Browsing by Author "Kohnert, Kathryn"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Common factors in speech-language treatment: Exploring qualities of effective clinicians.
    (2010) Ebert, Kerry Danahy; Kohnert, Kathryn
    Research in related fields that employ behavioral interventions indicates that factors common to treatment programs may be more important to successful outcomes than specific components of a treatment. Applying this concept to speech-language pathology, we investigated one hypothesized “common factor,” namely, the clinician who implements treatment. Data were collected from limited samples of speech-language clinicians in two surveys. In Study One, 79 participants responded to open-ended questions about the nature of effective clinicians. A thematic analysis of their responses resulted in three broad categories of characteristics: behavior, traits, and acquisitions. These themes were incorporated into an online survey for Study Two, in which 158 clinicians rated the importance of 25 clinician qualities. Their ratings suggested that the clinician-client relationship may be particularly important to treatment outcomes. These preliminary findings provide a foundation for further research on the clinician’s contribution to treatment efficacy.
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    Language learning impairment in sequential bilingual children
    (2016) Ebert, Kerry Danahy; Kohnert, Kathryn
    We review and synthesize empirical evidence at the intersection of two populations: children with Language Learning Impairment (LLI) and children from immigrant families who learn a single language from birth and a second language beginning in early childhood. LLI is a high incidence disorder that, in recent years, has been referred to by researchers and clinical educators as specific language impairment (SLI), primary language impairment (PLI), developmental language disorder or language disorder not otherwise specified. Over the past two decades, significant international attention has been directed at the LLI-sequential bilingual learner interface. Researchers have developed linguistic profiles of children with LLI who are learning different language pairs, investigated the diagnostic accuracy of various measures and, more recently, examined the relative efficacy of different treatment protocols. Participants in these studies range in age from 3 to 12 years. A main goal of this review is to relate available evidence to key theoretical and pedagogical issues. An additional aim is to indicate main areas of need for future research.
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    Nonlinguistic cognitive treatment for primary language impairment.
    (2009) Ebert, Kerry Danahy; Kohnert, Kathryn
    Children with primary or ‘specific’ language impairment (PLI) demonstrate subtle deficits in nonlinguistic cognitive processing skills that may play a causal or contributing role in PLI. Our purpose was to investigate the possibility that short-term treatment of nonlinguistic cognitive processing skills improves language abilities in school-aged children with PLI. Two children with severe PLI participated in a treatment study following a single-subject multiple-baseline design across participants and skill areas. Treatment activities targeted auditory memory and speed of processing for visual information. Results of both repeated dependent measures and pre- and poststandardized language testing indicated that participants made gains in expressive language skills, particularly naming. This preliminary evidence suggests that treatment of nonlinguistic cognitive processing skills may facilitate change in some areas of language skill. Treatment of nonlinguistic processing skills should be further explored as a complement to more traditional language interventions.
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    Spanish nonword repetition: Stimuli development and preliminary results.
    (2008) Ebert, Kerry Danahy; Kalanek, Jocelyn; Cordero, Kelly Nett; Kohnert, Kathryn