Pediatric Speech and Language Intervention via Telepractice

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Pediatric Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 11691

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, TX 79430, USA
Interests: paediatric speech and language development and disorders; telehealth; speech-language intervention; bilingualism

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Dept of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
Interests: pediatric speech sound disorders; infant speech development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Telepractice is the use of telecommunication technology for the delivery of speech language pathology services to children at a distance. A growing number of clinical research studies have investigated the efficacy, or effectiveness, of speech language pathology services via telepractice. During the past year, due to COVID-19, a number of educators and health care professionals have made rapid changes to telepractice service delivery models, and these practitioners have faced many challenges when implementing a speech language service via telepractice. There is an urgent need for more empirical evidence to evaluate the clinical evidence of effectiveness of telepractice service delivery models. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic is diminishing somewhat, healthcare practitioners may be asked to continue providing services via telepractice based on its advantages and usefulness. Thus, there is a strong need to discuss these challenges and solutions in order to make telepractice more effective in the future, in a variety of circumstances.

The goal of this Special Issue of Children is to highlight recent advances in empirical evidence in telepractice research. We welcome a small scale of well-designed empirical evidence or your expert opinion regarding how to implement telepractice more effectively.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Sue Ann S. Lee
Dr. Barbara Davis
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Telepractice
  • Children
  • Speech and language intervention
  • Speech and language assessment

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1178 KiB  
Article
Oral Narrative Intervention by Tele-Practice in a Case with Developmental Language Disorder
by Irina Iuliu and Verónica Martínez
Children 2021, 8(11), 1052; https://doi.org/10.3390/children8111052 - 14 Nov 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3267
Abstract
Background: A narrative requires the integration and management of linguistic and cognitive skills. It has been observed that children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have difficulties in narrating stories. This research proposes an intervention in a case of a child 9 years and [...] Read more.
Background: A narrative requires the integration and management of linguistic and cognitive skills. It has been observed that children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have difficulties in narrating stories. This research proposes an intervention in a case of a child 9 years and 2 months old with DLD, with the aim of improving his oral narrative skills through a retelling task via telepractice. Methods: In the evaluation, standardized tests have been used and a ‘remembering a story’ task, with a story titled The Lost Backpack, elaborated by one of the authors. Narratives were elicited in two sessions, and were transcribed, coded, and analysed using the Child Language Data Exchange System CHILDES Project tool. The participant received a total of 10 sessions through the Skype platform, which included intervention-addressed explicit instruction about the narrative structure and the use of discourse markers to improve cohesion in story retelling. Results: Significant changes were observed in the retelling of the story at microstructure and macrostructure levels: an increase of the Mean Length of Utterance (MLU), Types and Tokens, specific vocabulary, discourse markers and the recall of events. Conclusions: These results demonstrate the effectiveness of intervention in narrative skills through the oral retelling of a story with visual support via tele-practice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Speech and Language Intervention via Telepractice)
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17 pages, 436 KiB  
Article
Evaluating the Use of Telepractice for Bottle-Feeding Assessments
by Madeline Raatz, Elizabeth C. Ward, Jeanne Marshall and Clare L. Burns
Children 2021, 8(11), 989; https://doi.org/10.3390/children8110989 - 1 Nov 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2147
Abstract
There is currently limited evidence supporting the use of telepractice to conduct bottle-feeding assessments. This study aimed to investigate the inter-rater reliability of bottle-feeding assessments conducted via synchronous telepractice (real-time videoconferencing). Secondary aims were to investigate parent and clinician satisfaction. Bottle-feeding skills of [...] Read more.
There is currently limited evidence supporting the use of telepractice to conduct bottle-feeding assessments. This study aimed to investigate the inter-rater reliability of bottle-feeding assessments conducted via synchronous telepractice (real-time videoconferencing). Secondary aims were to investigate parent and clinician satisfaction. Bottle-feeding skills of 30 children (aged 1 month–2 years) were simultaneously assessed by a telepractice SP (T-SP) at a remote location and an in-person SP (IP-SP) at the family home. A purpose-designed assessment form was used to evaluate: (1) developmental level (screen only), (2) state, color, and respiration, (3) oral motor skills, (4), infant oral reflexes, (5) tongue tie (screen only), (6) non-nutritive suck, (7) bottle-feeding, (8) overall feeding skills and (9) recommendations. Results of the T-SP and IP-SP assessments were compared using agreement statistics. Parents reported perceptions of telepractice pre and post session, and also rated post-session satisfaction. The telepractice SP completed a satisfaction questionnaire post-appointment. The majority of assessment components (45/53, 85%) met the agreement criteria (≥80% exact agreement). Difficulties were noted for the assessment of palate integrity, gagging during non-nutritive suck assessment, and 6 components of the tongue tie screen. Parent and clinician satisfaction was high; SPs reported that they would offer telepractice services to 93% of families again in the future. Overall, the results demonstrated that most components of a bottle-feeding assessment could be reliably completed via synchronous telepractice in family homes. However, further research is required to improve the reliability of some intra-oral assessment components. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Speech and Language Intervention via Telepractice)
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11 pages, 249 KiB  
Article
Reliability, Validity, and Responsiveness of the Chinese Learning Accomplishment Profile (C-LAP)
by Deng Chen, Sikun Chen, Yilu Huang and Jinming Yu
Children 2021, 8(11), 974; https://doi.org/10.3390/children8110974 - 28 Oct 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1800
Abstract
Objectives: To evaluate the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the Chinese Learning Accomplishment Profile in China. Methods: 12,098 participants aged from 0 to 36 months from 30 provinces (mostly from Shanghai) in China were enrolled between 2013 and 2020. The reliability was reflected [...] Read more.
Objectives: To evaluate the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of the Chinese Learning Accomplishment Profile in China. Methods: 12,098 participants aged from 0 to 36 months from 30 provinces (mostly from Shanghai) in China were enrolled between 2013 and 2020. The reliability was reflected by Pearson correlation coefficients, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients and standard errors; the validity was shown by the coefficients between the dimensions, and we also evaluated the responsiveness as a supplement to the validity. Results: Reliability: in six domains among each subgroup, Pearson correlation coefficients between developmental age and chronological age ranged from 0.89 to 0.98, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients from 0.71 to 0.99, and standard errors from 0.15 to 2.76. Validity: after controlling for chronological age, the correlation coefficients between the dimensions were between 0.18 and 0.78, and most of them were below 0.70. Responsiveness: developmental age of all domains obtained via the Chinese Learning Accomplishment Profile system changed significantly (p < 0.001) with time (gap of 1–3 months), and the standardized response mean ranged from 0.66 to 2.45. Conclusions: The Chinese Learning Accomplishment Profile is suitable for assessing children’s development in Shanghai, but still needs confirmation when used in other provinces in China due to the great differences between regions in China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Speech and Language Intervention via Telepractice)
19 pages, 1126 KiB  
Article
Enhanced Milieu Teaching with Phonological Emphasis: A Pilot Telepractice Parent Training Study for Toddlers with Clefts
by Jennifer Philp, Paige K. Ellis, Nancy J. Scherer and Kari M. Lien
Children 2021, 8(9), 736; https://doi.org/10.3390/children8090736 - 26 Aug 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3110
Abstract
Objective: the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of training caregivers to use intervention strategies from the Enhanced Milieu Teaching with Phonological Emphasis (EMT + PE) program, delivered via telepractice, and to examine the effects on child speech and language [...] Read more.
Objective: the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of training caregivers to use intervention strategies from the Enhanced Milieu Teaching with Phonological Emphasis (EMT + PE) program, delivered via telepractice, and to examine the effects on child speech and language outcomes for children with repaired cleft lip +/− palate (CL/P). Design: A multiple baseline within subject design across parent behaviors was replicated across three participating dyads. A pre–post intervention comparison was provided with a non-cleft twin. Participants: Three mother-child dyads participated in this study. Children ranged in age from 21 to 27 months at the beginning of the study and all had a diagnosis of CL/P. A noncleft twin without CL/P was assessed pre- and post-intervention to provide a normative comparison. Results: Parents demonstrated a positive intervention effect by substantially increasing their use of EMT + PE intervention strategies during telepractice intervention sessions (Tau 0.675 to 1.1333). Following the conclusion of intervention, parents were able to maintain their use of strategies once direct coaching had been discontinued. Children demonstrated increased talking rate, improved speech production and expanded expressive vocabulary measures over the course of intervention. Speech and language development of a child without cleft palate was provided as a comparison. Conclusions: Parents were trained through telepractice to effectively deliver EMT + PE speech and language facilitation strategies that resulted in increased language and speech outcomes for their children with CL/P. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Speech and Language Intervention via Telepractice)
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