. This increased experimental attention also has been…

Preliminary findings and implications from this study were presented at the 45th Annual Convention of the International Reading Association in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 30, 2000. The author would like to express sincere gratitude to the kindergarten teacher who cooperated with this study and willingly allowed the researcher unlimited access to…

The paper describes specific techniques developed for utilizing tap dance and creative movement to facilitate speech, language, and auditory training in children with communication disorders. The integration of auditory training with speech and language activities is noted, as is the importance of incorporating movement, sound, rhythm, and…

The paper describes the efforts of Purdue University to meet the continuing professional education (CPE) needs of professionals serving the communicatively handicapped through audio, video, and computer teleconferencing. Two types of interactive television programs are currently provided: videotapes of invited speakers and participant discussion…

The report describes activities and accomplishments of a project examining facilitative effects of manual signs on oral language comprehension of communication disordered but normal hearing students. The initial section details background and pre-grant studies leading up to the project effort. Studies touched upon such aspects as presentation…

The book describes techniques for helping nonspeaking individuals to communicate. The first section focuses on equipment, presenting information on materials and instructions for constructing such equipment as communication boards for children who need a looking response; boards or trays for children with motor control problems; brief-case-style…