Sound Effects Study and Sound Start Study teams

Our ARC Discovery Sound Effects Study and Sound Start Study teams met today to consider re-contacting the participants to learn from them about their lives and experiences. It was such a pleasure to see Kate Crowe, Sarah Masso and Jane McCormack together on the same zoom session again after so many years.

Kate Crowe, Sharynne, Sarah Masso, Jane McCormack

A long and productive research partnership

Today Linda Harrison and I worked together on revisions of an important paper that we hope will be published next year some time. Linda and I have had a very long partnership beginning when I was allocated an office across the hallway from Linda. Together we received one research excellence award, 5 grants (including an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant), co-supervised 3 research students, and written 27 publications (book chapters and articles) as well as presented many conference papers. We have undertaken research and writing  about children's speech and language that has been highly cited.

Here are some of the papers about children's speech and language we have published together:

1. Harrison, L. J., & McLeod, S. (2010). Risk and protective factors associated with speech and language impairment in a nationally representative sample of 4- to 5-year-old children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 53(2), 508-529. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0086)
2. Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., Berthelsen, D., & Walker, S. (2009). Literacy, numeracy, and learning in school-aged children identified as having speech and language impairment in early childhood. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(5), 392-403. doi:doi:10.1080/17549500903093749
3. Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., McAllister, L., & McCormack, J. (2017). Speech sound disorders in preschool children: Correspondence between clinical diagnosis and teacher and parent report. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties, 22(1), 35-48. doi:10.1080/19404158.2017.1289964
4. Holliday, E. L., Harrison, L. J., & McLeod, S. (2009). Listening to children with communication impairment talking through their drawings. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 7(3), 244-263. doi:10.1177/1476718x09336969
5. McAllister, L., McCormack, J., McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2011). Expectations and experiences of accessing and participating in services for childhood speech impairment. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 13(3), 251-267. doi:10.3109/17549507.2011.535565
6. McCormack, J., Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., & McAllister, L. (2011). A nationally representative study of the association between communication impairment at 4-5 years and children's life activities at 7-9 years. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 54(5), 1328-1348. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0155)
7. McCormack, J., McAllister, L., McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2012). Knowing, having, doing: The battles of childhood speech impairment. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 28(2), 141-157. doi:10.1177/0265659011417313
8. McCormack, J., McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., & McAllister, L. (2010). The impact of speech impairment in early childhood: Investigating parents' and speech-language pathologists' perspectives using the ICF-CY. Journal of Communication Disorders, 43(5), 378-396.
9. McCormack, J., McLeod, S., McAllister, L., & Harrison, L. J. (2009). A systematic review of the association between childhood speech impairment and participation across the lifespan. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(2), 155-170.
10. McCormack, J., McLeod, S., McAllister, L., & Harrison, L. J. (2010). My speech problem, your listening problem, and my frustration: The experience of living with childhood speech impairment. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 41(4), 379-392. doi:10.1044/0161-1461(2009/08-0129)
11. McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2009). Epidemiology of speech and language impairment in a nationally representative sample of 4- to 5-year-old children. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 52(5), 1213-1229. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2009/08-0085)
12. McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., & McCormack, J. (2012). Intelligibility in Context Scale: Validity and reliability of a subjective rating measure. Journal of  Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 55, 648-656. doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2011/10-0130)
13. McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., McAllister, L., & McCormack, J. (2013). Speech sound disorders in a community study of preschool children. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 22(3), 503-522. doi:10.1044/1058-0360(2012/11-0123)
14. McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., Whiteford, C., & Walker, S. (2016). Multilingualism and speech-language competence in early childhood: Impact on academic and social-emotional outcomes at school. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 34, 53-66. doi:10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.08.005
15. McLeod, S., McAllister, L., McCormack, J., & Harrison, L. J. (2014). Applying the World Report on Disability to children’s communication. Disability and Rehabilitation, 36(18), 1518-1528. doi:10.3109/09638288.2013.833305
16. McLeod, S., McCormack, J., McAllister, L., Harrison, L. J., & Holliday, E. L. (2011). Listening to 4- to 5-year-old children with speech impairment using drawings, interviews and questionnaires. In S. Roulstone & S. McLeod (Eds.), Listening to children and young people with speech, language and communication needs. (pp. 179-186). London: J&R Press.
17. Phạm, B., McLeod, S., & Harrison, L. J. (2017). Validation and norming of the Intelligibility in Context Scale in Northern Viet Nam. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 31(7-9), 665-681. doi:10.1080/02699206.2017.1306110
18. Wang, C., Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., Walker, S., & Spilt, J. L. (2017). Can teacher–child relationships support human rights to freedom of opinion and expression, education and participation? International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/17549507.2018.1408855
     

Children with speech sound disorders are in the news

The Age newspaper has just published a story titled: "Nearly a third of preschool teachers overlook common speech disorder, study finds" based on our recent journal article titled: "Speech sound disorders in preschool children: correspondence between clinical diagnosis and teacher and parent report" published in the Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties.
Our journal article is here
The Age story is here
It has been repeated in a number of other Australian papers:
The Sydney Morning Herald story is here
The Canberra Times story is here
The Courier story is here
The Early Learning Review interviewed me for a related story here
The Education Today story is here
The Parent Hub story is here
Dr Caroline Bowen's tweet about the story is here
The Charles Sturt University news release is here 

Speech sound disorders in preschool children: Correspondence between clinical diagnosis and teacher and parent report

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication
Harrison, L. J., McLeod, S., McAllister, L. & McCormack, J. (2017, in press). Speech sound disorders in preschool children: Correspondence between clinical diagnosis and teacher and parent report. Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties.
It can be downloaded from here: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/iPDGd535UzszBgMVkcaT/full 
Here is the abstract:

This study sought to assess the level of correspondence between parent and teacher report of concern about young children’s speech and specialist assessment of speech sound disorders (SSD). A sample of 157 children aged 4 to 5 years was recruited in preschools and long day care centres in Victoria and New South Wales (NSW). SSD was assessed independently by: (1) clinical diagnosis by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) using the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (DEAP); (2) parent-reported concern using the Parent Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS); (3) teacher-reported concern using the PEDS. Agreement between parent identification of SSD and clinical assessment was high (86 to 90%). Agreement between teacher identification and clinical assessment was lower, and varied by state (Victoria 80%; NSW 63%). Differences in the accuracy of early childhood teachers’ identification of SSD are considered in relation to early childhood policies regarding the provision of speech-language pathology services in preschool settings.

Sound Start Study visit to NSW Department of Education Rural and Distance Education Unit

Dr Yvonne Wren from the Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit and University of Bristol visited the NSW Department of Education Rural and Distance Education Unit on Thursday 26^th November. She demonstrated the Phoneme Factory software designed for teachers and assistants to support children with speech sound difficulties. Phoneme Factory consists of two programs:

1.     Phoneme Factory Phonology Screener provides teachers with a tool to individually assess children’s production of speech sounds and to determine if they need additional support (e.g., intervention using the Sound Sorter software, or further assessment and intervention by a speech pathologist)

2.     Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter provides games for children to play to support their speech and phonological awareness skills. The software enables teachers to individualise activities to a child’s particular needs.

The Phoneme Factory software was developed in the UK by Dr Wren and Professor Roulstone. The Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter has been adapted for the Australian context with support from the Rural and Distance Education Unit. It has been trialled in public and private preschools in NSW over the past 3 years in the Sound Start Study in association with researchers from Charles Sturt University (Professor Sharynne McLeod, A/Prof Jane McCormack, Dr Kate Crowe, Sarah Masso) and The University of Sydney (Dr Elise Baker).

Mike Tom, Kym Knight, David McLeod, Greg Alchin, and Yvonne Wren

Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS)

In much of our research we have used the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) as a screening tool. A new PEDS website has just been launched http://www.rch.org.au/ccch/peds/ and it includes a table that mentions the research of the Sound Start Study and the Sound Effects Study.

Identifying phonological awareness difficulties in preschool children with speech sound disorders

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication.
Masso, S., Baker, E., McLeod, S. & McCormack, J. (in press, November 2013). Identifying phonological awareness difficulties in preschool children with speech sound disorders. Speech, Language, and Hearing.
This is Sarah Masso's first publication and it has been written as part of her PhD, so it is an extra special publication. Here is the abstract:

Phonological awareness is one type of phonological processing ability and is considered to be particularly important for early literacy development. Specific phonological awareness skills include: syllable-level awareness, onset-rime awareness, and phonemic awareness. Children with speech sound disorders are at a high risk of difficulties with phonological awareness and literacy. There is a body of literature reporting both composite scores and task-specific phonological awareness scores from the assessment of children with typically-developing speech and schoolage children with speech sound disorders. In this study we completed a systematic overview of the available literature regarding the assessment of phonological awareness in preschool-age children with speech sound disorders. A systematic search of literature databases yielded 777 articles which were screened. The full text of 30 articles was read and 12 articles met all specified criteria. Ten of the 12 articles reported composite scores for the phonological awareness of participants. The studies rarely reported the profile of specific phonological awareness skills. Of the final 12 articles, eight were case-control studies (Level III) and four were case-series or cross-sectional studies without a control reference (Level IV) (Merlin, Weston & Tooher 2009). There is a need for more research reporting task-specific phonological awareness abilities in preschool-age children with speech sound disorders in order to understand the relationship between specific skills and literacy development in this population.

Two manuscripts have just been published

These two manuscripts have just been published in the American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

1. McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., McAllister, L. & McCormack. J. (2013). Speech sound disorders in a community study of preschool children. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 22, 503–522. doi: 10.1044/1058-0360(2012/11-0123)
2. Lockart, R. & McLeod, S. (2013). Factors that enhance English-speaking speech-language pathologists’ transcription of Cantonese-speaking children’s consonants. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 22, 523–539. doi: 10.1044/1058-0360(2012/12-0009)

The first paper is based on the Sound Effects Study, undertaken through an Australian Research Council Discovery grant. The second paper was a part of Rebekah Lockart's masters thesis within my Australian Research Council Future Fellowship. We are now testing SLPs' transcription of Greek.

Speech sound disorders in a community study of preschool children

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication
McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., McAllister, L. & McCormack. J. (2012, in press December). Speech sound disorders in a community study of preschool children. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology.

ABSTRACT:
Purpose. To undertake a community (non-clinical) study to describe the speech of preschool children identified by parents/teachers as having difficulties “talking and making speech sounds” and compare those who had and had not accessed the services of a speech-language pathologist (SLP).
Method. Stage 1: Parent/teacher concern regarding speech skills of 1,097 4- to 5-year-old children attending early childhood centers was documented. Stage 2a: 143 children identified with concerns were assessed. Stage 2b: Parents returned questionnaires about service access for 109 children.
Results. The majority of the 143 children (86.7%) achieved a standard score below the normal range for the percentage of consonants correct (PCC) on the Diagnostic Evaluation of Articulation and Phonology (Dodd, Crosbie, Holm, & Ozanne, 2002). Consonants produced incorrectly were consistent with the late-8 phonemes (Shriberg, 1993). Common phonological patterns were: fricative simplification (82.5%), cluster simplification (49.0%)/reduction (19.6%), gliding (41.3%), and palatal fronting (15.4%). Interdental lisps on /s/ and /z/ were produced by 39.9% of children, dentalization of other sibilants by 17.5%, and lateral lisps by 13.3%. Despite parental/teacher concern, only 41/109 children had contact with an SLP. Children who had contact with an SLP were more likely to be unintelligible to strangers, express distress about their speech, have a lower PCC and a smaller consonant inventory compared to the group who had not contacted an SLP.
Conclusions. There are a significant number of preschool-aged children with SSD who have not had contact with an SLP. These children have mild-severe SSD and would benefit from SLP intervention. Integrated SLP services within early childhood communities would enable earlier identification of SSD and access to intervention to reduce potential educational and social impacts.