Evaluating a web-based clinical decision support system for language disorders screening in a nursery school

Background: Early and effective identification of developmental disorders during childhood remains a critical task for the international community. The second highest prevalence of common developmental disorders in children are language delays, which are frequently the first symptoms of a possible disorder. Objective: This paper evaluates a Web-based Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) whose aim is to enhance the screening of language disorders at a nursery school. The common lack of early diagnosis of language disorders led us to deploy an easy-to-use CDSS in order to evaluate its accuracy in early detection of language pathologies. This CDSS can be used by pediatricians to support the screening of language disorders in primary care. Methods: This paper details the evaluation results of the ?Gades? CDSS at a nursery school with 146 children, 12 educators, and 1 language therapist. The methodology embraces two consecutive phases. The first stage involves the observation of each child?s language abilities, carried out by the educators, to facilitate the evaluation of language acquisition level performed by a language therapist. Next, the same language therapist evaluates the reliability of the observed results. Results: The Gades CDSS was integrated to provide the language therapist with the required clinical information. The validation process showed a global 83.6% (122/146) success rate in language evaluation and a 7% (7/94) rate of non-accepted system decisions within the range of children from 0 to 3 years old. The system helped language therapists to identify new children with potential disorders who required further evaluation. This process will revalidate the CDSS output and allow the enhancement of early detection of language disorders in children. The system does need minor refinement, since the therapists disagreed with some questions from the CDSS knowledge base (KB) and suggested adding a few questions about speech production and pragmatic abilities. The refinement of the KB will address these issues and include the requested improvements, with the support of the experts who took part in the original KB development. Conclusions: This research demonstrated the benefit of a Web-based CDSS to monitor children?s neurodevelopment via the early detection of language delays at a nursery school. Current next steps focus on the design of a model that includes pseudo auto-learning capacity, supervised by experts.

Aumentar as oportunidades de comunicação nos momentos de brincadeira - descrição de um programa de intervenção

Objetivo: Partindo da análise da literatura realizada, em que é salientada a ideia de que o desenvolvimento e aprendizagem ocorrem a partir das experiências e influência dos contextos em que as crianças estão incluídas e a partir das interações que estabelecem nesses mesmos contextos, pretende-se compreender, neste estudo, se partindo do contexto natural, com diferentes materiais e atores, é possível aumentar as oportunidades de comunicação e participação de uma criança com restrições ao nível da linguagem, nos momentos de jogo. Método: Foi delineado e implementado um programa de intervenção, num estabelecimento de ensino, na valência de pré-escolar, onde estiveram envolvidas uma criança de 4 anos com restrições ao nível da linguagem oral, o grupo de crianças em que estava incluída e a educadora do grupo. Para monitorização do programa e avaliação da sua eficácia realizou-se um pré e pós teste, onde foi definida a linha de base da criança. Ao longo do programa foram registados, a partir de uma grelha de observação da frequência dos atos comunicativos da criança, nas situações de jogo planificadas. Os comportamentos e modelagem realizada por parte educador, foram igualmente registados e analisados. Recorreu-se a realização de entrevistas semiestruturadas para a recolha de dados relativos à criança e perceção do educador. Resultados/Discussão: Os dados recolhidos demonstram um aumento significativo das tomadas de iniciativa verbal e alternância entre turnos, ao longo da intervenção por parte da criança alvo. A presença do adulto e dos pares parecem revelar-se como facilitador dos atos comunicativos da criança com restrições ao nível da linguagem

What children value : a scale to guide health promotion programs

Objective. Physical activity is important for the health of all human beings. Although it is important to develop good health promotion programs for children to increase participation in physical activity, to date there appear to be no programs based on what kids value beyond health and physical activity itself. This study proposed to create a scale with strong content and face validity that could uncover what any given population of children value in life regardless of their participation in physical activity and that experts feel could be related to physical activity. These findings will allow the development of targeted health promotion programs to increase children's participation in regular physical activity. Method In this study, a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches was used. Data were gathered from seven experts in the field, sixty-seven children in grades three to five, five parents, and three teachers. From these data response groupings were created and sent to four experts to be given single word names. The resulting nine theme names were re-worked into "child-friendly" language. Four children were then asked to discuss theme names to see if they liked and understood them. The next step involved asking children and experts to rank order the nine themes, the children in general and the experts in terms of relevance to physical activity. From these results, possible versions of the scale were then created using the combined expert/children rankings. Each version was examined for content validity. Two versions of a scale resulted. These were sent to experts, parents, teachers and children in order to determine which one they liked better and to suggest any foreseeable problems. Once this information was collected, a beta (final prototype) version of the scale was created. Results. Nine common theme names were created from the response groupings. All four children agreed that they did understand and like each of the nine theme names. Experts and teachers agreed that full coverage of the content had been achieved. Children suggested a single wording change from "Being Accepted" to "Being Included". Five themes were selected for inclusion. The beta version of the scale included 12 forced choice statements, the first ten comparing all themes against one another followed by two anchor statements. Conclusion. At the outset it was recognized that it is essential to know what children think is important in their lives in order to serve as potential benefits in the development of effective physical activity promotion programs. This study developed a scale which could be used to determine what a population of children feel is important in order to focus health promotion programs for physical activity. The scale has strong face and content validity.

O registro escrito da nasalidade em crianças de educação infantil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

O ethos na linguagem da criança: um caminho para a identidade enunciativa

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Programa de educação familiar continuada em linguagem: orientações a pais de crianças com atrasos globais do desenvolvimento

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Imaginação e protagonismo na educação infantil: estreitando os vínculos entre adultos e crianças

Pós-graduação em Educação - FCT

A construção estrutural e o discurso poético em Campo geral

Pós-graduação em Estudos Literários - FCLAR

A produção e a compreensão do humor por uma criança bilíngue: um estudo de caso

Pós-graduação em Linguística e Língua Portuguesa - FCLAR

Efetividade da fonoterapia e proposta de intervenção breve em respiradores orais

OBJETIVOS: verificar o efeito da intervenção fonoaudiológica em um grupo de respiradores orais e propor terapia fonoaudiológica mínima no tratamento da respiração oral. MÉTODO: estudo prospectivo longitudinal, casuística de 40 sujeitos respiradores orais tratados no Hospital das Clínicas - setor de Reabilitação Orofacial do Ambulatório de Respirador Oral da Disciplina de Otorrinolaringologia da Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas - UNICAMP. Realizada documentação fotográfica, avaliação clínica, aplicação de protocolo para categorizar modo respiratório, postura (lábios e bochechas); força e praxias (lábios, bochechas e língua) nas semanas 0, 12 e 24. A proposta terapêutica constou de treino e conscientização da respiração nasal; manobras para aquecimento e vascularização da musculatura orofacial; aplicação de pontos e zonas motoras na face; manobras passivas; uso do impulso distal; exercícios miofuncionais e registro da percepção dos pacientes sobre suas condições olfativas e obstruções nasais.Teste estatístico: não paramétrico de Igualdade de Duas Proporções, p < 0,05. RESULTADOS: houve adequação da função respiração nasal. Aumento da força de lábios, língua e bochechas. Melhora nas praxias: bico direita, bico esquerda, estalo e vibração de lábios. Vibração e estalo de língua. Inflar simultaneamente as bochechas, inflar bochecha direita e esquerda. O tempo com maior ganho terapêutico foi de 12 semanas. A partir deste dado foi esquematizado protocolo com 12 sessões estruturadas abordando estratégias utilizadas nesta pesquisa. CONCLUSÃO: a pesquisa demonstrou que o uso da reabilitação miofuncional para pacientes respiradores orais foi eficiente com maior evolução terapêutica observada na semana 12.

Altersabhängige Besonderheiten in der Entwicklung des Bedeutungsfeldes der binären Opposition von „Möglichkeit“ vs. „Unmöglichkeit“

Die vorliegende Arbeit zum kindlichen Erwerb der binären Opposition von „Möglichkeit“ und „Unmöglichkeit“ und ihrer modalen Ausdrucksweisen im Russischen ist in ihrem praktischen Teil eine Einzelfall- und Langzeitstudie, die eine Ergänzung zu den bisher veröffentlichten, durchgehend eher experimentell und statistisch orientierten Forschungsarbeiten darstellen soll.rnÜber dreieinhalb Jahre hinweg wurde kontinuierlich Sprachmaterial eines Kindes sowie einiger ungefährer Altersgenossen und Spielkameraden aufgezeichnet, geordnet und ausgewertet. Zu Beginn des Untersuchungszeitraums war die Hauptprobandin dreieinhalb Jahre alt, zum Schluß sieben Jahre. Dieses Verfahren wurde bisher für das Russische noch nicht angewandt und wird im theoretischen Teil sorgfältig begründet.rnDas Sammeln für die Fragestellung relevanten sprachlichen Materials erfordert naturgemäß einen hohen Zeit- und Arbeitsaufwand, liefert dafür aber Daten, die eine Beeinflussung durch einen vorgegebenen Versuchsaufbau ausschließen, der natürlichen, spontanen Kommunikation entspringende Äußerungen festhalten und es ermöglichen, unprovozierte Interaktion, situationsbedingte Einflüsse, das Diskursverhalten der Probanden und ähnliche, individuelle Faktoren bei der Interpretation des Sprachmaterials in angemessener Weise zu berücksichtigen.rnUm die Fülle modaler Ausdrucksweisen sinnvoll zu strukturieren, konzentriert sich die Analyse auf die kindliche Verwendung von Modalverben und Prädikative als zentrale Mittel innerhalb des „Möglichkeitsfeldes“ und richtet den Fokus dabei auf das Verb moč’. Aus diesem Grunde wurde das theoretische Fundament, das der Arbeit zugrunde liegt, zu einem nicht geringen Teil aus dem Ansatz I.V. Šatunovskijs entwickelt, der die differenzierteste Analyse der zahlreichen Bedeutungsschattierungen des Verbs moč’ vorgelegt hat. Für besonders bedeutungsvoll für die vorliegende Arbeit erweist sich die Unterscheidung von kontrollierbarer und unkontrollierbarer Möglichkeit.rnIm Rahmen der Untersuchung ließen sich die grundlegenden Entwicklungstendenzen verfolgen. Dabei wurde nicht nur versucht nachzuvollziehen, in welcher Weise sich bei einem Kind das Fundament des Sprachgebrauchs in Gestalt eines allgemeinen „Zitatenschatzes“ formiert, sondern es gelang mitunter sogar, erste Fälle der Verwendung des einen oder anderen kommunikativen Fragments mit der Bedeutung von „Möglichkeit“ / „Unmöglichkeit“ oder erste Fälle der Konfrontation des Kindes mit einer neuen Situation, die eine solche Bedeutung verlangte, und sein Sprachverhalten in diesem Moment zu fixieren.

Comparison of Reading Development Across Socioeconomic Status in the United States

It is well known that higher parental socioeconomic status (SES) predicts better child reading outcomes, but little work has been done to unpack this finding. The main overall question addressed by this project was whether cognitive models of the two main reading outcomes, single word reading (SWR) and reading comprehension (RC), performed similarly across levels of parental SES. The current study predicted a differential relation between parental SES and both predictors and outcomes because of the known large relation between parental SES and child oral language development. Three questions examined the mediating effects of cognitive predictors on the relation between parental SES and reading outcomes, the moderating effects of SES on the developmental trajectories of reading outcomes, and the strength of the relationship between SES and the two reading outcomes. Participants were part of two large and comprehensive datasets: the cross-sectional Colorado Learning Disability Research Center (CLDRC; n=1554) sample, and the International Longitudinal Twin Study (ILTS; n=463 twin pairs) sample. In terms of cognitive predictors, the relation between SES and SWR was disproportionately mediated by two language skills, vocabulary (VOC) and phonological awareness (PA). For the RC models, both SWR and oral listening comprehension (OLC) did not disproportionally mediate the relation between RC and SES; however, full mediation was not exhibited. With regard to the trajectory of reading outcomes, SES moderated the starting values of SWR and RC, and the slopes of SWR development. When performance on the control measures of early reading skills (e.g., print knowledge, vocabulary, and decoding skills) was included the models, the moderating effects of SES were completely accounted for by these measures. In terms of outcomes, SES had a stronger relation to RC than to SWR, especially at later ages. These findings have implications for interventions aimed at improving reading outcomes in children from lower SES families.

Sprache als Schlüssel zum Bildungserfolg? Eine Fallstudie zur Reproduktion von Bildungsungleichheit im pädagogischen Alltag

Der vorliegende Beitrag fokussiert auf den Bildungsabschnitt im Leben eines mehrsprachigen Kindes, in dem der Übergang vom Kindergarten in die Primarschule ethnographisch untersucht wird. Am Beispiel von Dokumenten- und Praxisanalysen werden Selektionsprozesse und die Entstehung von Bildungsungleichheit auf der Mikroebene des pädagogischen Alltags insbesondere beim untersuchten Übergang rekonstruiert. Kontextuelle bildungspolitische Rahmenbedingungen werden dabei ebenfalls thematisiert. (DIPF/Orig.)

Teacher-child relationship quality for young children with parent reported language concerns

Previous research has demonstrated the importance of the qualities of the teacher-child relationship on children’s development. Close teacher-child relationships are especially important for children at risk. Positive relationships have been shown to have beneficial effects on children’s social and academic development (Birch & Ladd, 1997; Pianta & Stuhlman, 2004). Children with language difficulties are likely to face increased risks with regard to long term social and academic outcomes. The purpose of the current research was to gain greater understanding of the qualities of teacher-child relationships for young children with parent reported language concerns. The research analyses completed for this thesis involved the use of data from the public-access database of Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). LSAC is a longitudinal study involving a nationally representative sample of 10,000 Australian children. Data are being collected biennially from 2004 (Wave 1 data collection) until 2010 (Wave 4 data collection). LSAC has a cross-sequential research design involving two cohorts, an infant cohort (0-1 year at age of recruitment) and a kindergarten cohort (4-5 years at age of recruitment). Two studies are reported in this thesis using data for the LSAC Kindergarten Cohort which had 4983 child participants at recruitment. Study 1 used Wave 1 data to identify the differences between teacher-child relationship qualities for children with parent reported language concerns and their peers. Children identified by parents for whom concerns were held about their receptive and expressive language, as measured by items from the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) (Glascoe, 2000) were the target (at risk) group in the study (n = 210). A matched case control group of peers (n = 210), matched on the child characteristics of sex, age, cultural and linguistic differences (CALD), and socio-economic positioning (SEP), were the comparison group for this analysis. Teacher-child relationship quality was measured by teacher reports on the Closeness and Conflict scales from the short version of the Student-Teacher Relationship Scale (STRS) (Pianta, 2001). There were statistically significant differences in the levels of closeness and conflict between the two groups. The target group had relationships with their teachers that had lower levels of closeness and higher levels of conflict than the control group. Study 2 reports analyses that examined the stability of the qualities of the teacher-child relationships at Wave 1 (4-5 years) and the qualities of the teacher-child relationships at Wave 2 (6-7 years). This time frame crosses the period of the children’s transition to school. The study examined whether early patterns in the qualities of the teacher-child relationship for children with parent reported language concerns at Wave 1 predicted the qualities of the teacher-child relationship outcomes in the early years of formal school. The sample for this study consisted of the group of children identified with PEDS language concerns at Wave 1 who also had teacher report data at Wave 2 (n = 145). Teacher-child relationship quality at Wave 1 and Wave 2 was again measured by the STRS scales of Closeness and Conflict. Results from multiple regression models indicated that teacher-child relationship quality at Wave 1 significantly contributed to the prediction of the quality of the teacher-child relationship at Wave 2, beyond other predictor variables included in the regression models. Specifically, Wave 1 STRS Closeness scores were the most significant predictor for STRS Closeness scores at Wave 2, while Wave 1 STRS Conflict scores were the only significant predictor for Wave 2 STRS Conflict outcomes. These results indicate that the qualities of the teacher-child relationship experienced prior to school by children with parent reported language concerns remained stable across transitions into formal schooling at which time the child had a different teacher. The results of these studies provide valuable insight into the nature of teacher-child relationship quality for young children with parent reported language concerns. These children experienced teacher-child relationships of a lower quality when compared with peers and, additionally, the qualities of these relationships prior to formal schooling were predictive of the qualities of the relationships in the early years of formal schooling. This raises concerns, given the increased risks of poorer social and academic outcomes already faced by children with language difficulties, that these early teacher-child relationships have an impact on future teacher-child relationships. Results of these studies are discussed with these considerations in mind and also discussed in terms of the implications for educational theory, policy and practice.