Predicting Satisfaction of Parents of Pediatric Patients: Perceived Quality of Providers' Communication Mitigates Negative Effects of Shorter than Desired Consultations.

This research investigated the predictors of satisfaction for parents of pediatric patients after a clinical consultation. Specifically, we assessed whether perceptions of their provider's communication quality influenced the degree to which their (dis)satisfaction with consultation length associated with their provider rating and intent to recommend the provider's office. Using patient satisfaction survey data collected after initial clinical visits to a pediatric hospital (N = 12,004), we found that communication quality was a stronger predictor for those who were dissatisfied with their consultation length, whereas communication quality made a relatively smaller difference for those who were satisfied with their consultation length. Put another way, parents' dissatisfaction with their child's consultation length mattered little when they perceived their provider to be high in communication quality, but it reduced their ratings and intentions to recommend when they perceived their provider to be low in communication quality. These results suggest that providers' communication behaviors have the capacity to buffer patients' negative evaluations otherwise incurred from shorter than desired consultations.

Vocabulary knowledge mediates the link between socioeconomic status and word learning in grade school.

The relationship between children's slow vocabulary growth and the family's low socioeconomic status (SES) has been well documented. However, previous studies have often focused on infants or preschoolers and primarily used static measures of vocabulary at multiple time points. To date, there is no research investigating whether SES predicts a child's word learning abilities in grade school and, if so, what mediates this relationship. In this study, 68 children aged 8-15 years performed a written word learning from context task that required using the surrounding text to identify the meaning of an unknown word. Results revealed that vocabulary knowledge significantly mediated the relationship between SES (as measured by maternal education) and word learning. This was true despite the fact that the words in the linguistic context surrounding the target word are typically acquired well before 8 years of age. When controlling for vocabulary, word learning from written context was not predicted by differences in reading comprehension, decoding, or working memory. These findings reveal that differences in vocabulary growth between grade school children from low and higher SES homes are likely related to differences in the process of word learning more than knowledge of surrounding words or reading skills. Specifically, children from lower SES homes are not as effective at using known vocabulary to build a robust semantic representation of incoming text to identify the meaning of an unknown word.

Dyslexia in the 21st century: revisiting the consensus definition.

Two decades after the International Dyslexia Association (IDA) adopted the 2002 consensus definition of dyslexia, this special issue of the Annals of Dyslexia revisits that definition in light of advances in scientific understanding and evolving needs. Through contributions from leading researchers and interdisciplinary teams, the issue examines the strengths and limitations of the definition as it has been applied in research, policy, and practice. Key themes emerged, which included reconsidering the need to include the neurobiological basis of dyslexia in the definition, the intersection of literacy challenges and mental health, and the role of context in shaping how dyslexia is defined. Contributors to this special issue also reflected on how the definition serves different audiences, including educators, policymakers, and families. As the IDA embarks on a thoughtful reassessment of the 2002 definition, this collection of articles offers insights to guide the path forward, ensuring the definition remains a robust tool for research, identification, intervention, and advocacy in the coming years.

Predicting and Evaluating Treatment Response: Evidence Toward Protracted Response Patterns for Severely Impacted Students With Dyslexia.

Great strides have been made in the development of effective methods of instruction for children with dyslexia. However, individual response to treatment varies, and weaknesses persist for some students with dyslexia despite otherwise effective instruction. Continued efforts are needed to support the prospective identification of poor response, particularly in routine intervention settings. The current study addressed whether indicators of dyslexia risk as outlined by hybrid diagnostic models predict response in children who received Tier 3 dyslexia intervention in their schools. The program's efficacy has been previously documented in remediating reading abilities in children with dyslexia. Data were examined from 115 elementary-age children who received routine Tier 3 dyslexia intervention in their schools. Logistic regression revealed powerful effects of preintervention fluency and gender in predicting response, with weaker effects of decoding and rapid naming. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder status also played a role in predicting response. Phonological awareness and listening-reading comprehension discrepancy did not predict response. Profile analyses indicated near- and far-transfer of skill for the adequate response group, whereas growth in the poor response group was limited to near-transfer. Findings support a continuum of severity that may be associated with less robust growth and generalization over the course of the intervention.

Characteristics of Students Identified With Dyslexia Within the Context of State Legislation.

All but seven U.S. states have laws that govern some aspects of dyslexia screening, intervention, or teacher training in public schools. However, in the three states that mandate child-level reporting, data indicate lower than expected rates of dyslexia identification when compared with commonly accepted dyslexia prevalence rates. To better understand this apparent mismatch, this study explores factors that might predict the school-assigned identification of individuals with dyslexia. Deidentified data on 7,947 second-grade students in 126 schools from one U.S. state included a universal screening measure of literacy skills indicative of dyslexia (i.e., reading and spelling), school-assigned dyslexia classification, and demographic characteristics. As expected, behavioral characteristics of dyslexia from universal screening were associated with school-assigned dyslexia classification. However, dyslexia classification was less likely for minority students and individuals attending schools with a higher percentage of minority students. Students who showed behavioral characteristics of dyslexia and attended schools with a higher proportion of other students with similar poor literacy skills were more likely not to receive a school-assigned dyslexia classification. The findings suggest systematic demographic differences in whether a student is identified with dyslexia by schools even when using universal screening.

Developmental differences in beta and theta power during sentence processing.

Although very young children process ongoing language quickly and effortlessly, research indicates that they continue to improve and mature in their language skills through adolescence. This prolonged development may be related to differing engagement of semantic and syntactic processes. This study used event related potentials and time frequency analysis of EEG to identify developmental differences in neural engagement as children (ages 10-12) and adults performed an auditory verb agreement grammaticality judgment task. Adults and children revealed very few differences in comprehending grammatically correct sentences. When identifying grammatical errors, however, adults displayed widely distributed beta and theta power decreases that were significantly less pronounced in children. Adults also demonstrated a significant P600 effect, while children exhibited an apparent N400 effect. Thus, when identifying subtle grammatical errors in real time, adults display greater neural activation that is traditionally associated with syntactic processing whereas children exhibit greater activity more commonly associated with semantic processing. These findings support previous claims that the cognitive and neural underpinnings of syntactic processing are still developing in adolescence, and add to them by more clearly identifying developmental changes in the neural oscillations underlying grammatical processing.