Browsing by Subject "Language Development"

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    A Comparison of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia in Children with Autism or Typical Development Across Communicative and Cognitive Contexts
    (2020-07) Bangert, Katherine
    The diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and the assessment of its severity is impeded by the subjective nature of most diagnostic tools. Objective measurements are needed to assist diagnosis and treatment monitoring for ASD. This study investigates physiological responses of children with ASD compared to children who are developing typically, while completing tasks varying in social cognitive demands. The primary measure of interest is respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), a measure of parasympathetic nervous system response to the heart. Parasympathetic influence on the heart promotes a calmer state in a given environment. When parasympathetic activity increases, heart rate decreases and variability between heartbeats increases. RSA is a measure of variability in heart activity within parameters of the heart’s natural oscillatory patterns due to breathing. An increase in RSA is beneficial in some contexts that require social interaction, such as a child playing with their caregiver. A decrease in RSA is beneficial in contexts that require an increase in attentional and cognitive resources, such as an executive functioning task. In individuals with ASD, RSA has been found to differ across social and cognitive contexts. RSA in both contexts has also been found to predict performance on measures of social adaptability, language ability, and ASD symptom severity. This study compared RSA in 12 children with ASD and 8 children with typical development between the ages of 5 and 8 years across five communicative and cognitive contexts. We also investigated relationships between RSA values in each context to performance on standardized measures of cognitive, language, and social functioning. Children with ASD had significantly lower RSA in a speaking context, narrative language sample context, and executive functioning context than children with TD. For children with ASD, significant correlations were found between measures of RSA during the narrative and executive functioning contexts and expressive, receptive, and pragmatic language ability; ASD symptom severity; and parent reported measures of behavior and executive functioning abilities. The current study supports the view that RSA is a promising measure for use in assessment of ASD, and possibly a valuable tool for speech-language therapists working with this population. More research is warranted in a larger sample of children with ASD.
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    Effects of graphical feedback and coaching on the quantity and quality of parent-child language interaction.
    (2011-05) Rafdal, Brooke H.
    The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an intervention to enhance the quantity and quality of parent-child language interactions among families experiencing multiple social and environmental risk factors. Four mother-child dyads participated. Participants were recruited through local agencies that provided services to families. All dyads were monolingual, English speaking, living below the federal poverty line, and exhibiting low levels of parent-child language interaction at baseline. A multiple baseline design across mother-child dyads was employed to evaluate two levels of intervention: 1) parent education about the importance of talk in conjunction with graphical feedback; 2) direct parent training in language promotion strategies in addition to parent education and graphical feedback. Dependent variables included adult word count, child vocalization count, and conversational turn count collected during a 2-hour intervention period. Data were collected using the Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) system in the participant's natural home environment. Visual inspection of multiple baseline data indicated that the intervention was effective at increasing the amount parents talked to their children as well as the amount the children vocalized and the number of dyadic verbal exchanges the parent and child shared. The second phase of intervention, which included direct parent training on language promotion strategies, had the greatest impact on adult word count, child vocalizations, and conversational turns for 3 out of 4 dyads. Directions for future research and implications for implementing home-based language environment interventions are discussed.