Department of Audiology, Speech and Language
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://197.255.125.131:4000/handle/123456789/23043
Browse
6 results
Search Results
Item Speaking of Online Learning: Alternative Practice-Based Learning Experiences for Speech Pathologists in Australia, Ghana and Hong Kong(International Journal of Practice-based Learning in Health and Social Care, 2022) Skeat, J.; Bampoe, J.O.; Booth, S.; et al.Speech Pathology programs usually send students to workplaces to learn clinical skills necessary for practice. During COVID-19, programs needed to respond quickly to ensure that students continued to gain the necessary experiences and skills required to progress through their program and graduate as clinicians, while simultaneously complying with COVID-19 requirements. Case studies from seven different universities in Australia and Ghana and Hong Kong described the diverse ways in which placements were adapted to be COVID-safe, taking into account local needs. Some practices which had been included in placement education prior to the pandemic, such as telepractice and simulation-based learning, extended and developed during this time. Educators, students, clinicians and clients responded to the rapidly changing needs of the time with flexibility and innovation, utilising a variety of technologies and tools to support case-based and virtual learning opportunities. Feedback from these diverse stakeholders about the experiences was positive, despite inevitable limitations and less-than-ideal circumstances. The positive findings provided insights for consideration in the future: could strategies implemented in response to the pandemic continue to be incorporated into placement experiences, enhancing current practices and maintaining student performance outcomes? Exceptional circumstances prompted exceptional responses; flexibility and innovation were accelerated in response to the pandemic and may transform future placement-based learning opportunities.Item Community service providers’ roles in supporting communication disability rehabilitation in Majority World contexts: An example from Ghana(International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 2020) Wylie, K.; Davidson, B.; Bampoe, J.O.; Amponsah, C.; McAllister, L.Purpose: In Majority World countries, where speech-language pathology services are extremely limited, people with communication disabilities may seek help from a range of 3 service providers. This qualitative research aimed to explore the nature of community services offered to people with communication disabilities who seek help in Accra, Ghana. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine individuals from three professions: pastors (3), doctors (3), and herbalists (3) exploring services that they may offer to PWCD seeking help. Interviews were analysed using Thematic Network Analysis. Result: Six global themes described beliefs about communication disability, types of intervention, explanations provided to people with communication disabilities, promoting communication, processes for selecting treatments, and links between service providers. Interventions encompassed physical, spiritual, psychosocial and environmental approaches, with the notion of plural beliefs interwoven through a number of themes. Conclusion: In Ghana, and other Majority World contexts, service providers in sectors not commonly associated with communication disability rehabilitation may have important roles to play in supporting people with communication disabilities. Understanding the contributions of other service providers may assist the growing profession of speech language pathology to collaborate across sectors, to develop specific, culturally responsive approaches to service development.Item Psychometrically Equivalent Fante Speech Recognition Threshold Materials by a Female Talker(Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2023) Honu-Mensah, C.M.; Offei, Y.N.; Owusu, N.A.V.; Anim-Sampong, S.Psychometrically Equivalent Fante Speech Recognition Threshold Materials by a Female Talker Abstract Purpose: This study aimed to create and evaluate digitally recorded speech materials for speech recognition threshold (SRT) testing among children and adults in Fante. Fifty-one (51) familiar trisyllabic words were chosen from a list of 107 widely used trisyllabic Fante words. They were digitally captured and edited to create the same root mean square as a 1-kHz calibration tone. Method: The study used a three-phase cross-sectional study method. Twenty native Fante speakers with normal hearing thresholds were selected at random for listener evaluation. For each of the words, the researchers used logistic regression to measure the slope, intercepts, and psychometric function slope at 50% and from 20% to 80%. In the study, the intensity of each word was modified digitally, so that the threshold at 50% of each word was equal to the mean pure-tone average (PTA) of the participants to increase the homogeneity of the thresholds of the selected words. Results: A final list of 25 familiar homogenous words with the same tone patterns of slopes greater than 7%/dB was finally selected and recorded for speech audiometry in Fante. Conclusions: Psychometrically equivalent trisyllabic words in Fante were successfully developed and evaluated for SRT testing in Ghana. There is a need for the development of speech audiometry materials in other Ghanaian languagesItem Barriers and Facilitators to Conversation: A Qualitative Exploration of the Experiences of People with Parkinson’s and Their Close Communication Partners(Brain Sciences, 2022) Wylie, K.; Carrier, H.M.; Loftus, A.M.; Thilakaratne, R.; Cocks, N.Conversations are an important part of our daily lives, enabling us to interact with others and participate in a range of activities. For people with Parkinson’s, conversation can be challenging when communication is impacted. This qualitative exploratory study investigated the experiences of people with Parkinson’s and their close communication partners in conversations. The study explored influences on conversational participation, considering perceived barriers and facilitators to participation in conversation for people with Parkinson’s. Interviews were conducted with eight dyads, with participants interviewed both jointly and separately (24 interviews). Five themes revealed that conversation appears to be influenced not only by the communication skills of the person with Parkinson’s, but also by factors associated with the communication partner, the complex nature of conversations, the communication environment, and the impact of experience in shaping participation in conversation. Specific barriers and facilitators to conversational participation were identified. This study offers important insight into the lived experience of people with Parkinson’s affected by communication difficulties. The findings support the notion that it is more than simply the communication skills of the person with Parkinson’s that influence conversations. It is important that other factors influencing conversational success should be included in interventions supporting communication for people with Parkinson’s.Item The importance of SDG 17 and equitable partnerships in maximising participation of persons with communication disabilities and their families(International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 2022) Dada, S.; Wylie, K.; Marshall, J.; Rochus, D.; Bampoe, J.O.Background: Equitable partnerships across borders, sectors and communities are integral in creating shared understanding, novel solutions and sustainable development. Sustainable development goal (SDG) 17: Partnerships for goals, focuses on strengthening global partnerships. This highlights the importance of partnership as a tool to support the achievement of all SDGs. Partnerships are particularly vital to creating sustainable and appropriate services to support people who experience communication or swallowing disability and their families, in under-served communities, where services and expert personnel may be limited and where innovative strategies are required for working with families and communities to improve service accessibility. Purpose: To reflect on key principles underpinning the creation of a speech–language pathologists’ (SLPs’) community of practice, designed to support SLPs from high-, low- and middle-income countries to develop equitable partnerships, aimed at supporting people who experience communication or swallowing disability their families. Result: We draw on the authors’ experiences of building partnerships to enhance participation for people who experience communication or swallowing disability. We discuss the need for global partnerships and challenges with current funding mechanisms. Conclusion: We use the principles of the speech–language pathology community of practice and concepts from the Partnership Accelerator 2030 Agenda to frame reflections and recommendations. This commentary paper focuses on partnerships for the goals (SDG 17).Item Processing of time reference in agrammatic speakers of Akan: a language with grammatical tone(Aphasiology, 2020-03-10) Amponsah, C.; Tsiwah, F.; Lartey, N.; Martínez-Ferreiro, S.; Popov, S.; Bastiaanse, R.Background: Languages of the world have several ways of expressing time reference. Many languages such as those in the Indo- European group express time reference through tense. Languages such as Chinese and Standard Indonesian express time reference through aspectual adverbs, while Akan does so through grammatical tone. Previous studies have found that time reference is selectively impaired, with reference to the past being more impaired than reference to the non-past. The PAst DIscourse LInking Hypothesis (PADILIH) posits that pastime reference is difficult because it requires discourse linking. Aims: The goal of this study was first to examine whether pastime reference is impaired also in languages that do not use grammatical affixes but rather tone, to make time reference. Second, this study aims to decouple the effect of tone from the effect of temporal reference on Akan verbs. Method and Procedures: Ten Akan agrammatic speakers and 10 non-brain-damaged speakers (NBDs) participated in this study. An Akan adapted version of the Test for Assessing Reference of Time (African TART), for both production and comprehension was used. The TART focuses on the future, present (habitual) and the pastime frames. Additionally, five of the agrammatic speakers performed two tonal discrimination tasks: a non-linguistic and a linguistic (lexical) one. Outcomes and Results: While the NBDs scored at ceiling, the agrammatic speakers made errors, and these affected past more than present and the future time references, in both comprehension and production tasks. However, the comprehension data showed a dissociation between the present habitual and the future. The substitution error analysis revealed a preference for the present. The five agrammatic speakers showed an intact performance on non-linguistic tonal discrimination task. Conclusion: The conclusion is that regardless of how time reference is expressed, whether through inflectional morphology or grammatical tone, reference to the past is problematic for individuals with agrammatic aphasia. The fact that the agrammatic speakers could perceive the non-linguistic tonal differences demonstrates that it is not tone in general that is disrupted, but rather time reference, particularly reference to the past, as predicted by the PADILIH.