Research in the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders

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One goal of the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is to assist individuals with speech, language, and cognitive impairment through research and scholarship. To that end, the department conducts research in clinical interventions, typical speech, language, and cognitive development, and practical assessments and interventions for individuals with acquired brain injury and stroke. The research spans the life span from collecting data on preschool-aged children who participate in language stimulation to older adults who are recovering from stroke.

In addition, some faculty members are active in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. They seek to explore questions such as “How can clinical supervisors best instill ethical practice in the students they supervise?”, “How do First Responders best learn about traumatic brain injury?” The department has one of the largest online graduate programs in speech-language pathology. As one of several studies, this year at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association 2015 convention in Denver Colorado faculty members will describe their experiences with the development of group assignments in online courses. The session is entitled, Collaborative Learning in Distance Learning: Making Group Assignments Engaging, Effective, & Educational.

Recent presentations & publications:

• Effects of Concussive Blast Injuries on a Test of Problem Solving
• The Role of Resilience in the Rehab of Adults With Acquired Brain Injury
• Clinical Measure of Problem Solving in Typical Children & Implications for Use With Children With Autism
• What Speech-Language Pathologists Report About Management of Quality of Life in Aphasia: A Pilot Study
• Strategies for Ethics Education: Preparing Graduate Students for Clinical Placements in Diverse Settings
• Developing a Needs Assessment Tool for an Intensive Aphasia Program
• Collaborative Learning in Distance Learning: Making Group Assignments Engaging, Effective, & Educational
• Looking Beyond the Rehab Team: Interprofessional Education With First Responders
• Ethical Decision-Making: Student & Professional Perspectives
• More Than Mommy & Me: Parent-Based Language Intervention Using Small Groups

Peer-Reviewed National and International Journals

 

• Sotto, C.D., Redle, E., Bandaranayake, D., Neils-Strunjas, J. & Creaghead, N.A. (2014). Fricatives at 18 Months as a Measure for Predicting Vocabulary and Grammar at 24 and 30 Months. Journal of Communication Disorders, 49, 1-12.
• Sacks, S., Flipsen, P., & Neils-Strunjas, J. (2013). Effectiveness of the SATPAC approach to remediate /s, z/: A preliminary study. Perceptual & Motor Skills: Perception, 117(2), 1-19.
• Riegler, L., Neils-Strunjas, J., Boyce, S., Wade, S., & Scheifele, P. (2013). Cognitive intervention results in web-based videophone treatment adherence and improved cognitive scores. Medical Science Monitor, 19, 269-275.

Other Publications

 

• Ball, A., Neils-Strunjas, J., & Krival, K. (2015). A longitudinal posthumous study of letter writing in a late elderly case. American Speech and Hearing Association’s Perspectives- SIG 15 (Gerontology).
• Evans, C., & Shackelford, J.L. (2015). Course of action is defined by juridical field in a case study of young professionals. International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science, 3(2), 15-27.
• Shackelford, J.L. (2014). The SLP’s role in end of life care. KSHA Communicator, 2(3), 4.
• Shackelford, J.L. & Maxwell, M. (2013). Contribution of learner-instructor interaction to sense of community in graduate online education. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 8(4), 248-260.

 Click here to learn more about the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders.