Learning about Literacy: Speech-Language Pathologists' Pre-Service and In-Service Training Experiences in the United States.

To better understand speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') pre-service and in-service training experiences in literacy and the relationship between their literacy training experiences and current practice, self-efficacy, and beliefs regarding their roles in literacy assessment and treatment, a web-based survey of SLPs was conducted (n = 444). Responses revealed that 60% of respondents completed at least one literacy course in their graduate programs: 55% took courses that embedded content in literacy assessment or treatment, and 23% took courses dedicated to literacy. These results varied based on the decade of graduation. Although 73.5% of respondents felt that their graduate programs trained them well or very well to assess and treat spoken language, only 8.5% felt the same about literacy. Most respondents (80%) reported completing in-service literacy training, and 89% reported wanting more literacy training. Completion of in-service training was positively, significantly related to respondents' current literacy-related clinical practice, self-efficacy, and beliefs regarding their roles; however, pre-service literacy training was not significantly related to any of these. Though in-service training appears to play a role in helping SLPs deliver literacy services, more emphasis on increasing the quantity and quality of pre-service and in-service training in the assessment and treatment of literacy is needed.

Written Language Practice, Self-Efficacy, and Beliefs: A Survey of Speech-Language Pathologists Working With School-Aged Clients.

PURPOSE: This study examined the clinical practice, self-efficacy, and beliefs about assessing and treating written language among speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working with school-aged clients (aged 5-21 years) in school and nonschool settings in the United States. METHOD: A survey was completed by a nationwide sample of 344 SLPs working with school-aged clients in the United States. Statistical analyses were conducted to determine differences between (a) SLPs' self-efficacy in assessing and treating spoken versus written language and (b) school-based and non-school-based SLPs' clinical practice, self-efficacy, and beliefs about their roles with written language. RESULTS: All respondents reported significantly lower rates of self-efficacy in assessing and treating written language compared to spoken language, and their self-efficacy had a significant, positive relationship with the amount of clinical time devoted to written language. School-based SLPs devoted a significantly lower percentage of clinical time to written language, had significantly lower self-efficacy in addressing written language, and had lower rates of agreement on statements about their roles and responsibilities with written language compared to non-school-based SLPs. These differences were not found with spoken language. The most prevalent written language needs on respondents' workloads were reported as written expression (69.3%) and reading comprehension (66%). CONCLUSIONS: School-based and non-school-based SLPs report different levels of clinical time devoted to written language, self-efficacy in addressing written language, and beliefs about their roles in addressing written language. There is a need to investigate the reasons for these differences and the potential impact of preservice and in-service training in ameliorating them. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25511047.

Still having his say: David Yoder's legacy in AAC.

On February 2 2023, one of the guiding lights in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for more than four decades, David E. Yoder, passed away at the age of 90. A voracious reader and gifted storyteller, David was particularly fond of a quote from George Bernard Shaw's Back to Methuselah, "You see things; and you say 'Why?' but I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'" That vision led him to take on multiple leadership roles and influence the field of AAC in multiple ways. He played a pivotal role in establishing both the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC) and the United States Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (USSAAC). Additionally, he chaired the panel for the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR)'s inaugural Consensus Validation Conference on AAC, advocated for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to recognize AAC within the profession's scope of practice, and served as the first editor for the Augmentative and Alternative Communication journal. In this tribute, we describe David's diverse and unique contributions to improving the lives of people with communication challenges with a focus on some of his central insights and actions.

Teletherapy, AAC & COVID-19: the experiences of speech language pathologists providing teletherapy during a global pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic required many speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to transition to teletherapy service delivery. This study was designed to explore the experiences and perceptions of SLPs who made this transition with children with disabilities who used aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Semi-structured interviews were conducted virtually with 10 SLPs who provided regular teletherapy services to children who used AAC during but not before the pandemic. Interview transcripts were analyzed thematically using immersion, reduction, and constant comparison to understand SLP experiences and perceptions individually and across the group. Results reveal that despite the challenges faced transitioning to teletherapy, there were benefits. Furthermore, many of the participating SLPs developed successful strategies and solutions for the challenges they faced. Participants in this study highlighted the unique and important role that caregivers and parents played in the success of the teletherapy they provided. This study suggests that SLPs, caregivers, and children demonstrated resilience in the face of a large-scale, unforeseen change. SLPs consistently reported the ability to maintain continuity of care during a stressful transition period, while meeting the unique needs of the children who used AAC they served.

Wh - Question answering in children with intellectual disability.

This study investigated the ability of students with intellectual disability (ID) (n = 39) to answer questions beginning with different wh- question words presented in two referential conditions (i.e., with and without a picture). It also investigated participants' ability to answer questions that were more concrete (i.e., who, what, where) or abstract (i.e., when, why, how). Across conditions, the rank ordering of correct responses for each question word was: what, who, where, how, why, when. Logistic regression analysis revealed no overall statistical significance between the probability of answering questions correctly across referential conditions. Participants answered 89% of concrete and 56% of abstract questions correctly across both referential conditions, and logistic regression analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the probability of answering concrete and abstract questions. The results of this study point to the importance of learning more about ways to support students with ID with answering wh- questions.

Comprehensive Literacy Instruction, Interprofessional Collaborative Practice, and Students With Severe Disabilities.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this clinical focus article is to briefly describe comprehensive emergent and conventional literacy instruction for students with severe disabilities. Specific attention is given to interprofessional collaborative practice and the roles of team members in planning and delivering instruction. METHOD: A rationale for the delivery of comprehensive instruction that balances skill and meaning emphases is provided with reference to new college and career readiness standards, the literature on literacy acquisition for students without disabilities, and, when possible, the literature on literacy acquisition for students with severe disabilities. Specific instructional approaches are presented to demonstrate how teams can actively engage students with severe disabilities in instruction that is collaborative, participatory, and interactive. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Successful provision of comprehensive literacy instruction that allows students with severe disabilities to achieve conventional literacy takes time and the efforts of a collaborative interprofessional team. Speech-language pathologists play a critical role on these teams as they ensure that students with severe disabilities have the language and communication supports they need to be successful.

The profiles of students with significant cognitive disabilities and complex communication needs.

Understanding the characteristics of students with complex communication needs and significant cognitive disabilities is an important first step toward creating the kinds of supports and services required to help them successfully access the general education curriculum, achieve grade-level standards, and improve overall communication competence. The First Contact Survey was designed to collect important information about students with significant cognitive disabilities who were eligible to take the Dynamic Learning Maps™ (DLM(®)) alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards. From November 2012-May 2013, the survey was used to gather information regarding more than 44,787 students. At that time, the goal was to use the data to inform the development of the DLM assessment. Although the survey includes a wealth of information regarding this large sample of students, the reanalysis of the data reported in the current study focused on the motor, sensory, language, reading, and writing skills of students with significant cognitive disabilities, based on their speech production abilities. Significant differences were identified across each of the domains between students who do and do not use speech with or without aided augmentative and alternative communication.

Emergent literacy in children with autism: an exploration of developmental and contextual dynamic processes.

PURPOSE: This investigation describes emergent literacy skills, print motivation, and home literacy environments in a linguistically diverse group of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). METHOD: Emergent literacy skills were directly assessed in 41 children between the ages of 4 and 8 years. Parent report was solicited to provide additional information concerning the children's emergent literacy skills, as well as their print motivation and home literacy environments. The achievements of children with differential language abilities were compared, and associations among the children's language and emergent literacy abilities were explored. RESULTS: Narrowly, children with typical language achieved significantly higher scores on an emergent literacy composite than those with mild-to-moderate or severe language impairments; broadly, these scores were highly correlated (ρ = .56) with the children's language. Skill performance was varied but was characterized by relative strengths in discrete skills, such as letter name identification, and weaknesses in more holistic skills, such as print functions. Parents generally described the children as being motivated by print materials and the home environments as offering high levels of parent-child engagement in literacy activities. CONCLUSION: Profiles were associated with language and were illustrated by heterogeneity with potentially unequal achievements between code- and meaning-based skills. Implications for speech-language pathologists and other educators are provided.

The vocabulary of beginning writers: implications for children with complex communication needs.

One of the greatest challenges facing augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) professionals is providing children with complex communication needs with access to the vocabulary that they need in order to develop mature language and literacy abilities. The purpose of this study was to analyze the vocabulary used by typically developing early-elementary children in the United States and New Zealand when they write about self-selected topics, in order to inform practices with children with complex communication needs. The children's writing samples were compared across school ages and countries. The school age comparisons highlighted the relatively restricted range of vocabulary used by children in the earliest stages of writing development, and the country comparisons revealed differences in core vocabulary. The findings of this study hopefully will assist AAC professionals as they engage in selecting, prioritizing, and organizing vocabulary to support written language development in children with complex communication needs.

Automatic word recognition: the validity of a universally accessible assessment task.

In the current study, the validity of a task designed to assess the automatic word recognition skills of persons with complex communication needs was investigated. A total of 78 students without communication impairments in kindergarten through second grade completed a standard automatic word recognition task requiring oral reading of words presented for less than 0.25 s. The same students completed an experimental word recognition task that did not require a spoken response. Results support the validity of the experimental task. For example, the mean performance scores on both tasks decreased in the expected direction, and there was a significant correlation between the standard and experimental tasks. Other results suggest that the same trait was being measured by both tasks. The data highlight directions for future research and development of the experimental task, while leaving us enthusiastic about the future of the experimental task as a valid means of assessing automatic word recognition for persons with complex communication needs.

Literacy and visual impairment.

Research supporting specific instructional approaches for young children with visual impairments and blindness is limited. There is, however, a growing body of evidence to support the belief that the critical components of emergent and early conventional literacy for children with visual impairments do not differ markedly from those of their sighted peers. Specifically, infants and toddlers with visual impairments and blindness require interactions that support their oral language development, awareness of print or braille, and opportunities to explore writing. Although these very young children are often delayed in developing emergent literacy understandings, the path of their development is consistent with emergent literacy development of sighted children. The research regarding older children with visual impairments and blindness suggests that they too benefit from instruction that emphasizes the critical elements of early literacy instruction for all children. Research also suggests that specific strategies, such as repeated readings, direct instruction in phonics, and big word decoding that emphasizes morphemes, can benefit school-aged children with visual impairments and blindness. Further research is needed if we are to understand fully the most effective approaches to emergent and early literacy instruction for children with visual impairments and blindness, but there is a solid base from which we can begin.