Rhythm Perception in Speakers of Arabic, German and Hebrew.

Rhythm perception in speech and non-speech acoustic stimuli has been shown to be affected by general acoustic biases as well as by phonological properties of the native language of the listener. The present paper extends the cross-linguistic approach in this field by testing the application of the iambic-trochaic law as an assumed general acoustic bias on rhythmic grouping of non-speech stimuli by speakers of three languages: Arabic, Hebrew and German. These languages were chosen due to relevant differences in their phonological properties on the lexical level alongside similarities on the phrasal level.

The Face of Autism in Israel.

This article seeks to offer a comprehensive perspective on autism in Israel, aligning with global reports. It aims to serve as a foundational resource for policymakers in developing relevant support and point to unmet needs. The data was drawn from publications by Israeli government authorities and academic publications.

Listening Preference for Child-Directed Speech Versus Time-Reversed Speech in Moderate-Preterm Infants Compared to Full-Term Infants.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to examine whether there is a listening preference for child-directed speech (CDS) over backward speech in moderate-preterm infants (MPIs).

Method: Eighteen MPIs of gestational age of 32.0 weeks (range: 32-34.

Characteristics of Lexical Stress in Hebrew-Speaking Children With Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to explore the ability of Hebrew-speaking children with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) to produce lexical stress.

Method: A total of 36 children aged between 4 and 7 years, 18 children with CAS, and 18 typically developing (TD) children participated in the study. All children completed language and speech assessments.

An escalating continuum of learning and attention difficulties from premutation to full mutation in female carriers of expansion.

Objective: Carriers of Fragile X premutation may have associated medical comorbidities, such as Fragile X-associated tremor and ataxia (FXTAS) and Fragile X-associated premature ovarian insufficiency (FXPOI). We examined the Fragile X premutation effect on cognition, and we assumed that there is a direct correlation between the continuous spectrum of specific learning and attention deficits to the number of CGG repeats on the gene.

Methods: A total of 108 women were referred to our center due to a related Fragile X syndrome (FXS) patient, 79 women carried a premutation of 56-199 repeats, and 19 women carried a full mutation of more than 200 CGG repeats on gene.

Executive Function and Working Memory Deficits in Females with Fragile X Premutation.

The Fragile X premutation is a genetic instability of the gene caused by 55-199 recurrences of the CGG sequence, whereas there are only 7-54 repeats of the CGG sequence in the normal condition. While males with the premutation of Fragile X were found to have difficulties in executive functions and working memory, little data have been collected on females. This study is among the first to address executive functions and phonological memory in females with the Fragile X premutation.

The Myth of Women's Advantage in Using Child-Directed Speech: Evidence of Women Versus Men in Single-Sex-Parent Families.

Purpose: Differences between child-directed speech (CDS) by women and men are generally explained by either biological-evolutionary or gender-social theories. It is difficult to tease these two explanations apart for different-sex-parent families because women are usually also the main caregivers. Thus, this study aims to examine the influence of parental sex on CDS by investigating men and women who are in same-sex-parent families.

Comparing Theory of Mind Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder, and Typical Development.

Background: Theory of mind (ToM) is the ability to recognize, comprehend, and consider oneself's and others' mental states and perspectives to predict and explain behaviors and motivations. It is widely accepted that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience difficulties with ToM. However, there are also findings suggesting that ToM abilities might also be compromised in children with Developmental Language Disorders (DLD).

The validity of LENA technology for assessing the linguistic environment and interactions of infants learning Hebrew and Arabic.

The present study assessed LENA's suitability as a tool for monitoring future language interventions by evaluating its reliability, construct validity, and criterion validity in infants learning Hebrew and Arabic, across low and high levels of maternal education. Participants were 32 infants aged 3 to 11 months (16 in each language) and their mothers, whose socioeconomic status (SES) was determined based on their years of education (H-high or L-low ME-maternal education). The results showed (1) good reliability for the LENA's automatic count on adult word count (AWC), conversational turns (CTC), and infant vocalizations (CVC), based on the positive associations and fair to excellent agreement between the manual and automatic counts; (2) good construct validity based on significantly higher counts for HME vs.

Identification and Comprehension of Narrow Focus by Arabic-Speaking Adolescents With Moderate-to-Profound Hearing Loss.

Purpose: Processing narrow focus (NF), the stressed word in the sentence, includes both the perceptual ability to identify the stressed word in the sentence and the pragmatic-semantic ability to comprehend the nonexplicit linguistic message. NF and its underlying meaning can be conveyed only via the auditory modality. Therefore, NF can be considered as a measure for assessing the efficacy of the hearing aid (HA) and cochlear implants (CIs) for acquiring nonexplicit language skills.

Challenges Surrounding the Diagnosis of Autism in Children.

This comprehensive thematic review aims to highlight and familiarize readers with the challenges and pitfalls encountered in differential diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in children to facilitate the process of accurate identification by stakeholders. Accordingly, articles that best answer our questions and highlight our concerns were chosen from well-established publishers with prime peer reviewed journals. Included are studies showing alternate views of the issues so as to point readers to other possibilities.

The Bouba-Kiki Effect in Children With Childhood Apraxia of Speech.

Purpose: The (BK) effect refers to associations between visual shapes and auditory pseudonames. Thus, when tested, people tend to associate the pseudowords and with round or spiky shapes, respectively. This association requires cross-modal sensory integration.

Infants' Preference for Child-Directed Speech Over Time-Reversed Speech in On-Channel and Off-Channel Masking.

Purpose This study aims to examine the development of auditory selective attention to speech in noise by examining the ability of infants to prefer child-directed speech (CDS) over time-reversed speech (TRS) presented in "on-channel" and "off-channel" noise. Method A total of 32 infants participated in the study. Sixteen typically developing infants were tested at 7 and 11 months of age using the central fixation procedure with CDS and TRS in two types of noise at +10 dB signal-to-noise ratio.

Functional Communication Profiles of Children and Youth with Autism: A Roadmap to Therapeutic and Educational Interventions.

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) entails varied developmental pathways along the entire lifespan, demanding early and ongoing diverse and responsive interventions to children's needs. This study examined in situ education and development attained by children and youth with ASD in a school with a therapeutic and educational curriculum.

Objectives: (1) Construct individual communication profiles in educational and developmental aspects.

Associations and Dissociations among Phonological Processing Skills, Language Skills and Nonverbal Cognition in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of phonological processing in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as it pertains to their nonverbal cognitive and linguistic abilities.

Methods: Twenty-one participants between the ages of 9 and 21 years were administered a nonverbal cognitive assessment (Raven test), a language measure that requires receptive and expressive knowledge of semantics, syntax and morphology, as well as the integration across these language domains (CELF-4), and a measure of phonological processing (CTOPP).

Results: Results show that performance on nonword repetition (NWR) that reflects an aspect of phonological memory was significantly low, whereas performance on phoneme reversal, phoneme elision, blending words and memory for digits was within the normal range.

Robust effects of stress on early lexical representation.

This study aims to elucidate the factors that affect the robustness of word form representations by exploring the relative influence of lexical stress and segmental identity (consonant vs. vowel) on infant word recognition. Our main question was which changes to the words may go unnoticed and which may lead the words to be unrecognizable.

Orthographic, Phonological, and Semantic Dynamics During Visual Word Recognition in Deaf Versus Hearing Adults.

Purpose Studies on reading in individuals with severe-to-profound hearing loss (deaf) raise the possibility that, due to deficient phonological coding, deaf individuals may rely more on orthographic-semantic links than on orthographic-phonological links. However, the relative contribution of phonological and semantic information to visual word recognition in deaf individuals was not directly assessed in these studies. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to examine the interplay between orthographic, phonological, and semantic representations during visual word recognition, in deaf versus hearing adults.

Comprehension of "Narrow Focus" by Adolescents in the Autism Spectrum.

Objective: The study compared the performance of adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) to that of age-matched peers with typical development (TD) and cognitive language-matched peers with TD on measures of identification and comprehension of "narrow focus."

Participants: Forty-nine participants, 17 autistic, 17 TD peers matched for age and sex, and 15 TD children matched for expressive vocabulary participated in the study.

Method: The Hebrew Narrow Focus Test (HNFT) was used.

International Survey of Speech-Language Pathologists' Practices in Working with Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Objective: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental impairment. To better understand the role of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in different countries in supporting children with ASD, the International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (IALP) Child Language Committee developed a survey for SLPs working with children or adolescents with ASD. Method and Participants: The survey comprised 58 questions about background information of respondents, characteristics of children with ASD, and the role of SLPs in diagnosis, assessment, and intervention practices.

Recognition and Comprehension of "Narrow Focus" by Young Adults With Prelingual Hearing Loss Using Hearing Aids or Cochlear Implants.

Purpose: The stressed word in a sentence (narrow focus [NF]) conveys information about the intent of the speaker and is therefore important for processing spoken language and in social interactions. The ability of participants with severe-to-profound prelingual hearing loss to comprehend NF has rarely been investigated. The purpose of this study was to assess the recognition and comprehension of NF by young adults with prelingual hearing loss compared with those of participants with normal hearing (NH).

The bouba-kiki effect and its relation to the Autism Quotient (AQ) in autistic adolescents.

The bouba-kiki effect refers to the correspondence between arbitrary visual and auditory stimuli. Previous studies indicate ASD persons' reduced bouba-kiki effect compared to controls. This study examines the relation between ASD symptomology and performance on the bouba-kiki task.

The effect of listening experience on the discrimination of /ba/ and /pa/ in Hebrew-learning and Arabic-learning infants.

Unlabelled: Infant speech discrimination can follow multiple trajectories depending on the language and the specific phonemes involved. Two understudied languages in terms of the development of infants' speech discrimination are Arabic and Hebrew.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study was to examine the influence of listening experience with the native language on the discrimination of the voicing contrast /ba-pa/ in Arabic-learning infants whose native language includes only the phoneme /b/ and in Hebrew-learning infants whose native language includes both phonemes.