New York City Stopover

One more stop on my way back to Rochester - New York City! This was my first trip to NYC since starting my Fulbright. Despite being located in New York State, Rochester is a very long way from NYC, around 5.5hrs by road (most people are confused by this!).

I spent my one day stopover checking out the sights and taking in a show on Broadway.

Returning Home over Greenland

My flight home from Amsterdam took me over Greenland. This was my first time seeing Greenland and it was amazing!

2nd International Conference on Teaching Deaf Learners

The 2nd International Conference on Teaching Deaf Learners brings together international presenters from several continents to share perspectives on many aspect of deaf education and deaf learners. Presentations are given solely by invitees, all authoritative experts in their own fields, on topics encompassing language, cognitive, and social development, literacy and numeracy skills, and the changing landscape of educating deaf learners. 

Conference organisers Professor Marc Marschark and Professor Harry Knoors

I was invited to give a plenary presentation describing "Deaf and Hard of Hearing multilingual learners: Language acquisition in a multilingual world". Here is the abstract.

The growing linguistic diversity of D/deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) learners creates a challenge for educators and clinicians who work with these children and their families. With over 7,000 language spoken in the world and increasing levels of transnational mobility, the cultural and linguistic heterogeneity of DHH learners accessing education and therapy services has never been greater. Within this paper, current perspectives on spoken language multilingualism will be described and related to DHH multilingual learners and their families, and the educators and clinicians who work with them. Parental and professional perspectives on choices about language use and multilingualism for DHH children will be described, along with research describing the speech and language outcomes for DHH children living and learning in multilingual environments. The need for interdisciplinary collaboration for supporting, assessing, and monitoring the speech and language development of DHH multilingual learners will be discussed.

Sessions were presented by many leaders in the field of deaf education including Dr Jessica Trussell from the Center for Education Research Partnerships at RIT whose paper was titled "Decoding interventions for secondary readers"

Dr Jessica Trussell of CERP

Also attending was fellow Fulbright scholar from The Netherlands Lian van Berkel who presented a paper titled "On the role of augmentative signs in spoken word learning in deaf children".

This was an amazing conference and an opportunity to catch up with old friends from around the world and to make many new friends.

Dr Jessica Trussell, Kate, and Dr Jennifer Beal-Alvarez

 Kate and Trudy Smith

Teaching Deaf Learners Conference: Kentalis Tour

As a prelude to the Teaching Deaf Learners Conference I had the opportunity to join a tour of Royal Dutch Kentalis who provide services to young people with hearing loss in The Netherlands. We visited Kentalis School Talent where we were greeted by students are able to observe some classes. I met a very communicative young man in the preschool class who took my hand and demanded that I sit with him and that I couldn't leave because he wanted to go to the movies with me, read a book with me, have lunch with me .... it was lovely.

5th grade mathematics class

We continued to School De Bolster, a primary mainstream education setting where we observed classes and met students and staff. Students were supported with a variety of services such as FM systems and interpreters to access to curriculum in mainstream classrooms. We then continued to Kentalis School Compas, a special vocational secondary school where many students focus on developing specialised skills in fields such as  catering and furniture making, as well as academic curriculum. Students prepared a delicious lunch for us and showed us around their school.

High school class

We finished the afternoon with a fascinating tour of the Museum of Deaf Education, housed in the original Institute for the Deaf.

Institute for the Deaf in Sint-Michielsgestel 

The Museum of Deaf Education

After a busy day of learning it was time to mingle with my fellow presenters from the conference at the speaker dinner.

RIT presenters attending the speaker dinner

Exploring Amsterdam

This is my first visit to Amsterdam and I had a great day exploring the sites with Trudy and her friend Sam, who is an Amsterdam local. Sam's tour of Amsterdam was fantastic, from the Amsterdam must sees, to the sites that aren't on the tourist route, to the best apple cake in Amsterdam. We also learnt about Amsterdam in some great museums including the Amsterdam Tulip Museum and the Museum of Cheese!

Van Gogh Museum

Library in the Rijksmuseum

Floating flower markets

Amsterdam Cheese Museum

Reykjavik Stopover

I am on my way to the Teaching Deaf Learners conference in Amsterdam. However, friend and colleague Thora Másdóttir has convinced me that Iceland is on the way to Amsterdam. I only have a few days with Thora in Reykjavík, as winter storm Stella delayed my flight here by several days.

While in Reykjavík we visited the University of Iceland, visited the markets at Harpa, ate ice cream, and enjoyed good company and stimulating conversation. I also enjoyed some warmer weather as Reykjavík was much warmer than Rochester this week!

Working at the University of Iceland, Reykjavík

Swans walking on water

Þóra Másdóttir with kaffi

Stella's Aftermath

Stella is gone and the sun is shining and the sky is the brightest blue. While the snow has stopped falling, it is still everywhere! A friend told me it was hard to drive in the city because the piles of plowed snow were so high it was impossible to see oncoming traffic around corners.

What bicycles?

I now understand why constant attention to shovelling snow is required

A 10 foot mountain of snow outside my office

Publication: Educators' perspectives on computer-assisted intervention

Today our paper from the Sound Start Study describing educators' perspectives on using computer-assisted intervention in early childhood setting was published online

Reference

Crowe, K., Cumming, T., McCormack, J., Baker, E., McLeod, S., Wren, Y., . . . Masso, S. (in press). Educators’ perspectives on facilitating computer-assisted speech intervention in early childhood settings. Child Language Teaching and Therapy. 

Abstract

Early childhood educators are frequently called on to support preschool-aged children with speech sound disorders and to engage these children in activities that target their speech production. This study explored factors that acted as facilitators and/or barriers to the provision of computer-based support for children with SSD in early childhood centres. Participants were 23 early childhood educators at 13 centres who participated in the Sound Start Study, a randomised controlled trial that examined the effectiveness of the Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter® (PFSS) computer program (Wren and Roulstone, 2013). Following the trial, participants completed a telephone interview discussing their experiences implementing the program. Transcripts from the interviews were analysed and three categories emerged as factors that influenced the provision of support: (a) Personal factors that related to the children (engagement with PFSS, inclusion/exclusion experience), peers, and educators (service provision, educator engagement, and support of child PFSS use); (b) Environmental factors that related to policies and philosophies (child-centred practice, technology), the physical environment (inclusion/exclusion), and logistics (time, technology); and (c) Program factors that related specifically to PFSS (program format, specific games, game duration). In order to best meet the needs of children, parents, educators, and clinicians, these factors need to be taken into consideration in the provision of speech and language therapy services in early childhood centres.

Winter Storm Stella

A massive snow storm has hit the North-Eastern United States. I admit, it is at least partly my fault. I asked for snow, and I wanted more snow. However, I didn't think that it would all come at once!

The snow started falling slowly on Monday afternoon but continued, unrelenting until Wednesday evening. Over 26 inches (66cm) of snow fall were recorded at Rochester International Airport near RIT. Unfortunately, I was supposed to fly out of Rochester airport on Wednesday but as flight after flight was cancelled it was time to settle in and wait out the storm. 

RIT was closed. Students were on break. The snow was falling so fast that RIT seemed to have given up trying to plow the dorm side of campus. It was the perfect time to try out my snow saucer around campus. So much fun! And so much peace and quiet for writing! 

Snow approaching window height

Snow burying bicycles

Snow storms are the perfect time for ice cream

Snow saucer fun!

Publication: Preschool children’s communication, motor and social development

Our paper describing parent and educator concerns about preschool children's development has been accepted for publication. This paper was part of the Sound Start Study

Reference

McLeod, S., Crowe, K., McCormack, J., White, P., Wren, Y., Baker, E., Masso, S., Roulstone, S. (2017, in press). Preschool children’s communication, motor and social development: What concerns parents and educators? International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. doi: 10.1080/17549507.2017.1309065.

Abstract

Purpose: During early childhood, it is important to identify which children require intervention before they face the increased demands of school. This study aimed to: (1) compare parents’ and educators’ concerns, (2) examine inter-rater reliability between parents’ and educators’ concerns and (3) determine the group difference between level of concern and children’s performance on clinical testing.

Method: Parents and educators of 1205 4- to 5-year-old children in the Sound Start Study completed the Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status. Children whose parents/educators were concerned about speech and language underwent direct assessment measuring speech accuracy (n 1⁄4 275), receptive vocabulary (n 1⁄4 131) and language (n 1⁄4 274). Result: More parents/educators were concerned about children’s speech and expressive language, than behaviour, social– emotional, school readiness, receptive language, self-help, fine motor and gross motor skills. Parents’ and educators’ responses were significantly correlated (except gross motor). Parents’ and educators’ level of concern about expressive speech and language was significantly correlated with speech accuracy on direct assessment. Educators’ level of concern was significantly correlated with a screening measure of language. Scores on a test of receptive vocabulary significantly differed between those with concern and those without.

Conclusion: Children’s communication skills concerned more parents and educators than other aspects of development and these concerns generally aligned with clinical testing.

Publication: Sound Start Study Main Results

Today our paper from the Sound Start Study describing the main findings of the study was accepted for publication

Reference:

McLeod, S., Baker, E., McCormack, J., Wren, Y., Roulstone, S. Crowe, K., Masso, S., White, P., & Howland, C. (2017, in press). Cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of computer-assisted intervention delivered by educators for children with speech sound disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research. 

Abstract:

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of computer-assisted input-based intervention for children with speech sound disorders (SSD). 

Method: The Sound Start Study was a cluster randomized controlled trial. Seventy-nine early childhood centers were invited to participate, 45 were recruited, and 1,205 4- to 5-year-old children’s parents/educators returned questionnaires. Children whose parents/educators had concerns about speech were assessed (n=275); 132 children who were identified with phonological impairment of unknown origin underwent additional assessment. Children with SSD and no receptive language or hearing difficulties, typical non-verbal intelligence, and English as their primary language were eligible; 123 were randomized (Intervention n=65; Control n=58); 3 withdrew. Intervention involved Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter software administered by educators over 9 weeks; Control involved typical classroom practices. Participants were re-assessed twice by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) blinded to the initial assessment and intervention conditions. 

Results: For the primary outcome variable (percentage of consonants correct), the significant mean change from pre- to post-intervention for the Intervention group (mean change+6.15, p<.001) was comparable in magnitude to the significant change for the Control group (mean change+5.43, p<.001) with a small between groups effect size for change (Cohen’s d=0.08). Similar results occurred for measures of emergent literacy, phonological processing, participation, and wellbeing. 

Conclusion: Computer-assisted input-based intervention administered by educators did not result in greater improvement than typical classroom practices.

Publication: Implementation of computer-assisted intervention

Today our paper describing the implementation fidelity of the Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter program in the Sound Start Study was published online. 

McCormack, J., Baker, E., Crowe, K., Masso, S., McLeod, S., Wren, Y., & Roulstone, S. (2017, in press). Implementation fidelity of a computer-assisted intervention for children with speech sound disorders. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. doi 10.1080/17549507.2017.1293160

Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/JjWu9TGPwWahCX53IuMM/full

Here is the abstract.

Background: Implementation fidelity refers to the degree to which an intervention or programme adheres to its original design. This paper examines implementation fidelity in the Sound Start Study, a clustered randomised controlled trial of computer-assisted support for children with speech sound disorders (SSD).

Method: Sixty-three children with SSD in 19 early childhood centres received computer-assisted support (Phoneme Factory Sound Sorter [PFSS] – Australian version). Educators facilitated the delivery of PFSS targeting phonological error patterns identified by a speech-language pathologist. Implementation data were gathered via (1) the computer software, which recorded when and how much intervention was completed over 9 weeks; (2) educators’ records of practice sessions; and (3) scoring of fidelity (intervention procedure, competence and quality of delivery) from videos of intervention sessions.

Result: Less than one-third of children received the prescribed number of days of intervention, while approximately one-half participated in the prescribed number of intervention plays. Computer data differed from educators’ data for total number of days and plays in which children participated; the degree of match was lower as data became more specific. Fidelity to intervention procedures, competency and quality of delivery was high.

Conclusion: Implementation fidelity may impact intervention outcomes and so needs to be measured in intervention research; however, the way in which it is measured may impact on data.

Ellie's 5km Run/Walk

The Ellie's Run/Walk is held in honour of Dr. Eleanor (Ellie) Rosenfield, Associate Dean for Student and Academic Services at RIT/NTID, who passed away from lymphoma in 2010. Funds from the Ellie's 5km go to nonprofit organizations that sponsor cancer awareness. 

Although the run started at 10am, it was a very chilly -10oC (14oF) outside!

The track

You need a lot of clothes to run when it's -10oC