Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR
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J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res. · Oct 2000
Speech, vocabulary, and the education of children using cochlear implants: oral or total communication?
This study examines the relationship between the teaching method, oral or total communication, used at children's schools and children's consonant-production accuracy and vocabulary development over time. Children who participated in the study (N = 147) demonstrated profound sensorineural hearing loss and had used cochlear implants for between 6 months and 10 years. Educational programs that used an oral communication (OC) approach focused on the development of spoken language, whereas educational programs that used a total communication (TC) approach focused on the development of language using both signed and spoken language. ⋯ Regardless of whether children were in the OC or TC group, children who received their implants during preschool demonstrated stronger performance, on average, on all measures over time than children who received their implants during their elementary school years. The results of this study suggest that children may benefit from using cochlear implants regardless of the communication strategy/teaching approach employed by their school program and that other considerations, such as the age at which children receive implants, are more important. Implications and future research needs are discussed.
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J. Speech Lang. Hear. Res. · Dec 1998
A tutorial on conducting meta-analyses of clinical outcome research.
Throughout the educational, medical, psychological, and social sciences, meta-analysis is the present-day, broadly accepted means for combining many quasi-experiments in a synthesis for the purpose of establishing the weight of scientific evidence bearing on a certain research question. Meta-analysis thereby is the preferred method for determining the preponderance of evidence in clinical-outcome research relating to questions of treatment efficacy and treatment effectiveness. ⋯ The results of the accompanying example constitute a preliminary meta-analysis of patient-perceived treatment effectiveness. The substance of the tutorial, however, transcends disciplinary interests regarding types of communication disorder.