The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on speech and language therapy services in Ireland: A mixed-methods survey at two time points during the pandemic.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ireland implemented a series of stringent public health measures, including lockdowns and suspension of non-urgent clinical services.

Aims: To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for and delivery of speech and language therapy (SLT) services in Ireland in 2020.

Methods & Procedures: Two iterations of a cross-sectional, mixed-methods online survey were distributed to speech and language therapists (SLTs) and SLT students in Ireland in the spring and autumn of 2020 using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling.

Correction: Global TALES feasibility study: Personal narratives in 10-year-old children around the world.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Feasibility of Using the Global Tales Protocol to Elicit Personal Narratives in 10-year-Old Children in Ireland.

Introduction: This small-scale study explored the feasibility of the Global TALES protocol in eliciting personal narratives in typically developing monolingual Irish children, using the online Zoom platform. We investigated children's performance on measures of productivity (total number of utterances; total number of words) and syntactic complexity (MLU in words). We also documented the topics children talked about in response to the six emotion-based prompts contained in the Global TALES protocol.

Global TALES feasibility study: Personal narratives in 10-year-old children around the world.

Personal narratives make up more than half of children's conversations. The ability to share personal narratives helps build and maintain friendships, promotes physical and emotional wellbeing, supports classroom participation, and underpins academic success and vocational outcomes. Although personal narratives are a universal discourse genre, cross-cultural and cross-linguistic research into children's ability to share personal narratives is in its infancy.

Understanding the perspectives of children and young people with speech, language and communication needs: How qualitative research can inform practice.

Much of the published research is "on" rather than "with" children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), children's views must be considered and taken into account in all matters affecting them. In this paper, we discuss ways in which innovative qualitative methods have been used to explore the views of children and young people with SLCN.

New perspectives, theory, method, and practice: Qualitative research and innovation in speech-language pathology.

Research in speech-language pathology has been dominated by experimental, empirical, and scientific approaches, which build on hypothesis testing and logical, deductive reasoning. Qualitative approaches stem from a different paradigm or world view which imply different questions and methodologies which, for example, emphasise codesign, reciprocity, individual experience and context. This article explores the relationship between qualitative inquiry in the field of speech-language pathology and innovation.

"So, I told him to look for friends!" Barriers and protecting factors that may facilitate inclusion for children with Language Disorder in everyday social settings: Cross-cultural qualitative interviews with parents.

Purpose: Although researchers have explored parental perspectives on childhood speech and language disorders, this work has mostly been conducted in English-speaking countries. Little is known about parental experiences across countries. Participation in the COST Action IS1406 'Enhancing children's oral language skills across Europe and beyond' provided an opportunity to conduct cross-cultural qualitative interviews.

Impact of language disorders on children's everyday lives from 4 to 13 years: Commentary on Le, Mensah, Eadie, McKean, Schiberras, Bavin, Reilly and Gold (2020).

This paper by Le et al. (2020) is a valuable addition to the literature because it provides evidence regarding the trajectories of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children with language disorders from the ages of 4-13 years. The authors found that higher language scores were associated with better HRQoL particularly in the school and social domains.

Cultural and Linguistic Practice with Children with Developmental Language Disorder: Findings from an International Practitioner Survey.

Background: The cultural and language diversity across many European countries presents a range of challenges and opportunities for speech and language therapists and other practitioners working with children with developmental language disorders (DLD) and their families.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore practitioners' perceptions of cultural and linguistic differences in response to children with DLD across different countries.

Methods: A survey was developed by practitioners and researchers working with children with DLD across Europe and beyond as part of the work of Cost Action IS1406.

Stage 1 Registered Report: The experiences and perceptions of parent-child interaction therapy for parents of young children with communication difficulties: A qualitative evidence synthesis protocol.

Parent-child interaction therapy refers to a group of interventions mediated by trained parents to address areas of developmental difficulties in children. In the field of speech and language therapy it is used in early intervention for children with speech, language and communication difficulties. The intervention involves training parents and caregivers on the importance of responsivity and language input in daily interactions and coaches them on strategies to implement these with the children.

Collaboration between parents and SLTs produces optimal outcomes for children attending speech and language therapy: Gathering the evidence.

Background: Collaboration between parents and speech and language therapists (SLTs) is seen as a key element in family-centred models. Collaboration can have positive impacts on parental and children's outcomes. However, collaborative practice has not been well described and researched in speech and language therapy for children and may not be easy to achieve.

Working with the parents and families of children with developmental language disorders: An international perspective.

Background: The relationship between parental input and child language development has had a complex history. It has become clear that indirect parent training for the parents of children with delayed language development is an important feature of interventions offered by speech and language therapists in the anglophone countries. Yet we know less about how this type of approach is realised in other countries.

Language assessment of monolingual and multilingual children using non-word and sentence repetition tasks.

The number of children speaking more than one language as well as the number of languages spoken in Ireland has increased significantly posing a problem for timely identification of children with language disorder. The current study aims to profile performance of monolingual and multilingual children on language processing tasks: non-word repetition (NWR) and sentence repetition (SR). We used: (1) Crosslinguistic (CL) and English Language-Specific (LS) NWR and (2) SR in English, Polish and Russian.

Listening to the voice of children with developmental speech and language disorders using narrative inquiry: Methodological considerations.

There are policy and theoretical drivers for listening directly to children's perspectives. These perspectives can provide insights to children's experiences of their daily lives and ways in which they construct their multiple identities. Qualitative methodology is a useful research paradigm with regard to exploring children's experiences.

Well-Being and Resilience in Children With Speech and Language Disorders.

Purpose: Children with speech and language disorders are at risk in relation to psychological and social well-being. The aim of this study was to understand the experiences of these children from their own perspectives focusing on risks to their well-being and protective indicators that may promote resilience.

Method: Eleven 9- to 12-year-old children (4 boys and 7 girls) were recruited using purposeful sampling.

Social participation for people with communication disability in coffee shops and restaurants is a human right.

Although Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "everyone has a right to freedom of opinion and expression", for people with communication disability this may not be a reality. This commentary shares a practical example of how people with communication disabilities together with speech-language pathology (SLP) students, academics and clinical staff co-designed and co-implemented a Communication Awareness Training Programme for catering staff to enable communication access in coffee shops and restaurants. This is an example of how SLPs can embrace their social responsibility to break down barriers for people with communication disabilities.

Communication as a human right: Citizenship, politics and the role of the speech-language pathologist.

According to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." The purpose of this paper is to elucidate communication as a human right in the life of a young man called Declan who has Down syndrome. This commentary paper is co-written by Declan, his sister who is a speech-language pathologist (SLP) with an advocacy role, his SLP, and academics.

Labels, identity and narratives in children with primary speech and language impairments.

Purpose: There has been debate about labels in relation to speech and language impairments. However, children's views are missing from this debate, which is risky considering that labels with negative associations may result in stigma. The aim of this study was to explore the range of identities which children with primary speech and language impairments presented in their narratives and to investigate their evaluations of these identities with a view to understanding the values they attach to labels.

Non-attendance and utilization of a speech and language therapy service: a retrospective pilot study of school-aged referrals.

Background: Non-attendance and inappropriate referrals affect the effective and efficient running of healthcare services. Non-engagement with speech and language therapy (SLT) services may lead to negative long-term consequences for children in need of SLT intervention. Currently there is a dearth of research on non-attendance and non-engagement with SLT services.

Services for children with central auditory processing disorder in the Republic of Ireland: current and future service provision.

Purpose: An interdisciplinary research group was established to investigate current and future service provision for children with central auditory processing disorder ([C]APD) in the Republic of Ireland. The aim of Phase 1 was to identify current awareness and knowledge of (C)APD among the relevant professionals in Ireland, including level of service provision, if any, available for children with (C)APD. The aim of Phase 2 was to explore the initial steps required to develop an integrated service for children presenting with (C)APD.

An examination of how speech and language therapists assess and diagnose children with specific language impairment in Ireland.

Three criteria for diagnosing specific language impairment (SLI) are defined in the literature: exclusionary definitions, inclusionary definitions, and qualitative markers. However, the assessment and diagnosis of this complex impairment in clinical practice can be challenging. The aims of this research were twofold: (1) to make explicit the current assessment procedures which speech and language therapists (SLTs) use when they diagnose children with SLI in Ireland, and (2) to explore SLT's perceptions and experiences of the process of diagnosing children with SLI.