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  Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises and Their Effectiveness in Treating Dysphonia

  Bryce Baker

  This session will overview the definition and effectiveness of semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) exercises in individuals with muscle tension dysphonia (Meerschman et al., 2019). Semi-occluded vocal tract exercises will be summarized, and their efficacy reviewed. SOVT exercises will be reviewed. (Kapsner-Smith, M. R., et al., 2015).

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  Augmentative & Alternative Communication and Early Language Development of Children with ASD

  Amanda Baum

  People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face challenges in the areas of social skills and verbal/nonverbal communication, with a wide range of severities. For many with autism, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices provide an effective method of expressing themselves, connecting with others, and navigating their world. However, myths about AAC persist, especially in the context of early speech and language development. The importance of early intervention for children with autism, including consideration of a multimodal AAC approach tailored to the needs of the child, will be discussed. Future considerations for research will also be presented.

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  The Effects of Cochlear Implants and Hearing Aids on Reading Comprehension in Children: A Literature Review

  Shelby Callahan

  A cochlear implant, or CI, is a device surgically implanted by a specialist. The CI has a wire, which contains electrodes, that is lead through the cochlea. The electrodes stimulate the auditory nerve, which provides the perception of sound for the brain, for those who are deaf or severely hard of hearing. Hearing aids, by contrast, are removable devices that are used to amplify sound for people who have residual hearing. Much like the earpiece of a CI, hearing aids are hooked around the back of the ear but are taken in and out of the ear canal by the user (ASHA). Reading comprehension is the ability to understand what you are reading. Reading comprehension is an interactive process that occurs before, throughout and after reading a particular piece of text. There are many factors that are known to influence reading comprehension, some of which are orthographic decoding, vocabulary knowledge, previous world awareness or experience, accessibility of this information from the long term memory, knowledge of story configuration, as well as inference making (Asker-Árnason, Wass, Gustafsson, Sahlén, 2015). Many studies have emphasized the immense difficulties that numerous children with severe to profound prelingual hearing loss experience in acquiring literacy skills. Some agreement has been come to regarding the degree of these difficulties, however, there is less agreement about the etiology of these reading and writing difficulties (Harris, Terlektsi, and Kyle, 2017). This review aims to provide an overview and analysis of the current research regarding children who use cochlear implants and hearing aids and their reading comprehension development.

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  A Look at How Vocal Coaching Techniques for Singers Could Be Used to Increase the Effectiveness of Melodic Intonation Therapy on Stroke Patients

  Eric Dalbey

  Although people who suffer strokes can lose the ability to speak, their ability to sing may be retained. The areas of the brain associated with speaking and singing use an area on the left side of the brain; however, singing also uses frontal parts of the right side of the brain which are unaffected by a left hemisphere stroke affecting speech. Melodic Intonation Therapy is used to exploit this pathway.

  The overlap between speech and singing can be most easily observed through the shared characteristics of melody (prosody) and rhythm (rate). MIT will use some common words and the clinician will teach the client these phrases by having them sing them while tapping their left hand. The phrases are intoned on just 2 pitches; “melodies” are determined by the phrases’ natural rise and fall of the chosen words.

  This presentation compares and contrasts the current techniques of teaching MIT against vocal coaching techniques that are normally reserved exclusively for singers. The hope of this exercise is to enrich the current MIT techniques with new ideas that may prove to increase the effectiveness and success of this evidence-based strategy to further help clients with left hemisphere strokes affecting their speech.

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  Factors and Implications Related to Self-Esteem in Adolescents Who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing

  Clarissa Dingus and Elizabeth Haldeman

  This presentation will describe why self-esteem has a major impact on a student’s personal well-being. Students who are Deaf/ hard of hearing (D/HH) often face greater challenges with self-esteem than their hearing peers. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the many factors that impact self-esteem in adolescents and college students who are D/HH. This will provide professionals who work with these populations a better understanding of what these individuals are facing, so they can provide more holistic treatment.

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  The Impact of Shared-Book Reading on Expansion of Vocabulary Development in Late Elementary Aged Children.

  Kathryn Hessi, Lena Minton, Leah Rider, and Kailyn Rozell

  This research is focused on the effect of shared-book reading on tier 2 vocabulary development compared to children who read independently. Shared-book reading consists of implementing interactive reading strategies, such as asking questions, highlighting, making predictions, making requests, commenting, and expanding on the text. To assess gained vocabulary knowledge, The Power of Meta: Vocabulary Booster program would be used with chosen vocabulary words to measure the child’s semantic awareness based on the ratings they provide towards the chosen target words. The subjects of this research study will include students ages 7-10 who have developed independent reading skills.

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  Identifying the Relationship between Fluency Disorders and ADHD in Adolescents

  Sarah Johnson

  It is an intricate task when treating children and adolescents who stutter. Therefore, this poster will provide an overview of the relationship between attention deficit hyperactive disorders (ADHD) and fluency disorders. The poster will present definitions, symptoms, diagnostic methods, and treatment methods as they relate to addressing fluency concerns in children with ADHD. The relationship between fluency disorders and attention deficit hyperactive disorders in adolescents will be explained. The available treatment methods for fluency disorders in children with ADHD comorbidity with cluttering will also be summarized.

  Learner Outcomes

  1. Participants will have a greater understanding of how fluency disorders present in adolescents with ADHD.

  2. Participants will have specific strategies related to the diagnostic process of fluency disorders in adolescence with ADHD.

  3. Participants will be able to differentially diagnose stuttering vs. ADHD.

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  Developing a Better Understanding of Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC) in Girls & Women

  Elyssa S. Male

  Today, professionals are creating goals that are teaching and reinforcing autistic students to mask, but long-term masking causes mental-health issues and suicide in autistic clients.