Effects of Age on the Bone-Conduction Amplitude-Modulated cVEMP Temporal Modulation Transfer Function.

Objectives: Cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (cVEMPs) reflect saccular stimulation that results in an inhibitory muscle reflex recorded over the sternocleidomastoid muscle. These responses are utilized to study basic vestibular functions and are also applied clinically. Traditionally, cVEMPs have utilized transient stimuli such as clicks and tonebursts to evoke onset responses.

Stakeholder Perspectives on Retention Strategies for Rehabilitation Professionals: A Qualitative Study.

There is a scarcity of health human resources worldwide. In occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech-language pathology (S-LP), attrition and retention issues amplify this situation and contribute to the precarity of health systems. Therefore, we aimed to investigate retention strategies for rehabilitation professionals in Quebec.

Examining Personal Identity and the Influence of an Occupation-Based Prevocational Program Following Traumatic Brain Injury: A Multiple Case Study.

Individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) experience and live with physiological, psychological, and social impacts of their injury throughout their lives, including changes in one's sense of personal identity. This qualitative multiple-case study examines the lived experiences of four individuals living with brain injuries and how participation in occupation-based community programming interacts with post-injury sense of self. Study data reveal a dynamic relationship between occupational participation and personal identity that suggests ongoing post-acute occupational therapy services can support recovery including aspects of identity reformation.

Using High-Speed Videoendoscopy to Analyze Laryngeal Closure Parameters During Normal Swallow.

Objective: This pilot study was designed to test the tolerability of a lower scope position and feasibility of custom-designed MATLAB graphical user interface (GUI) used to analyze playback review of laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy (laryngeal HSV) during healthy volitional dry swallows. We hypothesized this method would conceptually provide time resolution for glottic closure events compared with standard (30 frames per second, fps), and enable a means to measure timing, sequence, and duration of laryngeal movements during swallowing not otherwise visualized.

Methods: A total of 14 healthy adults (4 male, 22-80 years) participated.

Predictive Strength of Auditory Maturity Across Different Levels of Language Ability: An Exploratory Quantile Regression Study.

Auditory evoked potential-age (AEP-age) is proposed to index auditory maturation and has been found to predict language skills in children with and without a language disorder. However, reporting average effects using linear regression does not fully capitalize on the potential of AEP-age to estimate individual differences in young children. This study used a quantile regression approach to examine the predictive utility of AEP-age for 105 typical and neurodiverse 7-10-year-old children (61 males; 44 females; largely monolingual English) with varying language skills without creating subgroups.

Neural correlates of phonetic categorization under auditory (phoneme) and visual (grapheme) modalities.

This study assessed the neural mechanisms and relative saliency of categorization for speech sounds and comparable graphemes (i.e., visual letters) of the same phonetic label.

Recorded Word Recognition Testing Is Worth the Time.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to provide evidence of the inherent variability associated with monitored live voice (MLV) presentation methods and encourage audiologists to more closely follow best practice of using recorded stimuli. To accomplish the goal, administration times for word recognition testing were compared between MLV and MP3 recorded stimuli presented directly from an audiometer (computer assisted, CA). Furthermore, the variability of administration time across testers was evaluated.

Neural Tracking to Auditory Statistical Structures in Children.

Children's brain is able to track the linguistic structures in continuous speech. When there was no prior knowledge, we found that children also automatically detected and tracked the statistical structures in auditory tone steam as reflected by neural entrainment, but their ability was immature.

Homocysteine, neurodegenerative biomarkers, and APOE ε4 in neurodegenerative diseases.

Introduction: Elevated plasma homocysteine (Hcy) is associated with an increased risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases; however, its relationship with the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele has not been well characterized.

Methods: Participants clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment (AD/MCI), frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson's disease, or cerebrovascular disease were stratified by the presence of the APOE ε4 allele. Volumetric magnetic resonance imaging, plasma amyloid/tau/neurodegeneration biomarkers, and cognitive performance were quantified.

Unlocking the Potential of Pediatric Virtual Care: An e-Delphi Study on a Virtual Caregiver Participation Framework in Audiology.

Purpose: Virtual service delivery models in audiology have become more accessible due to recent technological advancement and improved system-level uptake following COVID-19. Although current evidence identifies the benefits of virtual care to families with children who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing and supports its use in practice, this delivery model is still underutilized. This research aimed to gain consensus on an evidence-informed virtual caregiver participation framework developed from a scoping review of the communication sciences and disorders literature.

An integrated empirical and computational study to decipher help-seeking behaviors and vocal stigma.

Background: Professional voice users often experience stigma associated with voice disorders and are reluctant to seek medical help. This study deployed empirical and computational tools to (1) quantify the experience of vocal stigma and help-seeking behaviors in performers; and (2) predict their modulations with peer influences in social networks.

Methods: Experience of vocal stigma and information-motivation-behavioral (IMB) skills were prospectively profiled using online surveys from a total of 403 Canadians (200 singers and actors and 203 controls).

How Does Our Voice Reflect Who We Are? Connecting the Voice and the Self Using Implicit Association Tests.

Purpose: This study examined the contribution of voice to the self via implicit associations.

Method: An implicit association test (IAT) of the voice and the self was created and presented to vocal performers and community controls. One-hundred eleven participants completed this voice-self IAT, the Vocal Congruence Scale (VCS), and the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) via an in-person, monitored, and timed Qualtrics survey.

Parent-Reported Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder-Linked Behaviors, Fatigue, and Language in Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to find out if children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH), particularly those without substantially delayed language, appear to be at risk for overreporting of inattentive and hyperactive behaviors and if attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) measures are influenced by the presence of language-based items, by child language skills, and by child and parent report of fatigue.

Method: This study included 24 children with typical hearing, 13 children with hearing aids (HA), and 16 children with cochlear implants (CI) in second through sixth grade. Parents of children in each group completed a measure reporting on inattentive and hyperactive behaviors, social and academic outcomes, and general fatigue for their child.

Vocal Effort in Clinical Settings of North and South American Countries: Characterization From Argentinian, Chilean, Colombian, and the United States Clinician's Reports.

Background: In voice clinics, vocal effort is a prevalent complaint, with around 25% of clinicians citing it as the primary issue.

Aim: This study had two objectives. First, it sought to establish the prevalence of vocal effort, both as the primary and the only symptom, among patients receiving treatment from clinicians specializing in voice disorders in various countries across South and North America.

Thoughts From the Front Lines: Canadian Perspectives in Adopting and Implementing Recommended Clinical Labels in Preschool Speech-Language Pathology.

Purpose: Previous literature has proposed barriers to speech-language pathologists (SLPs) using standard clinical labels; however, the perspectives of SLPs have been studied to a lesser extent. This quality improvement project reports on SLPs' perceived barriers and facilitators to using currently recommended clinical labels for preschool communication disorders and identifies next steps to support implementation in one preschool communicative health system.

Method: This project aimed to establish the consistent use of clinical labels in one large Canadian preschool speech and language program.

Impact of Transoral Robotic Surgery Versus Radiation on Swallowing Function in Oropharyngeal Cancer Patients: A Sub-Study From a Randomized Trial.

Background: This ORATOR sub-study evaluated swallowing physiology in patients treated with transoral robotic surgery (TORS) versus radiotherapy (RT) for early-stage oropharynx cancer.

Methods: Swallowing physiology was evaluated using videofluoroscopy and outcomes were compared across treatment arms and correlated with MDADI scores.

Results: Of the 68 patients in the ORATOR trial, 21 participated in this sub-study (30.

Shifting from a female-dominated profession: The perceptions and experiences of male students in communication sciences and disorders.

Introduction: A longstanding aim of the American Speech and Hearing Association is to diversify professional representation. Despite their efforts, a prevalent disparity in male representation persists. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of males currently enrolled in a speech-language pathology (SLP) program to better understand barriers to entering the field and identify ways to increase the number of males practicing as speech-language pathologists.

Acoustic features of vocalizations in typically developing and autistic infants in the first year.

Background: We describe acoustic patterns across the five most prominent vocal types in typically developing infants (TD) and compare them with patterns in infants who develop autism (ASD) or a developmental disability (DD) not related to autism. Infant-directed speech (IDS) is a potentially important influence on such vocal acoustic patterns. Both acoustic patterns and effects of IDS are important for understanding the earliest origins of communication disorders.

Inclusive Soundscapes: How Race, Socioeconomic Status and Maternal Age Influence the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Journey.

Objective: This study aimed to assess how race, social vulnerability, and maternal age influence pediatric cochlear implant access and usage.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort.

Setting: Tertiary Pediatric University Hospital.

Barriers and facilitators to providing rehabilitation for long-term care residents with dementia: a qualitative study.

Background: Rehabilitation can help long-term care (LTC) residents with dementia maintain their independence. However, many residents do not receive rehabilitation. This study aimed to identify the barriers and facilitators to providing rehabilitation for LTC residents with dementia and propose practical interventions for overcoming them.

Spectral weighting functions for localization of complex sound. III. The effect of sensorineural hearing lossa).

Spectral weighting functions for sound localization were measured in participants with bilateral mild sloping to moderately severe, high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and compared to normal hearing (NH) participants with and without simulated SNHL. Each participant group localized three types of complex tones, comprised of seven frequency components spatially jittered and presented from the horizontal frontal field. A threshold-elevating noise masker was implemented in the free field to simulate SNHL for participants with NH.