ACQ Vol 13 No1 2011

Language disorders

From the editors Marleen Westerveld and Kerry Ttofari Eecen

Contents

1 From the editors 2 Group treatment for people with aphasia: A review of the benefits according to the ICF framework – Tami Howe, Annette Rotherham, Gina Tillard, and Christine Wyles 7 Effects of topic familiarity on discourse in aphasia: A single case study – Adrienne Miles, Natalie Ciccone, and Erin Godecke 12 Speech and language development: Knowledge and experiences of foster carers – Shannon Golding, Cori Williams, and Suze Leitão 20 The effect of two different types of intervention on cluster production in children with speech and language impairment – Cecilia Kirk, Gail T. Gillon, and Megan Hide 26 Supporting secondary school students with language impairment – Julia Starling, Natalie Munro, Leanne Togher, and Joanne Arciuli 30 Peer review: (December 2009 – December 2010) 31 Ensuring the competency of the speech pathology workforce: The need for a career and professional development framework – Michelle Cimoli 37 What’s the evidence? Evidence for speech, language, and communication interventions in progressive aphasia – Karen Croot, Cathleen Taylor, and Lyndsey Nickels 41 The role of speech pathologists in assessing children with language disorders: Does the need for funding make a difference? – Nerina Scarinci, Wendy Arnott, and Anne Hill 44 Webwords 39: Child language bonanza – Caroline Bowen 45 Fremantle Language Development Centre’s Top 10 resources – Lara Lambert, Mary Bishop, and Wendy Strang 47 Top 10 favourite resources: The Royal Perth Hospital Team 49 Clinical Insights: Creating your own therapy tool – Polly Woodfine 50 Research update: Spoken and written language development in children with Down syndrome – Anne van Bysterveldt 51 Research update: The Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study: A brief overview of interim findings – Teresa Y. C. Ching, Julia Day, Kathryn Crowe, Nicole Mahler, Vivienne Martin, Laura Street, Jo Ashwood, and Helen-Louise Usher

Marleen Westerveld (left) and Kerry Ttofari Eecen

“Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.”

(Oliver Wendell Holmes, American poet)

The Oxford Dictionary defines language as “the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way”. The definition of disorder is “a disruption of normal physical or mental functions; a disease or abnormal condition”. Although I am convinced that we, as speech pathologists, could spend days, if not weeks, discussing and disputing these definitions, we would probably all agree that the ability to use language is what defines us as humans; however, visit http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=HZ-40_4chlI for some fascinating videos on language use in apes. So instead, perhaps we would all agree that language is vitally important in our daily lives and that a disorder of language would dramatically impact our daily functioning. As you have noticed the topic language disorders is close to my heart. It is thus with great pleasure that I introduce this issue of ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing . The issue brings a range of peer-reviewed articles that fall under the language disorders umbrella. Howe and colleagues start off by investigating the benefits of group treatment for people with aphasia, who have acquired their language disorder in later life. Miles et al. address the effects of topic familiarity on the expressive language skills in an individual with aphasia following a stroke. Next is an article by Kirk, Gillon and Hide, who compare two types of interventions aimed at improving consonant cluster productions in children with developmental speech and language disorders. Golding, Williams, and Leitão take a different approach, by investigating foster carers’ knowledge and experience of speech and language development. This is important as children in foster care, as a group, are at increased risk of delayed speech and language development. Our final topic-related paper deals with secondary-school students with language disorders, a clinical group that is often overlooked. In this article, Starling and colleagues argue the importance of adopting evidence based approaches when supporting adolescent clients with spoken and written language disorders. Cimoli reminds us about the importance of creating a career and professional development framework and raises issues about ensuring the competency of our speech pathology workforce. One way to ensure competency is to keep informed of the most recent literature. Although this may seem a daunting task, Croot, Taylor, and Nickels present an excellent clinical scenario that highlights how we can seek evidence when deciding on what services to offer to our clients. And, as always, Caroline Bowen’s Webwords provides us with a treasure trove of good- quality website links that should assist you in finding recent articles related to child language. I am sure you will enjoy the Top 10 columns and I just want to say a special thanks to Lara and the children at the Fremantle Language Development Centre for their wonderful pictures. On a slightly different note, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Nicole Watts Pappas for her fantastic work as the co-editor of ACQ during 2009–10. At the same time, we welcome Kerry Ttofari Eecen, who has been busy since October to help put together the current issue. Kerry and I are committed to continue to raise the profile and quality of ACQ . You will have noticed an increase in the number of peer-reviewed submissions over the past two years, with a greater focus on evidence based practice. At the same time, the emphasis is on clinical implications and applications and we will continue to provide a forum for publications with a clinical focus. As most of you will be aware, ACQ has recently been granted a B-ranking by the Australian Research Council, which places our journal at the same level as some well-known international speech pathology publications. Although this is great news, we cannot afford to be complacent, and we welcome feedback from our readers about the content or the layout of ACQ at any time.

53 Around the journals 56 Resource reviews

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ACQ Volume 13, Number 1 2011

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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