Four journal articles published in 2014 so far

2014 has begun well. My students and I have published four journal articles this year

1. Crowe, K., & McLeod, S. (2014). A systematic review of cross-linguistic and multilingual speech and language outcomes for children with hearing loss. International Journal of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education, 17(3), 287-309. doi 10.1080/13670050.2012.758686
2. Masso, S., Baker, E., McLeod, S. & McCormack, J. (2014). Identifying phonological awareness difficulties in preschool children with speech sound disorders. Speech, Language, and Hearing, 17, 58-68. doi 10.1179/2050572813Y.0000000028
3. Verdon, S., McLeod, S., & Winsler, A. (2014). Language maintenance and loss in a population study of young Australian children. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29, 168-181. doi 10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.12.003
4. McLeod, S., Verdon, S., & Bennetts Kneebone, L. (2014). Celebrating Indigenous Australian children’s speech and language competence. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 29(2), 118 -131. doi 10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.11.003

Congratulations Sarah V

Last week Sarah Verdon was awarded a 2014 International Travel Award from the Charles Sturt University Research Institute for Professional Practice, Learning and Education (RIPPLE) to attend and present papers at two conferences

• International Clinical Phonetics and Linguistics Association conference (ICPLA) - Stockholm, Sweden
• ProPEL: Professional Practice, Education and Learning International Conference - Stirling, Scotland

Congratulations Sarah!

Submissions to the Australian Senate Inquiry

The Australian Senate has launched an inquiry into the prevalence of different types of speech, language and communication disorders and speech pathology services in Australia.

My colleagues and I uploaded seven submissions to the inquiry on the following topics

• Prevalence of speech, language, and communication needs in Australia’s children
• The prevalence of different types of speech, language and communication disorders in Australia from the Sound Start Project
•  Speech pathology services to support Australian children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children: Incidence and prevalence of speech and language disorder
• Evidence of the social cost of failing to treat communication disorders
• The experiences of individuals with a history of childhood speech impairment
• Applying the Recommendations of the World Report on Disability to the speech, language, and communication needs of Australia’s children

The submissions from over 200 people and groups are (gradually being) uploaded here. A Charles Sturt University media release about the submissions is here. Speech Pathology Australia's 118 page submission also references recent work we have undertaken as part of the ARC Future Fellowship and Discovery grants. We look forward to the next phase of this important inquiry. 

Launch of the International Communication Project

Across the world, the International Communication Project was launched today http://www.communication2014.com/

Speaking at the launch were representatives from Speech Pathology Australia, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, New Zealand Speech and Language Therapists Association, Irish Association of Speech Therapy, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy, and the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology via a Google Hangout site https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/cscgp2st70qjse8kmd2omljo92c

Suzanne Hopf's work in Fiji has been highlighted on the site http://www.communication2014.com/profile/suzanne-c-hopf/ Congratulations Suzanne.

Here is Speech Pathology Australia's site about this project http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/spa-news-a-events/icp2014

Speech, sign, or multilingualism for children with hearing loss: Quantitative insights into caregivers’ decision-making

The following manuscript has been accepted for publication

Crowe, K., McLeod, S., McKinnon, D. H., & Ching, T. Y. C. (in press, February 2014). Speech, sign, or multilingualism for children with hearing loss: Quantitative insights into caregivers’ decision-making. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools.

Here is the abstract

Purpose: To investigate the influence of a comprehensive range of factors on the decision-making of caregivers of children with hearing loss regarding the use of speech, the use of sign, spoken language multilingualism, and spoken language choice. This is a companion paper to the qualitative investigation described in Crowe, Fordham, McLeod and Ching (in press).

Method: Through a questionnaire, 177 caregivers of 157 Australian children with hearing loss (ages 3;5 to 9;4, mean age 6;6) rated the importance of a range of potential influences on their decision-making about their children’s communication. The majority of children were reported to use speech (96.6%) as part or all of their communication system, with less reported to use sign (20.9%). Few children used more than one spoken language (8.3%).

Results: Proportional analyses and exploratory factor analyses were conducted. Overall, caregivers’ decisions were influenced by their children’s future lives, audiological and intervention characteristics, communication with those around them, community participation, access to intervention and education services in English, and concerns about their children’s future lives. Advice of speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and specialist teachers was more important to caregivers than advice from medical practitioners and non-professionals.

Conclusion: Caregivers’ decision-making about communication mode and language use is influenced by factors that are not equally weighted, and relate to child, family, community, and advice from others. Knowledge of these factors can assist professionals in supporting caregivers making choices regarding communication.