Exploration of parental perspectives and involvement in therapeutic communication approaches for deaf and/or hard-of-hearing children at special schools in South Africa.

Family-centred intervention optimises the development of communication abilities and academic outcomes in children with hearing loss. Cognisance of family values, respect for family differences and adaptations to cultural and linguistic diversity ensure the collaboration of parent-professional relationships. This study investigated the parental involvement and parental perceptions regarding the communication intervention approaches implemented (i.

Language-specific neural dynamics extend syntax into the time domain.

Studies of perception have long shown that the brain adds information to its sensory analysis of the physical environment. A touchstone example for humans is language use: to comprehend a physical signal like speech, the brain must add linguistic knowledge, including syntax. Yet, syntactic rules and representations are widely assumed to be atemporal (i.

Late Talkers' Language, Metaphor, Theory of Mind, and Reading Skills at 9 Years of Age.

Purpose: Prior work has found that "late talkers" (LTs) as a group continue to demonstrate lower language and reading outcomes compared to their typically developing (TD) peers even into young adulthood. Others identified that children diagnosed with developmental language disorder (DLD) show difficulties later with theory of mind (ToM) tasks and metaphor comprehension, but there is a shortage of research specifically investigating these advanced skills in LTs. The current study therefore compared language-related skills of former LTs with their TD peers at school age.

Speechreading Ability Affects Mandarin Tone Perception in Young Adults With Prelingual Hearing Impairment in China.

Purpose: This cross-sectional study explored how the speechreading ability of adults with hearing impairment (HI) in China would affect their perception of the four Mandarin Chinese lexical tones: high (Tone 1), rising (Tone 2), falling-rising (Tone 3), and falling (Tone 4). We predicted that higher speechreading ability would result in better tone performance and that accuracy would vary among individual tones.

Method: A total of 136 young adults with HI (ages 18-25 years) in China participated in the study and completed Chinese speechreading and tone awareness tests.

Quantifying Tinnitus Perception Improvement: Deriving the Minimal Clinically Important Difference of the Minimum Masking Level.

Purpose: Tools that can reliably measure changes in the perception of tinnitus following interventions are lacking. The minimum masking level, defined as the lowest level at which tinnitus is completely masked, is a candidate for quantifying changes in tinnitus perception. In this study, we aimed to determine minimal clinically important differences for minimum masking level.

Cross- and Within-Language Associations Between Phonological, Lexical, and Grammatical Domains in Mandarin-English Bilingual Preschoolers in Singapore.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the associations of phonological, lexical, and grammatical skills within and between languages in Mandarin-English bilingual preschoolers.

Method: Sixty-three Singaporean Mandarin-English bilingual children aged 3-5 years were assessed for articulation, receptive vocabulary, and receptive grammar using standardized instruments in English and compatible tools in Mandarin. Regression analyses were performed on each language outcome, with other language variables as predictors, controlling for age, nonverbal working memory, and home language environment.

Speech therapy for exercise-induced laryngeal obstruction.

Introduction: Exercise- Induced Laryngeal Obstruction (EILO) can lead to disabling exercise related dyspnea and hamper participation in physical activity. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of a standardized speech therapy protocol as treatment for EILO.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with EILO at our institution were invited to participate.

Longer disease progression milestone-free time in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis treated versus not treated with intravenous edaravone: results from an administrative claims analysis.

To estimate time-to-progression milestones in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (PALS) treated versus not treated with intravenous (IV) edaravone (Radicava IV, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America [MTPA], hereafter "IV edaravone") in a real-world setting. IV edaravone is US FDA approved for the treatment of ALS and was shown in clinical trials to slow the rate of physical functional decline. This retrospective observational analysis included PALS continuously enrolled in Optum's Clinformatics Data Mart between 8 August 2017 and 31 December 2021.

Visual Stimulus Materials Used in Spoken Narrative Discourse Elicitation After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Scoping Review.

Purpose: Management of discourse is acknowledged as a critical component of speech-language pathology practice with cognitive communication after traumatic brain injury (TBI). This scoping review aimed to collate the visual materials that are being used in empirical research for spoken narrative elicitation post-TBI, in both assessment and treatment contexts. We aimed to examine the format, structure, and sources for visuals used.

Tripartite organization of brain state dynamics underlying spoken narrative comprehension.

Speech comprehension involves the dynamic interplay of multiple cognitive processes, from basic sound perception, to linguistic encoding, and finally to complex semantic-conceptual interpretations. How the brain handles the diverse streams of information processing remains poorly understood. Applying Hidden Markov Modeling to fMRI data obtained during spoken narrative comprehension, we reveal that the whole brain networks predominantly oscillate within a tripartite latent state space.

Gesture counteracts gender stereotypes conveyed through subtle linguistic cues.

Despite increased attempts to express equality in speech, biases often leak out through subtle linguistic cues. For example, the subject-complement statement (SCS, "Girls are as good as boys at math") is used to advocate for equality but often reinforces gender stereotypes (boys are the standard against which girls are judged). We ask whether stereotypes conveyed by SCS can be counteracted by gesture.

Neural estimation of mutual information in speech signals processed by an auditory model.

The amount of information contained in speech signals is a fundamental concern of speech-based technologies and is particularly relevant in speech perception. Measuring the mutual information of actual speech signals is non-trivial, and quantitative measurements have not been extensively conducted to date. Recent advancements in machine learning have made it possible to directly measure mutual information using data.

The affective iconicity of lexical tone: Evidence from standard Chinesea).

Previous studies suggested that pitch characteristics of lexical tones in Standard Chinese influence various sensory perceptions, but whether they iconically bias emotional experience remained unclear. We analyzed the arousal and valence ratings of bi-syllabic words in two corpora (Study 1) and conducted an affect rating experiment using a carefully designed corpus of bi-syllabic words (Study 2). Two-alternative forced-choice tasks further tested the robustness of lexical tones' affective iconicity in an auditory nonce word context (Study 3).

Clinical Features and Genetic Characteristics of XLID Patients With KDM5C Gene Mutations: Insights on Phenotype-Genotype Correlations From 175 Previous Cases and Identification of a Novel Variant.

Background: X-linked intellectual disability (XLID) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder that results in cognitive impairment and developmental delays. Mutations in the KDM5C gene have been identified as a causative factor in XLID. This study aimed to identify novel variants associated with XLID and to investigate the clinical and genetic characteristics of XLID patients with mutations in the KDM5C gene.

Evaluating the Effect of Various Pure Tone Averages on Cochlear Implant Candidacy Screening.

Objective: To provide evidence to use an extended frequency pure tone average to screen for cochlear implant evaluation candidates as recommended by the American Cochlear Implant Alliance. Additionally, to determine whether traditional low frequency, high or low frequency, high frequency, or extended frequency pure tone average most accurately predicts cochlear implant candidates based on speech perception scores from aided AzBio sentence testing or aided consonant-nucleus-consonant (CNC) testing.

Method: Adults from a tertiary care center who completed aided sentence testing during cochlear implant evaluation between 2014 and 2024 were assessed.

Intraoperative impedance and ECAP results in cochlear implant recipients with inner ear malformations and normal cochlear anatomy: a retrospective analysis.

Background: The intraoperative measurements are essential steps in cochlear implant (CI) surgery for confirming correct electrode placement.

Objectives: To examine the intraoperative impedance and electrically evoked action potential (ECAP) measurement results of cochlear implant (CI) users with normal cochlear anatomy (NCA) and to compare them with CI users with inner ear malformations (IEM).

Material And Methods: This retrospective study included intraoperative data of 300 ears from 258 individuals using Medel and Cochlear (Nucleus) CI devices.

Improving the early detection of aphasia in the acute phase of stroke: the contribution of a screening test.

Background: Aphasia is one of the most common and most debilitating after-effects of a stroke. In the acute phase of a stroke, referrals to speech-language pathology (SLP) are frequently guided by clinical impressions rather than validated tests.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the advantages of incorporating the Screening test for language disorders in adults and the elderly (DTLA) into clinical practice for detecting language disorders during the acute phase of stroke.

Association of volatile organic compound metabolites with hearing loss: unveiling their potential mechanism and intervention target.

Hearing loss (HL) is an otolaryngology disease susceptible to environmental pollutants. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as a class of chemical pollutants with evaporation propensity, pose a great threat to human health. However, the association between VOCs and HL remains unclear.

Speech-Language Pathology Interventions in Pediatric Awake Brain Surgery: A Moroccan and Global Perspective.

Introduction Awake brain surgery (ABS) is a groundbreaking technique that not only enhances tumor resection but also preserves vital neurocognitive functions, particularly through advanced brain mapping. Despite its success in adults, ABS in pediatric patients remains significantly underexplored, especially concerning the role of speech-language pathology (SLP) in these procedures. This study addresses this gap by providing a thorough examination of SLP interventions in pediatric ABS across various university hospitals, including those in Morocco and internationally.

Beyond sleep: Rest and activity rhythm as a marker of preclinical and mild dementia in older adults with less education.

Background: Although sleep duration and sleep-related breathing disorders were associated with dementia previously, few studies examined the association between circadian rhythm association and cognitive status.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the association of rest and activity rhythm with cognitive performance in older people with cognitive complaints and less education.

Methods: Activity rhythm was evaluated with wrist actigraphy in 109 community-dwelling older people with cognitive complaints without diagnosed dementia.

Modeling of auditory neuropathy spectrum disorders associated with the variant reveals impaired gap junction function of iPSC-derived glia-like support cells.

Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) is an auditory dysfunction disorder characterized by impaired speech comprehension. Its etiology is complex and can be broadly categorized into genetic and non-genetic factors. mutation is identified as a causative factor in ANSD.

Establishment of reference audiometric norms for the elderly population: A community-based study on mean and median hearing thresholds.

Background: This investigation quantifies the mean and median hearing thresholds and assesses the prevalence of age-related hearing loss within the senior population of Taipei.

Methods: In a substantive geriatric assessment supported by government initiative, 1696 individuals from a community hospital partook in this cross-sectional study (2016-2018). Detailed audiometric evaluations logged pure-tone thresholds across critical frequencies (0.

Cognitive component of auditory attention to natural speech events.

The recent progress in auditory attention decoding (AAD) methods is based on algorithms that find a relation between the audio envelope and the neurophysiological response. The most popular approach is based on the reconstruction of the audio envelope from electroencephalogram (EEG) signals. These methods are primarily based on the exogenous response driven by the physical characteristics of the stimuli.

Evaluating the Safety and Usability of an Over-the-Counter Medical Device for Adults With Mild to Moderate Hearing Loss: Formative and Summative Usability Testing.

Background: Only 15% of the nearly 30 million Americans with hearing loss use hearing aids, partly due to high cost, stigma, and limited access to professional hearing care. Hearing impairment in adults can lead to social isolation and depression and is associated with an increased risk of falls. Given the persistent barriers to hearing aid use, the Food and Drug Administration issued a final rule to allow over-the-counter hearing aids to be sold directly to adult consumers with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss at pharmacies, stores, and online retailers without seeing a physician or licensed hearing health care professional.

Pupillometry and perceived listening effort for cochlear implant users-a comparison of three speech-in-noise tests.

Objective: Measuring listening effort using pupillometry is challenging in cochlear implant (CI) users. We assess three validated speech tests (Matrix, LIST, and DIN) to identify the optimal speech material for measuring peak-pupil-dilation (PPD) in CI users as a function of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

Design: Speech tests were administered in quiet and two noisy conditions, namely at the speech recognition threshold (0 dB re SRT), i.