SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY

Research for speech-language pathology

Papers a speech-language pathologist can act on — aphasia, dysphagia, developmental language, fluency, voice and augmentative communication — read in full and summarised plainly.

10,216 PAPERS · PAGE 70 OF 205 · NEWEST FIRST

• SLPCase Series2021Computer-assisted challenge point intervention for residual speech errors.Perspectives of the ASHA special interest groupsFive children with persistent rhotic errors showed highly variable responses to computer-adapted biofeedback. Two made large gains, but three showed little or no improvement in spontaneous speech despite high accuracy during practice. The software aids tracking but does not guarantee generalization.
• PTOTSLPCohortAssociation of Positional Plagiocephaly and Developmental Delay Within a Primary Care Network.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPInfants diagnosed with positional plagiocephaly in primary care were more likely to later receive a developmental delay diagnosis, particularly for motor and language delays. The skull shape diagnosis typically appeared months before the delay, suggesting it may serve as an early marker for children who need closer developmental monitoring.
• PTOTSLPCohort2021Sociodemographic factors and health-related, neuropsychological, and psychosocial functioning in youth with spina bifida.Rehabilitation psychologyYouth with spina bifida from lower-income families reported more pain but fewer attention and executive function problems than those from higher-income families. Family stress mediated outcomes, with lower sociodemographic risk linked to less condition-specific stress.
• SLPOther2021Mechanisms of Spectrotemporal Modulation Detection for Normal- and Hearing-Impaired Listeners.Trends in hearingHearing-impaired listeners did not show greater random variability, but they weighted modulation features less selectively and more variably than normal-hearing listeners. Broader cochlear tuning may explain the group-level differences.
• SLPOther2021Perceived Sound Quality Dimensions Influencing Frequency-Gain Shaping Preferences for Hearing Aid-Amplified Speech and Music.Trends in hearingListeners with mild-to-moderate hearing loss preferred more low-frequency and less high-frequency gain than standard prescriptions, especially for pop music. These adjustments improved perceived sound quality. However, preferences varied widely between individuals, and the study used sealed earphones, so results may not apply to open-fit hearing aids.
• OTSLPRCT2021Clinical effectiveness of the sequential 4-channel NMES compared with that of the conventional 2-channel NMES for the treatment of dysphagia in a prospective double-blind randomized controlled study.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationSequential 4-channel electrical stimulation improved swallowing scores and reduced aspiration more effectively than conventional 2-channel stimulation in stroke patients. Both groups received standard swallowing exercises, so the benefit cannot be attributed to the electrical device alone.
• PTOTSLPNarrative Review2021Narrative review of clinical practice guidelines for treating people with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury.NeuroRehabilitationOnly 17 clinical practice guidelines for moderate-to-severe TBI rehabilitation met rigorous vetting standards since 2010. Most guidelines focus on symptom control rather than functional recovery, and many published documents labeled as guidelines lack the necessary systematic review process to be trustworthy.
• SLPCohort2021Outcomes of newborn hearing screening at an academic secondary level hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa.The South African journal of communication disorders = Die Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir KommunikasieafwykingsNewborn hearing screening at a South African hospital failed to meet quality benchmarks. Nearly half of screened babies were referred for repeat testing, far above the 5% target. Most infants with refer results did not return for follow-up, and no risk factors predicted referral.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2021Healthcare-seeking behavior and awareness of physical therapy among Japanese residents in Thailand: a descriptive study.Journal of physical therapy scienceJapanese residents in Thailand mostly use hospitals, not physical therapy clinics. Younger groups used PT more than older adults, who preferred prevention. Word-of-mouth was the main source of healthcare information.
• OTSLPCohort2021Early Pandemic Experiences of Autistic Adults: Predictors of Psychological Distress.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchNearly half of autistic adults reported moderate-to-severe psychological distress early in the pandemic. Distress levels remained stable over two months despite worsening life disruptions. Frequent hopefulness predicted lower distress and greater resilience, suggesting emotional supports should target hope.
• SLPOther2021The Feasibility and Reliability of a Digits-in-Noise Test in the Clinical Follow-Up of Children With Mild to Profound Hearing Loss.Ear and hearingMost children with hearing loss could complete the Digits-in-Noise test during routine visits, but 15% could not finish the second list due to attention or time. The test showed high reliability, though the current two-list procedure needs optimization for clinical use.
• SLPOther2021Effects of Hearing Loss on School-Aged Children's Ability to Benefit From F0 Differences Between Target and Masker Speech.Ear and hearingHearing aid users with mild-to-severe loss recognized speech in noise better when the target voice was 9 semitones higher than the background. This benefit was smaller than in normal-hearing peers and less pronounced in children under 12.
• SLPCohort2021Methodological aspects of using a wearable eye-tracker to support diagnostic clinical evaluation of prolonged disorders of consciousness.Journal of rehabilitation medicineWearable eye-tracking was feasible for assessing consciousness in four patients. In most disagreements with clinical scores, the tracker detected responses the clinicians missed. This suggests it might uncover hidden consciousness, but the study was too small to prove it works.
• SLPCohort2021Tinnitus and 3-Year Change in Audiometric Hearing Thresholds.Ear and hearingPersistent tinnitus was linked to greater risk of hearing getting worse over 3 years, including in women whose baseline hearing tests were normal. Bothersome tinnitus showed stronger links. Ask about tinnitus and consider hearing surveillance.
• SLPOther2021Mapping Meta-Therapy in Voice Interventions onto the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System.Seminars in speech and languageNo patients or outcomes are reported. This conceptual mapping of voice therapy meta-therapy offers no clinical finding to act on.
• SLPOther2021Place-Pitch Interval Perception With a Cochlear Implant.Ear and hearingCochlear implant users could hear pitch direction but not musical intervals. They rated melodies as equally out-of-tune whether the notes were spaced correctly or distorted. This explains why music often sounds discordant to implant users despite good speech understanding.
• SLPNarrative Review2021Functional Voice Assessment and Therapy Methods Supported by Telepractice, VoiceEvalU8, and Estill Voice Training.Seminars in speech and languageNo study methods or results are reported. The narrative clinical review with hypothetical cases describes ideas for functional voice assessment and therapy but provides no evidence to change practice.
• OTSLPCohort2021Understanding Stability and Change in Perceived Social Support in Parents of Autistic Children and Adolescents.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesPerceived social support, parent stress, and child behavior problems remained stable over one year. Higher support predicted lower stress and fewer behavior problems at 6 months, but stress and behavior did not predict later support. Interventions targeting support may help, but stability suggests early access is key.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2021Exploring an e-learning community's response to the language and terminology use in autism from two massive open online courses on autism education and technology use.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceLearners in autism education courses found no single preferred term. Self-advocates and families mostly chose 'autistic', while professionals varied. All groups agreed the key rule is to ask the individual what they prefer and respect their choice over any standard terminology.
• SLPOther2021The ASL-LEX 2.0 Project: A Database of Lexical and Phonological Properties for 2,723 Signs in American Sign Language.Journal of deaf studies and deaf educationFrequent American Sign Language signs were rated less iconic and shorter in ASL-LEX 2.0, a database of 2,723 signs that may help SLPs choose assessment or teaching targets.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2021Predictors of mental health among parents of children with cerebral palsy during the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran: A web-based cross-sectional study.Research in developmental disabilitiesCaregiver burden predicted anxiety, depression, and stress more strongly than income or education. About half of parents reported anxiety symptoms. For therapists, this means assessing and reducing the daily load of care, not just the child's function, is central to supporting the family.
• OTSLPOther2021Listening Effort in School-Aged Children With Limited Useable Hearing Unilaterally: Examining the Effects of a Personal, Digital Remote Microphone System and a Contralateral Routing of Signal System.Trends in hearingA personal remote microphone helped children with one-sided hearing loss understand speech and listen with less effort in most classroom-like conditions. A CROS system only helped when speech came from the deaf side. It made listening worse when speech came from the hearing side.
• PTOTSLPCohort2021Not just at school: Inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorder in a weight management program in a community pediatric setting.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceChildren with autism completed an inclusive weight management program at the same rate as peers without autism. They achieved similar weight outcomes. Adaptations like predictable routines and sensory adjustments allowed them to participate fully alongside typically developing children.
• SLPSurvey2021Is social camouflaging associated with anxiety and depression in autistic adults?Molecular autismAutistic adults who reported more camouflaging had more generalised anxiety, social anxiety and depression symptoms. The link was strongest for anxiety and similar across men and women. This was an association, not proof camouflaging caused poor mental health.
• SLPCase-Control2021Autism Detection in Children by Combined Use of Gaze Preference and the M-CHAT-R in a Resource-Scarce Setting.Journal of autism and developmental disordersAdding a 15-second gaze test to the M-CHAT-R improved autism screening accuracy in Peruvian children, raising specificity from 63% to 92%. This reduced false alarms but lowered sensitivity to 64%, meaning some cases would be missed.
• OTSLPQualitative2021'It's not that they don't want to access the support . . . it's the impact of the autism': The experience of eating disorder services from the perspective of autistic women, parents and healthcare professionals.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic women with anorexia described standard eating disorder treatments as mismatched to their needs. Cognitive behavioural therapy failed because it assumed abstract skills they lacked, while group therapy caused shutdown due to social demands. Practical occupational therapy and emotion-focused dialectical behaviour therapy were valued more highly.
• PTOTSLPOther2021Factors associated with falls in community-dwelling older adults: an analysis based on subscales of the frailty screening index.Journal of physical therapy scienceFalls in older adults were linked to three specific frailty signs: not walking weekly, feeling slower, and unexplained tiredness. These items predicted falls better than the total frailty score. Check these three questions when screening community-dwelling patients.
• PTOTSLPOther2021Using Biofeedback to Reduce Step Length Asymmetry Impairs Dynamic Balance in People Poststroke.Neurorehabilitation and neural repairUsing visual feedback to reduce step length asymmetry in people post-stroke increased forward body rotation during walking, suggesting impaired dynamic balance rather than improvement. The strategy used to achieve symmetry matters, as participants varied in how they compensated.
• SLPSurvey2021Assessing the quality of support and discovering sources of resilience during COVID-19 measures in people with intellectual disabilities by professional carers.Research in developmental disabilitiesProfessional carers of people with intellectual disabilities rated contact quality lower during lockdown, 3.08 of 5 versus 3.90 before. They most often recognized positive thinking, 85.9% of clients, and rated routine highest for resilience.
• PTOTSLPCohort2021Evaluation of sex differences in preschool children with and without autism spectrum disorder enrolled in the study to explore early development.Research in developmental disabilitiesPreschool boys and girls with autism symptoms scored almost identically on behavior, development, and screening tests. Small differences in restricted interests were not clinically meaningful. Screening tools appear equally sensitive for young children of both sexes, so do not assume girls present differently at this age.
• SLPMeta-Analysis2021Do animated triangles reveal a marked difficulty among autistic people with reading minds?Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic people scored lower than non-autistic people on all types of animated shapes, not just social ones. The gap was slightly wider for social animations, but the difference was small. This suggests general difficulty interpreting motion may contribute more than a specific inability to read minds.
• SLPCohort2021Factors Associated With Self-Perceived Hearing Handicap in Adults From Hispanic/Latino Background: Findings From the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.Ear and hearingIn Hispanic/Latino adults with hearing loss, self-reported hearing loss and higher acculturation to English predicted greater perceived handicap. However, overall handicap scores were lower than in non-Hispanic White adults, suggesting standard screening tools may miss difficulties in this population.
• SLPQualitative2021Camouflaging in an everyday social context: An interpersonal recall study.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults described camouflaging as a exhausting, constant performance to appear non-autistic, which ironically hindered genuine connection. They reported feeling less anxiety and more ease when socialising authentically with supportive partners who accepted their autistic behaviours.
• SLPOther2021Can Dual Compression Offer Better Mandarin Speech Intelligibility and Sound Quality Than Fast-Acting Compression?Trends in hearingDual compression hearing aids improved speech understanding in noise by 0.9 dB compared to fast-acting compression. Users also preferred dual compression for comfort and clarity at +4 dB signal-to-noise ratio, though the small gain may not be noticeable to everyone.
• OTSLPRCT2021Modulation of atypical brain activation during executive functioning in autism: a pharmacological MRI study of tianeptine.Molecular autismA single dose of tianeptine shifted atypical brain activation in adults with autism towards typical patterns during attention tasks. However, it did not improve actual test performance, so this is a proof of concept for brain changes, not evidence of clinical benefit.
• SLPOther2021Effect of Digital Highlighting on Reading Comprehension Given Text-to-Speech Technology for People with Aphasia.AphasiologyDigital highlighting added to text-to-speech did not improve comprehension accuracy across no, word, or sentence highlighting for adults with chronic aphasia. Participants preferred sentence and word highlighting over no highlighting, but preference did not match measured accuracy.
• SLPCohort2021Susceptibility to Residual Inhibition Is Associated With Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Chronicity.Trends in hearingPeople with hearing loss at their tinnitus pitch were more likely to experience residual inhibition than those with normal hearing. In the normal hearing group, longer tinnitus duration made suppression less likely. Repeated testing produced stable, predictable suppression.
• SLPSystematic Review2021No Evidence That Music Training Benefits Speech Perception in Hearing-Impaired Listeners: A Systematic Review.Trends in hearingAcross 13 trials, music training did not improve speech perception in people with hearing loss or cochlear implants. Studies showing benefits lacked proper control groups or used flawed statistics. Do not prescribe music training expecting it to help patients understand speech better.
• PTOTSLPOther2021Generalizing the predictive relationship between 1-month motor skill retention and Rey-Osterrieth Delayed Recall scores from nondemented older adults to individuals with chronic stroke: a short report.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitationAdding visuospatial memory test scores to prediction models modestly improved accuracy for 1-month motor skill retention in older adults and people with stroke. The benefit was small and based on very few stroke patients, so it is not yet a clinical tool.
• SLPCase Series2021Simultaneous Intra- and Extracochlear Electrocochleography During Cochlear Implantation to Enhance Response Interpretation.Trends in hearingEarly drops in intracochlear electrical signals during cochlear implant insertion often reflect electrode position changes rather than cochlear damage. Simultaneous extracochlear recordings help distinguish these harmless shifts from true trauma, which typically appears as late signal decreases.
• SLPPilot2021Integrating Behavior of Children with Profound Intellectual, Multiple, or Severe Motor Disabilities With Location and Environment Data Sensors for Independent Communication and Mobility: App Development and Pilot Testing.JMIR rehabilitation and assistive technologiesA new app let caregivers record children with severe or profound disabilities' sounds, movements, and facial expressions with location and weather data. It collected most data well, but indoor location detection was weakest, and no communication benefit was tested.
• SLPOther2021Validity and reliability of the Cochlear Implant Quality of Life (CIQOL)-35 Profile and CIQOL-10 Global instruments in comparison to legacy instruments.Ear and hearingThe CIQOL-35 and CIQOL-10 are validated tools for assessing quality of life in adult cochlear implant users. They show strong reliability and capture domains like listening effort and entertainment that standard speech tests and older questionnaires miss.
• SLPOther2021A Comparison of Environment Classification Among Premium Hearing Instruments.Trends in hearingPremium hearing aids classify environments very differently from each other and from human listeners. Devices A, B, and E agreed with humans on speech in quiet, but C and D switched to noise classes as volume rose. Music scenes caused the most disagreement across all brands.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2021Women with cerebral palsy: A qualitative study about their experiences with sexual and reproductive health education and services.Journal of pediatric rehabilitation medicineWomen with cerebral palsy reported that providers often assumed they were not sexually active, omitting basic sexual health education and exams. They faced physical barriers like inaccessible exam tables and privacy conflicts when needing assistance, leading to a heavy reliance on self-advocacy.
• PTOTSLPMeta-Analysis2021Sleep disorders in rare genetic syndromes: a meta-analysis of prevalence and profile.Molecular autismSleep disorders are common in rare genetic syndromes, but the type varies by syndrome. Screen for breathing issues in Mucopolysaccharidosis II, daytime sleepiness in Smith-Magenis, and insomnia broadly. Do not treat all poor sleep as behavioural.
• SLPOther2021Naturalistic evaluation of preschoolers' spontaneous interactions: The Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceA new 3-hour observation scale reliably distinguished preschoolers with autism from typical peers, highlighting specific deficits in eye contact, complex social reciprocity, and conversation quality. It correlates with teacher ratings but shows weak links to standard diagnostic tools, suggesting it captures unique peer interaction skills.
• SLPCohort2021Rate of Communicative Gestures and Developmental Outcomes in Toddlers With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder During a Home Observation.American journal of speech-language pathologyAt home, toddlers with autism used fewer different gestures and communicated less often than toddlers with typical development. Their gesture inventory and overall communication rate were linked to later language and development scores.
• SLPMeta-Analysis2021Does Probe-Tube Verification of Real-Ear Hearing Aid Amplification Characteristics Improve Outcomes in Adults? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Trends in hearingVerifying hearing aid settings with real-ear measures leads to better speech understanding and higher user preference than relying on initial fit alone. Patients prefer these verified fittings, though the clinical size of the benefit remains unclear.
• SLPRCT2021Oxytocin-induced increase in N,N-dimethylglycine and time course of changes in oxytocin efficacy for autism social core symptoms.Molecular autismIn men with autism, six weeks of oxytocin raised blood levels of a metabolite called DMG. This rise tracked with early behavioral improvements that faded by week four, but did not correlate with overall six-week outcomes, suggesting DMG marks timing of efficacy rather than total benefit.
• SLPOther2021Instrumental Quality Predictions and Analysis of Auditory Cues for Algorithms in Modern Headphone Technology.Trends in hearingModels that track one-ear frequency changes predicted listeners' quality ratings of distorted sounds from smart headphones and hearing devices best. Both-ear-only predictions were weak. This is an algorithm evaluation, not patient outcome evidence.