نشریه پژوهش های شنوایی، گفتار و زبان
سال دوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 2، 1393)

Humans are born with the potential to both speak and make music. For the musically untrained majority، this fundamental human trait is expressed by avid listening and occasional dancing and singing. The present study investigated “Musical Skills in a Group of Persian Speaking Children” through a reliable battery test. In this survey، a cross-sectional study of the children hospitalized in the، Ali-Asher Children’s Hospital of the University of Medical Sciences in Tehran، Iran were selected. A speech & language pathologist visited the selected pediatric patients once a week from December 20، 2013/January 5، 2014 (12-week period). Screenings for speech and language disorders were performed and further data collected for this study was done by interviews with the parents and/or caregivers and the children who were admitted into the pediatric ward of the hospital. The mean score of each subgroup and total scores were 14. 6 (standard deviation=2. 47)، 14. 53 (standard deviation=3. 04)، 14. 13 (standard deviation=2. 52)، 15. 23 (standard deviation=2. 55)، 13. 36 (standard deviation=2. 29) (out of 20) and 71. 9) standard deviation=10. 43) (out of 100) respectively. Significant differences were found between scores of contour skill (p=0. 006)، rhythm skill (p=0. 002) and total scores (p=0. 004) in comparison of three age groups. By comparing the scores between sexes، significant differences in the memory subtests of the male subjects were demonstrated (p=0. 018). According to the criterion of two standard deviations below average total score، none of children were with music processing disorder. The advantage of this battery test is to determine music perception disorders of early ages and to do appropriate intervention at the time of occurrence of neural plasticity.

Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) is a term to describe the auditory characteristics of patients who exhibit normal outer hair cell function and aberrant or disordered neural conduction in other sites along the auditory pathway. The management of children with ANSD is a controversial topic. It is the intention of this study, to investigate the effects of the cochlear implant on the auditory skills of these children. In a cross-sectional analytic study, eight cochlear implanted children with ANSD and eight implanted children with profound sensory-neural hearing loss (SNHL) were selected to participate in this study, with an age ranging between 4.4 to 7.2 years of age and 4.5 to 7.2 years of age, respectively. There was a significant correlation between the age of the hearing loss diagnosed group and the score levels in the auditory skill cases (P=0.012) and the control-groups (P=0.011). All children had a delayed response as compared to the normal hearing children in the investigated skill levels, while no significant differences were noted in the cochlear implanted children with and without ANSD (P=0.877). There were no significant dissimilarities among the auditory skills of the children with ANSD and their matches which indicate that the cochlear implantation results in the synchronous neural activity provided a coherent electrical stimulation; therefore, the hearing function will be improved.

Reduced performances of systems that involve in maintaining balance leads to dizziness and imbalance. One method of assessing balance is functional balance tests that are performed by the therapist in the clinics. In this study, we survey the effects of aging on older adults balance performance with the Berg Balance Test and Bruininks-Oseretsky Test-2. Bruininks-Oseretsky Test2 and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) (according to BBS instructions) were conducted on 41 adults aged 60 years and older (with mean age 69.76±0.56 yrs) and 41 young adults ranging in age from 26 to 19 years (with mean age 22.15±0.21 yrs) from both sexes. There was a significant differences noted in the BBS and BOT-2 score among the two groups (p<0.001). The BOT-2 and BBS test scores demonstrated that both tests were appropriate indicators to assess the balance performance and estimate the probability of falling in the elderly person. However, it seems that BOT-2 test had challenging vision and sensory input that provided more detailed information regarding the state of balance. With increasing age, balance function particularly in implementing static balance exercises failed. This study concludes that this information can assist the therapist in selecting additional evaluation tools, and provide counseling for the prevention of falls and balance problems in the elderly person, and can aid the therapist in designing a balance rehabilitation program for the patient.

There arevarieties of conditions including genetic conditions, injury or illness, and hearingimpairments that can all lead to variousof speech/language disorders. Speech and languagepathologists offer comprehensive services in local children’s hospital for clients with speech and language disorders. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of speech andlanguage disorders in the local pediatric hospital. In this cross-sectional study the children hospitalized in the, Ali-Asher Children’sHospital of the Iran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran were selected. The selected patientswere visited by a speech & language pathologist once a week from December 20, 2013 to January 5, 2014(12-week period). Speech and language disorders were screenedand further data were collectedby interviews with the parents and/or caregivers and the children who were admittedinto the pediatric ward of the hospital. There were 339 pediatric in-patients (girls: n=146, boys; n =193) in thisstudy. Among thehospitalized children from 2 to 15 years of age, 19% had various disorders including language disorders,(10.2%), articulation and phonological disorders (7.5%) and stuttering (1.3%). Sex didn’t any significant influence on speech or language disorders in participants (p=0.7). Speech /language disorders evaluation was done on hospitalized pediatric patients to determine the incidence of these disorders. As a result, we recommend therapeutic intervention for the children diagnosed with speech /language impairments.

Team-based learning (TBL) is a teaching method that has a growing application in teaching the medical sciences. In this study, two methods teaching were studied, lecture and the team-based learning method were compared and how the gender factor was effected in their learning ability, The class used for the purpose of this study was neurology. There were 70 students; 19 to 20 years of age, from both genders attending the school of Rehabilitation Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, these students were selected to participate in this study. The Neurology class, consisting of 16 classes was selected for this study. The classes were divided into two groups, eight- lecture class and eight for team-based learning methods. In both methods, the training standards and tips were considered when evaluating the data collected. There were significant differences noted between the lectured classes, and the team-based learning method, the final score were (p<0.001). In the team-based learning method the learning scores were significantly higher in girls-group than in the boys-group. Furthermore, the girls had a higher learning level from the team-based learning method (p<0.001) than those of the lectured classes. Also, significant differences were observed between the two teaching methods in each gender group (p<0.001). This study established that the team-based learning method is a more successful method than the lecture method in teaching Neurology. According to the initial difficulties of this study, there is no doubt that the application of new teaching methods such as team-based learning can have a remarkable affect on improving the level of education and student learning. With regard to the limitation of the resources in this study, with reference specifically to the gender factor effect, further studies are require to formulate a more precise interpretation of the results.

In this study, the aim was to compare the intelligence quota (IQ) and its sub-scales (fluid reasoning, quantitative reasoning, knowledge, visual - spatial processing and working memory) of the hearing-impaired children with the norm scores and to assess their verbal and nonverbal intelligence scores. The newest version Intelligence Laboratory Tehran - Stanford-Bineh was used. The statistical populations of the participants were 6 to 19 year of age, and hearing impaired with a 40-90 dB of hearing loss, and were welfare recipients under the Welfare Organization services in the city of Kerman. Sixty-one hearing impaired children were selected by a double-blind random sampling method, and the Stanford Bineh IQ test was the instrument used to measure the IQ levels in the selected participants.. The results of this research showed that average IQ of hearing impaired children in general intelligence, verbal and non-verbal IQ was lower than the average norms of the community. In addition, the results showed that hearing impaired children’s non-verbal intelligence in comparison with the verbal intelligence was higher in hearing impaired children, and this was confirmed statistically. Accurate assessment of the cognitive abilities of the hearing-impaired children is very important, as it is associated with the difficulties for the child. However despite its importance; we have not as of yet appropriated the proper testing equipment for testing the hearing impaired.

Syllable Awareness is one of the key elements in learning to read. Unfortunately, children with mental disability have many difficulties in this area, and are therefore weak in their concepts of reading skills (including syllable awareness). The present study examined the effect of teaching Cued Speech of the Syllable awareness skills and its subscales (syllable segmentation, alliteration, and rhythm) to children with an intellectual disability. This was a quasi-experimental nonrandomized intervention study, of a pre-test/post-test design for evaluation of Cued Speech in the intellectually disabled. All participants selected to participate in the study was by method of convenience sampling. Ten children of an average mean age 7- 10 years, and diagnosed with an intellectual disability, were chosen to participate in this study. The participants were matched accordingly and separated into two groups. Our tool was "The Phonological Awareness Questionnaire", the collected data was analyzed with added score and T score. This study demonstrated that Cued Speech has a significant effect on the Syllable Awareness skills (P<0.05) and the subscales of Syllable segmentation (P<0.05) and the rhythm of the children with intellectual disabilities: although, no significant differences were noted there in the alliteration abilities. This study results concluded that the use of Cued Speech in the rehabilitation programs of children with mental disabilities can improve their syllable awareness skills and facilitate their reading skills. Keywords: Key words:

Aggression, the psychological definition is “in its broadest sense, is behavior, or a disposition, that is forceful, hostile or attacking. It may occur either in retaliation or without provocation” Aggression is one of common disorders among deaf children Due to their deficiency in cognitive, social, communicative and emotional skills, these children demonstrate more aggression than do other students. The aim of this study is to examine the treatment of aggression in the hearing-impaired child through the use of differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO). This study carried out as a single-subject research on an 11-year-old boy suffering from waardenburg syndrome, who had been diagnosed as aggressive through direct observation, clinical interview, and systematic analysis of behavior. After positive diagnosis and undergoing treatment with DRO, the subject was cured. Following the completion of 10 treatment sessions, the frequency of aggressive behaviors of the subject decreased. Moreover, interview with his teacher and other educational staff demonstrated that it became less difficult to control the boy in the classroom and schoolyard. Also, the boy’s confrontations with his classmates had improved in such a way that he was able to establish friendly relations with several of his classmates. Furthermore, the boy’s mothers’ reports were positive, with of improvements in his relations with the rest of the family members, in particular with his sister. This study demonstrated the effectiveness of differential reinforcement of other behaviors (DRO) with an emphasis on the behavioral approach in the treatment of aggression. Since one of the most common behavioral disorders among deaf children is aggression. The effective treatment ultimately depends on a thorough understanding of the variables that control severe behavior problems, which is necessary when assessing the patient prior to applying the appropriate treatment approaches.