2018-2019

Presenter: Kristen Bass and Alayna Magnuson
Title: Facilitating Authentic Conversation (FAC)

Facilitating Authentic Conversation (FAC) therapy is a social approach in aphasia therapy that outlines meaningful communication in natural conversation. It can be used with different populations of people with aphasia including mild to severe. Severe populations of people with aphasia will be highlighted with what supports and strategies best encourage meaning in conversation in both individual and group settings. Two cases will be explained, and how each client has both similar and unique plans of care. Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices are a component in both cases, and will be discussed in terms of usage, strengths, and weaknesses. Overall, this presentation will provide a summary of what it is like to treat and support a person with aphasia who is severe in nature using the social approach treatment of FAC.

Presenter: Alexandra Knox & Lauren Letsinger
Title: Treatment approaches for young children with Down Syndrome

“Children with language disorders have complications with pragmatics and semantics skills. For children with language disorders, there are specific intervention approaches and techniques used to create successful outcomes in therapy. A naturalistic therapy approach and Milieu Teaching (a hybrid approach), are two different approaches that were used in intervention for a three-year-old child with Down Syndrome. This presentation includes the framework and literature behind these specific techniques and explores the procedures and outcomes of the client in the 2018 Fall semester.”

Presenter: Maddie Allen
Title: Collecting and Analyzing Language Samples in Children

Language samples are a clinically useful tool that provide information about a child’s linguistic abilities. It is often used to supplement information generated from standardized assessments. The contexts, materials, and strategies used by the clinician to elicit language from a child vary depending on the age of the child and the type of information that the clinician is attempting to gather. Clinicians can perform a number of analyses after obtaining a language sample to further inform them on the assessment and direction of treatment for their client. In this presentation, I will discuss language sampling for pre-school, school-age, and adolescent children as well as some of the analyses that can be completed using information from the language sample.

Presenter: Kortni Nugent
Title: Naming Therapy - Using a Cueing Hierarchy

Impairment-focused therapy has been around for many decades, and since then, much research has been provided on the impact this therapy has on people with aphasia. One common type of impairment-focused therapy is naming therapy using a cueing hierarchy. This therapy includes a hierarchy structured specific to the client and has been known to improve naming abilities. During this presentation, I will be sharing my experience when implementing this approach in therapy, what I learned along the way and my client’s progress across the semester along with any generalization data.

Presenter: Mary-Caroline Trevino
Title: The Use of Indirect Voice Therapy Techniques for Treatment of Pediatric Vocal Nodules

Throughout the literature, there are differing opinions on which therapy approaches to take when treating a case of pediatric vocal nodules. Some research suggests surgery while others propose the wait and see approach. Combining indirect methods into more structured exercises was my preferred approach for a pediatric client with a diagnosis of bilateral vocal nodules. In this presentation, I will discuss the benefits of implementing indirect approaches in therapy for the pediatric population and how it helped engage my client and aid in generalization.

Presenter: Emily Matney
Title: Importance of Manual Sign Systems as an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC)

Research has linked manual signs (ASL, Manually coded English, fingerspelling) plus speech intervention to be more effective in establishing language production and/or comprehensive skills than either technique taught singly. Manual signs can be used as a supportive augmentative system to communication. The incorporation of manual signs in therapy sessions can improve interaction patterns, language development, and reduce frustrations during communication. In this presentation, I will discuss who are the best candidates to use manual signs, importance of education about manual signs for communication partners, implementation of manual signs into therapy, and my client’s progress this semester.

Presenters: Ellee Boyer, Chelsea Clark, Maria Stamatis, and Shelby Thomas
Title: Project T.A.L.K.

Project T.A.L.K. was a wonderful learning experience for all of us. We were able to learn a lot about hearing technology, specifically cochlear implants and hearing aids, in young children. At Project T.A.L.K., we also learned about Auditory-Verbal Therapy (AVT) and auditory neuropathy. In this presentation, we will go over specifics of the hearing loss/deaf population and technology available, auditory neuropathy, AVT and its levels of administration, and we will discuss the other primary communication options parents of children with hearing loss have to decide on.

Presenters: Tawni Klein & Darcey Lewelling
Title: Westby Play Scale

The Westby Play Scale is a criterion- referenced, play based assessment that determines clients’ play skills and language abilities to determine communicative level and play abilities. This assessment will provide knowledge of child’s understanding and use of language which will assist in aim of therapy intervention. The assessment should present a wide- array of toys to capture the full picture of clients’ play abilities and language capabilities.

Presenters: Halle Finkley and Sarah Rehman
Title: “Pragmatic Language and Methods of Social Skills Intervention”

In this presentation, we will be discussing why we should target social communication, overview some of the reasons it's important to assess and treat, as well as how to create effective pragmatic language goals. Discussions will be based off the latest research from several articles that outline the use of clinician-mediated interventions to teach new social-communication skills. A study by Adams showed that targeted social communication intervention progress cannot always be measured by formalized assessment as a significant treatment effect cannot be monitored but behavioral changes are evident. Practical examples of client cases observed from this semester support the study’s findings.

Presenter: Maddie O’Neal
Title: Pragmatic Intervention for School-Aged Children

Abstract: Pragmatics is the use of language across various contexts in relation to how one embodies or interprets its meaning for social communication. This includes the process of actively employing the rules and symbols that establish a particular language. In regards to social communication and its complex relationship with language, this presentation will explore the role of pragmatics concerning school-age children with social communication disorders, and higher functioning autism spectrum disorder, along with clinical implications that correspond to intervention.

Presenters: Callan Castille and Amanda Lamberti
Title: A Play-based Therapy Approach in a Preschool Setting

Play-based therapy has been extensively researched to increase language skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down Syndrome. Several studies have concluded there is a correlation between functional and symbolic play with language development. In this presentation, we will define play-based therapy, why it is beneficial to language development in preschool population with language disorders, and how we implement it into therapy at Wheatley.

Presenters: Halle Finkley and Sarah Rehman
Title: “Pragmatic Language and Methods of Social Skills Intervention”