ACQ Vol 11 No 1 2009

62 / 68

60 Sp eech Pathology Australia
MULTICULTURALISM AND DYSPHAGIA
Overall, this book is simply written and easy to follow.
Most activities require common materials, such as butcher’s
paper, cotton, a sticker chart, stickers, or noisemakers. Hence,
only a short planning time is required prior to the session. An
added bonus is the list of frequently utilised materials which
is set out in appendix A, and a list of activities that do not
require materials (e.g., “read my face” or “how do I move?”),
is included in appendix B. The procedure required to carry
out each activity is short, well-described and straightforward
to follow. This book is therefore a useful resource for the busy
clinician working with children with Asperger syndrome.
Parsons, S., & Branagan, A. (2005). Language for
thinking: A structured approach for young children.
Milton Keynes, UK: Speechmark Publishing. ISBN
978 086388 575 4 (spiral bound); pp. 204; AU$107.00.
Suze Leitão
This resource, originally published in
2005, outlines a detailed program to
develop children’s language and
thinking skills along a continuum
from the more concrete to the ab­
stract. The content is based on the
model devised by Marion Blank with
her colleagues Susan Rose and Laura
Berlin in their seminal work pub­
lished in 1978. They analysed lan­
guage use in the classroom along a
dimension of complexity – the “per­
ceptual – language distance” and
developed a framework consisting of four levels: matching
perception, selective analysis of perception, re-ordering
perception and reasoning about perception. These four levels
are assessed in their test: the Pre-school Language Assessment
Instrument. This program focuses on three language levels,
termed A, B and C, which correspond to the Blank levels II, III
and IV.
Language for Thinking: A Structured Approach for Young
Children consists of three parallel assessments that can be
used to establish baseline levels and determine where to
begin the program for an individual child, and to monitor
progress. Clear guidelines are given for administering and
scoring the assessments, and allocating a starting point in the
program.
The program aims to develop oral language thinking skills
as a foundation for reading comprehension. The program can
be delivered at three levels – called “modules”: picture and
talk (oral only), picture and text, and text (child reads). In all
cases, the adult discusses the picture or text orally with the child.
The manual describes the program, outlines the procedure
clearly and provides guidelines on assessment, monitoring
progress and moving between the modules. It also outlines
procedures (based on the original Blank “simplification
strategies”) for helping a child succeed.
This resource builds on a solid theoretical foundation based
on the role of verbal reasoning in developing language. The
detailed manual and procedures allow users to collect data
and demonstrate the effectiveness of their therapy to others.
A strength of the program is its clarity and simplicity,
allowing it to be used by speech pathologists with teachers,
teaching assistants, therapy aides and parents. It provides
guidelines for using the resource with individuals as well as
small groups and whole classes.
One concern about the program is the potential to use it
solely as a “question-and-answer” approach, with an
emphasis on testing rather than teaching. While there is a
section on helping children succeed, it would be useful to
have such suggestions on the scenario and question (S&Q)
sheets as users may not refer to the tips on a regular basis.
This could involve some guidelines (e.g., If the child does not
respond, you could simplify the question, model the answer or ask a
“prompt” question). Examples could include:
S&Q Sheet 1: Crossing the road.
Level A Level B Level C
Where are Lisa Why have Lisa Why are Lisa &
and Philip? and Philip Philip crossing
stopped at the here and not
crossing? down the street?
(I think Lisa and (Lisa and Philip (I think it might be
Philip are at the have stopped at the safer here as this is
main road near crossing. Why do where the crossing
their house) you think they man is!)
stopped?
What are the What could be What two things
children inside their bags? could Philip do,
carrying? if he has
forgotten his
lunch?
(In the picture, I (I think they are (If I forgot my
can see the school bags. What lunch, I would go
children carrying do you have in your to the canteen!)
some school books) bag when you come
to school?)
One weakness of the resource is the black-and-white line
drawings which are not very attractive or appealing.
Overall this resource would be most useful for speech
pathologists who work collaboratively or at a distance with
others such as teaching assistants, therapy aides and parents.
References
Blank, M., Rose, S. A., & Berlin, L. J. (1978). The language of
learning: The preschool years. New York: Grune & Stratton, Inc.
Blank, M., Rose, S. A., & Berlin, L. J. (2003). Pre-school
language assessment instrument, 2nd ed. Pro-Ed
Williams, A. Lynn (2006). Sound contrasts in
phonology (SCIP). Greenville, SC: Super Duper Inc.,
A$410 (including GST). .
com; available in Australia from Super Duper
Publications suppliers.
Jemma Skeat
Sound Contrasts in Phonology (SCIP) is a software program
designed to facilitate clinical intervention for children with
speech sound disorders (SSDs). The program was developed
to provide clinicians with a large array of pictures to use in
contrastive phonological therapy – for example, minimal
pairs or maximal opposition. SCIP supports an evidence
based framework to treatment of SSDs, providing clinicians
with useful information about the theory and research behind
common treatment approaches for SSDs.
SCIP comes as a two CD package, with a detailed user
manual. The program can be used in several ways. First, it
provides a bank of pictures illustrating over 2000 real words
and around 6000 nonsense words for use in therapy.