Telepractice Parent Training of Enhanced Milieu Teaching With Phonological Emphasis (EMT+PE) For Persian-Speaking Toddlers With Nonsyndromic Cleft Palate: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Children born with a cleft palate with or without a cleft lip (CP/L) are at increased risk for delayed language development and speech sound disorders. Enhanced Milieu Teaching with Phonological Emphasis (EMT+PE) is a recommended naturalistic intervention for toddlers with CP/L. The parents' role in providing naturalistic interventions is critical and they need training based on learning principles to implement these interventions. Telepractice is an appropriate method for training parents and children with various speech-related disorders. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine and compare the effectiveness of telepractice and the parent-implemented EMT+PE intervention on language and speech measures in toddlers with CP/L with usual interventions and determine the effectiveness maintenance of the intervention. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial (RCT) will assess the efficacy of telepractice and the parent-implemented EMT+PE intervention in enhancing speech and language measures in toddlers with CP/L. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned to one of 2 groups: the conventional intervention group and the EMT+PE intervention group. Participants' speech and language measures will be evaluated remotely by trained raters before and after the intervention and 2 months after the intervention. Parents of participants in the intervention group will receive 3 months of training in speech and language supportive strategies from trained therapists using telehealth fidelity scales. Parents of participants in the control group will receive the conventional speech and language intervention by cleft team therapists. Study outcomes will include language variables (mean length of utterance) and speech production variables (percent correct consonants). RESULTS: The protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences in February 2022. The selection process of participants, as well as training therapists and raters, commenced in January 2022, the therapy and follow-up period ended in June 2023, and pre- and postintervention assessments have been conducted. Data analysis is ongoing, and we expect to publish our results by the summer of 2024. Funding is yet to be received. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study may help us develop a speech and language intervention with a different delivery model for toddlers with CP/L, and the cleft team care can use these results in service delivery. Consistent with our hypothesis, speech and language measures are expected to improve. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/54426.

Development and psychometric evaluation of an Azerbaijani-Turkish grammar comprehension test.

Due to the lack of appropriate developmental language tests in the Azerbaijani-Turkish language, the present study aimed to develop the Azerbaijani-Turkish grammar comprehension test (ATGCT) for children aged 4-6 years and determine its validity and reliability. This study was conducted in three phases. First, the target grammatical structures were extracted during the item generation phase. Second, item reduction and content validity ratio (CVR) were calculated. The content validity index (CVI) was determined after designing the items. This test was administered to typically developing children (TD) (N = 30). Face validity was confirmed and modifications were applied. The second version of the test was performed on 170 TD and 60 children with developmental language disorder (DLD) aged 4-6 years were selected using the random cluster method. Third, item analysis was performed, and eight items were removed. The construct validity, reliability, and ROC analysis of the final form of the test were evaluated. The psychometric properties considered in the study included construct validity (group, gender, and age discriminative validity) and reliability (test-retest, inter-rater, and internal consistency). The final test version contained 56 items and confirmed face validity. The Scale Content Validity was .91, and the Item Content Validity was between .8 and 1. The test showed a content validity ratio of .96, indicating that it assesses appropriate content. The construct validity analysis revealed significant differences between the TD and DLD groups and among the four age groups. Test-retest and inter-rater reliability were significantly correlated. Furthermore, the high correlation between test items (ICC= .90) demonstrated that the ATGCT had excellent internal consistency. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis results indicated that the test had high sensitivity and specificity in all four age groups and effectively distinguished children with TD and those with DLD. In conclusion, based on the psychometric assessment of the test, it appears that the ATGCT has appropriate values for reliability and validity measures, and it can be used as the first suitable and quick test by researchers and clinicians.

Effect of premature infant oral motor intervention [PIOMI] combined with music therapy on feeding progression of preterm infants: a randomized control trial.

Prematurity may produce long-term complications in the physical and cognitive development of infants. There is a need for interventions that can improve feeding and reduce the length of NICU stay and separation time between the infant and mother. This study aimed to explore the clinical effect of premature infant oral motor intervention [PIOMI] combined with music therapy [MT] on feeding progression in premature infants.Premature infants with gestational ages between 26 and 30 weeks were included in the study. Fifty-two participants were randomly divided into intervention and control groups. All infants received PIOMI, and the intervention group received additional MT. The participants of the two groups were compared based on weight gain, feeding progression, Preterm Oral Feeding Readiness Scale [POFRAS], milk volume, and length of hospitalization. The data were analyzed using independent sample t-tests, covariance tests, and repeated measure ANOVA used to compare three group means.The intervention group reached independent oral feeding 8 days earlier [P = .018] than the control group. Length of hospitalization was 6 days shorter [P = .224] for the intervention group, and the mean volume of milk on the 10th day was 215.38 ± 56.4 in the intervention group and 155.69 ± 68.9 in the control group, respectively [P = .001]. The mean score of the POFRAS scale on the 10th day was 28.65 ± 3.0 in the intervention groups and 20.96 ± 3.3 in the control groups, retrospectively [P = .001]. There was no difference in weight gain between the two groups [P = .522].Conclusion: PIOMI combined with MT was effective for the feeding progression of premature infants, and infants who received both these interventions were discharged sooner than control infants. Thus, MT should be considered part of feeding interventions for preterm infants with gestational ages between 26 and 30 weeks.Trial registration: Clinical trial registration number: IRCT20210502051155N1 on 18/9/2021 What is Known -- What is New: • There is numerous study about the eff ect of music therapy or oral motor interventi on. However, premature Infants havenot been yet studied to determine whether music therapy and oral motor interventi ons may synergize to aid their feedingprogression.

Phonological development in first language Laki-speaking children aged 3 to 5 years: A pilot study.

PURPOSE: To date there are no studies of speech sound acquisition in Laki, a language spoken in western regions of Iran. Thus, we set out a pilot study to investigate the speech development of 56 first language Laki-speaking children (aged 3-5 years). METHOD: Single words were elicited through a picture naming test specifically developed for this study. After recording and transcribing of speech samples, percentage of consonants correct (PCC), percentage of vowels correct (PVC), and proportion of whole word proximity (PWP) were documented in four age groups (36-41, 42-47, 48-53, and 54-59 months) and both genders. Children's phonetic inventories and consonant and vowel accuracy were also described. RESULT: All the sounds were considered as emerging by 53 months of age. For speech sound accuracy, all the speech sounds except /ɢ, z, ŋ, ʒ/ were mastered by 5 years. The effect of age on PCC values was significant. Also, age groups showed significant differences for PWP but were not significant for PVC. Boys and girls did not differ for PCC, PVC, and PWP values. CONCLUSION: From a theoretical perspective, findings contribute to theories about phonological acquisition in general and will enable crosslinguistic comparisons. From an applied standpoint, language-specific characteristics are identified, which are much needed for clinical practice with Laki-speaking children.

Non-word repetition in Persian learning toddlers with typical development.

In the current research, non-word repetition (NWR) skills of Persian learning toddlers and its association with phonological accuracy and language measures, such as percentage consonant correct (PCC), mean length utterance (MLU), and expressive vocabulary was evaluated. First, the Persian task of NWR, comprising 15 non-words, was developed and validated. Forty-four typically developing Persian learning toddlers aged from 24 to 30 months were recruited in this project. Word and NWR responses were elicited during play. MLU was investigated using serial picture description. Furthermore, the Persian version of MacArthur-Bates communicative development inventories was completed by participants' parents. The association between NWR, word repetition, MLU, and vocabulary indices was measured. Excellent values were obtained for test-retest reliability, PCC of NWR (ICC = .94, 95% CI, .78-.94, p < .001) and PCC of word repetition (ICC = .96, 95%CI, .83-.96, p < .001). The values of PCC for NWR and PCC of word repetition were 80.32 ± 13.44 and 83.51 ± 9.91, respectively. The Wilcoxon ranked test showed that participants had better performance in word repetition than NWR (z = -.275, p = .02). Significant associations were found between NWR, word repetition, MLU, number of different words, number of total words, and the expressive vocabulary size. Sex, socioeconomic status, and age did not affect NWR in this study. The findings of the current research demonstrated that the Persian task of NWR is a valid and reliable test to measure the NWR and the scores of participants were substantially associated with phonological accuracy, MLU, and vocabulary measures.

Psychometric Properties of the Persian Word Pairs Task to Evaluate Declarative Memory.

Introduction: According to the declarative/procedural (DP) model, the semantic aspect of language depends on the brain structures responsible for declarative memory. The word pairs task is a common tool to evaluate declarative memory. The current study aimed to design a valid and reliable task to evaluate declarative memory in Persian-speaking children at the learning and retention stages and investigate its relationship with the semantic aspect of language. Methods: A panel of experts agreed on the content validity of the proposed task. The reliability of the task was determined using internal consistency and test-retest reliability. A total of 31 typically developing children aged 7-9 years participated in this study. Results: The content validity of all the 42-word pairs was calculated as one. The test-retest reliability showed a correlation coefficient of 0.825 (P<0.001). The task showed acceptable internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.880). The results of correlation analysis showed no significant relationship between declarative memory and semantic aspect. However, the regression analysis showed that the retention stage can explain 24.2% of the variations in the semantic aspect. Conclusion: It seems that the word pairs task has good validity and reliability to evaluate declarative memory. The task applied to evaluate the semantic aspect can be one of the potential causes of the lack of a relationship between the semantic aspect and declarative memory. The participants' scores in the retention stage can be predicted concerning their performance at the semantic aspect. Highlights: The proposed task has several advantages as follows:Good validity and reliability to evaluate different stages of declarative memory, including learning, immediate recall, delayed recall, delayed recognition, and retention.Children's performance improves with age at different stages of the task.Subjects' performance in the retention stage of declarative memory was the only component predicting the score of the semantic aspect. Plain Language Summary: One of the components of long-term memory is declarative memory. This memory includes the semantic memory in which information about vocabulary is stored. In this research, the word pairs task was designed to evaluate declarative memory in children aged 7 to 9 years and its validity and reliability were investigated. The final task consists of 42 unrelated word pairs that are presented to children in several stages, and it examines the ability of children to communicate between pairs of unrelated words in terms of meaning (e.g., book-teeth). The better the children's performance in this task is, it indicates the better performance of these children's declarative memory. The task has good validity and reliability and can be used to evaluate children's declarative memory and to determine changes after introducing declarative memory improvement techniques.

Speech sound acquisition in Azeri Turkish-speaking children in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Currently no data exist on the acquisition of speech sounds in Azeri Turkish-speaking children in Iran. This investigation was conducted to describe phonological development in Azeri Turkish-speaking children. METHODS: A total of 120 typically developing Azeri Turkish-speaking children within the age range of 3;0 to 4;11 years were recruited. They were asked to name pictures in the Azeri Turkish Speech Test and their productions were analyzed to determine consonant acquisition, Percentage of Consonants Correct (PCC), Percentage of Vowels Correct (PVC), and Whole Word Proximity (WWP) according to sex and age. In addition, PCC values in terms of consonant position in the syllable (syllable-initial and syllable-final), and manner of articulation were calculated. RESULTS: For consonant acquisition, they mastered all consonants except [d, dÍ¡z, tÍ¡s, ʒ, v, ɟ] by 4;11 years of age. PCC values increased with increasing age (H(3)= 67.212, p <0.001). In terms of manner of articulation, PCC showed that nasals were most accurately produced and trill sound least accurate. The effect of sex on PCC values was not significant U (Nmales =60, Nfemales =60)= 1686.5, z = -0.600, p=.54). WWP values were also found to increase in older children H(3)=46.94, p<.001). Similarly, the effect of sex on WWP values was not significant U (Nmales =60, Nfemales =60)= 1782.5, z = -0.09, p=.92). CONCLUSIONS: Children acquiring speech sounds in the Azeri Turkish language show some similar tendencies to children acquiring other languages but are also different. Findings of the present research describe phonological development in Azeri Turkish-speaking children, which has not been documented before.

Development and measurement of psychometric properties of the Persian test of speech consistency in children with typical development.

The current research pursues the study of developing the Persian test of speech consistency and investigating speech consistency in normally developing children in Iran. After developing the Persian test of speech consistency, the obtained speech samples of 317 participants (163 girls and 154 boys) were analyzed. This test of consistency includes 27 items. Experts' consensus over the characteristics of the Persian test of speech consistency was above 85%. Different age groups had statistically significant differences for the mean scores of the variable responses (p < .001), consistent correct (p < .001), and consistent incorrect responses (p = .007) in the Persian test of speech consistency. Also, there was a high value for the inter-rater reliability (ICC = .88, p < .001) as well as the moderate value for the test-retest reliability (ICC = .89, p < .001). The Persian test of speech consistency is regarded as a reliable and valid scale for measuring the speech consistency in Persian-speaking children. Future studies are proposed to investigate the speech consistency in Persian-speaking children with various kinds of speech sound disorders.

Executive functions in Persian-speaking preschool children with speech sound disorders and comparison with their typically developing peers.

This study aimed to compare working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility, the core components of executive functions, among two prevalent subtypes of preschool children with speech sound disorder, i.e., phonological delay (n = 16) and consistent phonological disorder (n = 15), and a group of typically developing children (n = 18). The correlation between executive function components and the accuracy of speech sound production were also investigated. Nonword repetition task and syllable repetition task were used to evaluate the phonological loop of working memory. Backward digit span was administered to examine the central executive of working memory. Cognitive flexibility was assessed using the second selection of the flexible item selection task and inhibitory control using Stroop-like and Go/No-Go tasks. The percentage consonants correct was applied to calculate the accuracy of speech sound production. Results of a one-way multivariate analysis of covariance revealed statistically significant differences between groups in the combined dependent variables after controlling for age (F(14, 80) = 17.289, p < .001, Pillai's trace = 1.503, partial ηƞ2 = .752). Typically developing children outperformed in all measurements of executive functions than both speech sound disorder subgroups. Moreover, children with phonological delay performed better in nonword repetition and corrected responses of Stroop-like than consistent phonological disorder group. All executive function measurements also correlated with speech sound production. The results of the present study highlight the importance of including domain-general cognitive skills in current assessment protocols for children with phonological delay and consistent phonological disorders.

Development of a speech production test in Azeri Turkish speaking children.

Due to the lack of appropriate tests for the assessment of speech sounds of Azeri Turkish speaking children, the present study aimed to develop and validate a single word test. A total of 150 typically developing children were recruited in the study (30 children for investigating the name agreement and 120 children to establish construct validity). In the first step, a test with 31 items was developed in terms of suggested criteria in the literature including word frequency, word length, syllabic structure, familiarity, and picturability of words. Then, we asked the expert panel's opinion for the test items. The value of the content validity ratio for each target word was 1.00 except for one item. To administer the test, we asked the participants to name images. Name agreement of the items was determined through administrating the test. The percentages for the indices of name agreement were 87.68 and 0.17, respectively. The findings of the item-by-item test-retest and inter-rater reliability showed satisfactory values in terms of consonants in the initial and final positions. Also, the value of the internal consistency was calculated to be kr = 0.78 (p < 0.001). The psychometric properties of this scale with 31 items proved that it is appropriate for quantifying the speech sound production in Azeri Turkish typically developing children.

Phonological acquisition in 3- to 5-year-old Kurdish-Speaking children in Iran.

BACKGROUND: given the lack of sufficient information and research about phonological acquisition in the Kurdish language, the aim of this study was to examine phonological acquisition in typically developing Kurdish-speaking children. Three analyses were performed: (1) the age of customary, acquisition and mastery production of Kurdish consonants; (2) phonological accuracy and the age of phonological pattern suppression; and (3) effect of age and sex on speech sound acquisition. METHODS: this research assessed 120 monolingual Kurdish-speaking children aged 3;0 to 5;0 years. The participants were selected randomly from the health center of Bukan city, Iran. Acquisition of 29 Kurdish consonants was assessed using the Kurdish Speech Test. FINDINGS: results found that Kurdish-speaking children had acquired all the vowels before 3;0 and all the consonants in the three positions of initial, medial and final up to 4;6 years old, with the exception of /ʤ/ in initial position, /ɣ/ in medial position and /ʒ/, /z/, /ɡ/, /ɣ/ in final position. Consonant production in initial position was more accurate than in medial and final positions. The accuracy of Kurdish vowels and consonants improves with increasing age as phonological patterns decrease. There was no significant sex difference within the age groups; however, overall, a statistically significant difference was noted for fricative production and for production of word final consonants in the older groups with females outperforming males. CONCLUSIONS: the present study is the first investigation of speech sound acquisition in Kurdish-speaking children. Knowledge of typical speech sound acquisition provides a basis for speech-language pathologists working with Kurdish-speaking children to differentiate children with typical development from those with speech delays and speech sound disorders.

Comparison of Definitional skills in school-age children with cochlear implants and normal hearing peers.

OBJECTIVE: The auditory experience is important because makes a major contribution to the development of speech, language, cognitive, and social skills. Knowledge of the lexicon has been increased throughout life. Input factors and linguistic and metalinguistic knowledge are effective factors in the acquisition of definitional skills. This study was done to investigate definitional skills in cochlear-implanted (CI) children and their typically developing (TD) peers. MATERIALS & METHODS: A total of 46 third-grade primary school children (16 with cochlear implants and 30 their TD peers) were recruited. The verbal definitional task included 14 common high-frequency nouns and 11 common high-frequency verbs. All definitions were scored for both content (semantic) and grammatical forms. Statistical analysis was conducted to compare the definitional skills between the two groups. RESULTS: There were significant differences between CI children and their TD peers for word definition skills in both categories of content and form (p<0.001). The results showed the mean scores of content andform aspects of word definition in the TD group were approximately twice higher than the CI ones (M±SD=133±28 and M±SD= 78±23, respectively). CONCLUSION: Children with CI may have trouble with definitional skills. It seems that the lower scores of CI children in definitional skills were due to a lack of auditory experience. Considering interventions on definitional skills in CI children is suggested.

Phonological development in Persian-speaking children: A cross-sectional study.

PURPOSE: The Persian language is a member of the Western Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian family within the Indo-European language family. Here, we aimed to study phonological development in Persian-speaking children. METHOD: The speech samples were collected from 387 children, aged 3-6 years old, using two picture-naming tasks: Persian Articulation and Phonology tests, which were used to study phonetic and phonemic inventories, phoneme accuracy, and the age of error patterns suppression. RESULT: Vowels are acquired at three or earlier. Acquisition of all consonants in the initial position precedes that of the final position. Older children had higher values in phoneme accuracy compared with those of the younger children. Although no significant effects of gender on phonological development were found, girls had higher accuracy scores compared with boys. Final devoicing and cluster reduction were the last error patterns which were suppressed by 6.0. CONCLUSION: The results showed that the accuracy of children's productions grew with age and the number of error patterns decreased. It seems that there are some similarities between phonological developments in different languages; however, it is still important to study language specific tendencies to be used in clinical settings and speech sound development research.

The quantitative ultrasound study of tongue shape and movement in normal Persian speaking children.

OBJECTIVES: Ultrasound research on speech production in normal speakers has long used quantitative measurements in different languages. However, no studies in this area have been conducted in the Persian language. This study investigated Persian speaking children scores on two single curve measures of tongue shape, based on midsagittal tongue shape data from ultrasound imaging. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study conducted on four 7-8 years old Persian speaking children. The data for analysis was collected using an ultrasound machine in 2018-2019. The stimuli included a range of consonants including/p/,/t/,/f/,/k/and/s/in consonant-vowel sequences, with the vowels/a/and/i/. The measures do not require head stabilization. Statistical analyses were done using Linear mixed models in lmer software package of R version 3.6.2. The results were performed by Chi-squared and Tukey post hoc tests in R. RESULTS: In all of the consonants, the mean of two single curve measures in the context of/i/was greater than the context of/a/. However, there was no significant effect of the vowel context on one measure for the/k/. Also, these measures were significantly different in each of the Persian consonants and they showed consistent patterns across all of the participants (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: It seems the single curve measures are the valid value of tongue dorsum excursion for Persian speaking children. This study showed that measures of single curves are reliable for distinguish between consonants in vowel contexts and created robust results on lingual coarticulation of the consonants without the use of head stabilization.

Assessment of Speech Sound Production by Story-retelling in Persian Speaking Children: Introducing a New Instrument.

BACKGROUND: Speech and language pathologists should include connected speech assessment as part of their evaluation for children with speech sound disorders. The purpose of the present study was to design and validate an instrument for assessment of articulation by story-retelling for Persian children. METHODS: 261 typically developing children, aged 4-5 years old in Iran, Tehran, in 2016-2017, were recruited in the current study. First, two stories were designed. Next, the expert panel reviewed those two stories and selected one story for assessment. The strengths of the test for discriminating between the two age groups (48-54 months and 55-60 months) and between boys and girls were investigated for construct validity. Test-retest was performed for 15 children. Also, inter-rater reliability was evaluated via calculating the correlation between the two examiners' scores. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 24, was used for statistical analysis. The significance level was set at (P<0.05). RESULTS: There was 80% or more agreement in experts' response to questions regarding content validity. All of the reliability values were higher than 0.85. No significant difference was observed between boys and girls (P=0.77), but there was a significant difference between the two age groups (P<0.001). There was a significant correlation between this test and phonetic test of the Persian version of diagnostic articulation and phonology (r=0.62, P=0.002). CONCLUSION: The Persian story for the assessment of speech sound production is a reliable and valid instrument that can be used to evaluate the articulation of Persian children.

Speech characteristics of childhood apraxia of speech: A survey research.

PURPOSE: There has not been any valid method for the clinical diagnosis of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) up to now, and the golden standard for diagnosis is the expert's opinion. The current research was conducted to obtain criteria used by the Iranian Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) to establish speech characteristics and co-occurring problems of CAS based on their knowledge and clinical experience. METHODS: This research used a questionnaire-based survey design for data collection. The questionnaire was filled out by 260 anonymous participants, both physically and online. RESULTS: The nine top speech characteristics reported with 75.6% agreement as the core symptoms of CAS included: inconsistency (86.9%), consonant sequencing problems (75%), low intelligibility (75%), groping (72.7%), slow diadochokinetic (DDK) (72.3%), articulatory configuration problems (66.2%), difficulty with multisyllabic words (62.7%), suprasegmental disturbances (56.2%) and metathesis (53.5%). The consent of the Iranian practicing SLPs was consistent with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) diagnostic criteria, Strand's 10-point checklist, and Ozanne's cluster model. More than half of the respondents have been identified with fine motor deficit and language impairment as the most common co-occurring problems of CAS. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study are in accordance with the findings of previous practicing SLPs' surveys in different languages. Carrying out researches on the speech characteristics of Persian-speaking children suspected of CAS and compare with the results of clinicians' surveys will help us to find a reliable standard for differential diagnosis of Persian-speaking children in Iran.

Validation of the Persian version of the LittlEARS® auditory questionnaire for assessment of auditory development in children with normal hearing.

OBJECTIVES: To adapt the LittlEARS® Auditory Questionnaire into Persian and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the questionnaire for children with normal hearing. METHODS: A "back-translation" method was used to translate and adapt the LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire into Persian. The translated version was first evaluated by means of an expert-appraisal method. After having improved the Persian version of LittlEARs with the results obtained from that evaluation, various psychometric analyses were carried out to determine the validity and reliability. A group of 240 Persian speaking parents of children below 24 months of age with normal hearing completed the LittlEARS® Auditory Questionnaire. Various psychometric analyses (scale analysis and item analysis) were conducted. RESULTS: In the current study, the following scale and item characteristics were investigated: Corrected item-total correlations ranged from 0.14 to 0.74; Cronbach's alpha coefficient value was 0.960; the split-half reliability r was 0.734; predictive accuracy Guttman's lambda was 0.965; the correlation between the overall score and age of the children was 0.808 (p < 0.001). The regression curve, which reflects the age-dependence of auditory behavior, was produced. The regression analysis that was conducted to obtain normative data showed that 80% of the variance in the total scores could be explained by age. CONCLUSION: The data obtained from psychometric analysis support the use of the Persian version of the LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire as a reliable and valid tool to assess the development of auditory behavior in Persian speaking children who are 24 months old or younger.

Development and validation of a new scale for assessment of speech stimulability in Persian speaking children.

OBJECTIVES: Speech and language pathologists need to assess speech stimulability as a crucial component of assessment in clients with speech sound disorders. The purpose of the current survey was to develop and validate an instrument to assess speech stimulability in Persian speaking children. METHODS: The present study was accomplished in two steps. In step I, the test material was developed based on extensive literature review, and five experts were requested to make judgment on the content validity of the test. We evaluated other psychometric properties in step II. A pilot study was performed by the administration of the test on 25 children, and then the correct answer percentages of 100 participants for each item of the Persian test of speech stimulability were calculated. The participants were divided into four groups by six-month intervals. Inter-rater reliability, test-retest, and internal consistency were computed for the reliability measures. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 24.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL) was used for the statistical analysis of the data. The significance level was (P < 0.05). RESULTS: The final version of the test includes 132 items (consonant and vowel singleton words and sentences). There was no significant difference among experts' judgment in the content validity of the items (P > 0.05). All of the children could easily repeat the items in the pilot study. The participants were stimulable more than 80% for all of the consonants except/ʒ/and 100% for the vowels in the items of the final version of the Persian test of speech stimulability. All of the reliability values (inter-rater reliability, test-retest, and internal consistency) were higher than 0.8. CONCLUSION: Investigation of psychometric properties of the Persian test of speech stimulability showed that this test is a valid and reliable scale to assess the speech stimulability in Persian speaking children.

Kurdish Speech Test: A validation study for children aged 3-5 years.

OBJECTIVES: Speech disorder in children is the most common disorder reported by speech and language pathologists in all languages and its evaluation and diagnosis requires valid and reliable tools. This study aimed to develop a Kurdish Speech Test for children aged 3-5 years and to determine its psychometric properties. METHODS: The validation included 120 monolingual Kurdish-speaking children aged 3-5 years in the city of Bukan, Iran. Content validity was determined according to expert opinions of Kurdish speech and language pathologists and linguists. Test-retest (one-week interval) and scoring-rescoring by two independent examiners were conducted to determine intra- and inter-rater reliability. The tests ability to discriminate between four age groups (36-60 months) was investigated for construct validity. Differences related to gender were assessed. RESULTS: Intra- and inter-rater reliability showed no significant difference between the first and second week of administration (p < 0.001) and scoring-rescoring by two independent raters confirmed the reliability of the Kurdish Speech Test (P < 0.001). Discriminating properties, reflecting construct validity showed higher scores with increasing age. No gender differences were found. CONCLUSION: The Kurdish Speech Test is a reliable and valid instrument for evaluation of articulation in three-to-five-year-old children. Results suggest that the test is appropriate for clinical assessment of children with speech sound disorders.

The Effect of Non-Nutritive Sucking and Maternal Milk Odor on the Independent Oral Feeding in Preterm Infants.

OBJECTIVES: Given the positive effects of stimulation with breast milk odor and non-nutritive sucking (NNS) on preterm feeding skills, we examined the effect of NNS and milk odor, on the time of achieving independent oral feeding in preterm infants. MATERIALS & METHODS: This study was conducted at two Neonatal Intensive Care Units of Tehran, Iran in 2016. Overall, 32 neonates with gestational ages of 28-32 wk were enrolled in two groups; NNS with and without olfactory stimuli (breast milk odor). The simulations were performed in both groups during the first five minutes of gavage, three times per day, and over ten consecutive days. Weight gain, time of achieving oral feeding and chronological age at discharge were as measures of the effectiveness of the interventions. The results of the interventions were analyzed and compared using SPSS.18. RESULTS: NNS with breast milk odor resulted to a lower post-menstrual age at the first oral feeding, independent oral feeding and discharge from the hospital, but had no effects on their daily weight gain and weight at the time of discharge. CONCLUSION: These results show the effectiveness of combining milk odor and NNS as two important stimuli in achieving oral feeding and earlier discharge from the hospital.