No abstract

Value Added: The Volta Review MonographsOver its 110-year history, The Volta Review has served as a primary source for the latest in cutting-edge research, professional commentary, and reviews of materials and technology that explore a listening and spoken language outcome for individuals with hearing loss. Keeping its readership informed is an important goal of The Volta Review and we continue to improve on that mission.In addition to the regular serial issues, The Volta Review is best known for its outstanding monographs focused on important or emerging issues in the area of listening and spoken language development of individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing. Monograph issues provide in-depth information that often cannot be obtained from any other single source. Each monograph is highly regarded and used as a springboard for further research and the development of guidelines and policies for listening and spoken language intervention. Past topics have included early hearing detection and intervention, mechanisms of aminoglycoside otoxicity and strategies for prevention, children with hearing loss and special needs, assessment of hearing in infants and toddlers, speech and language benefits of cochlear implantation, classroom acoustics, and language, speech, and socio-emotional development of children who are deaf or hard of hearing.In keeping with the cutting-edge nature of previous The Volta Review monographs, the next monograph edition will focus on the important issue of professional development in the field of listening and spoken language. Edited by Drs. Todd Houston and Christina Perigoe, this monograph will highlight models of professional preparation and development that have emerged in both pre-service and in-service training of listening and spoken language professionals who work with young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The rapidly expanding AG Bell Academy for Listening and Spoken Language Specialist certifications -LSLS Cert. AVEd and LSLS Cert. AVThighlights the urgency of what is quickly becoming a "Crisis of Capacity" between the number of children seeking a listening and spoken language outcome and the number of qualified professionals to support them. This "must read" monograph will serve as an important guidepost for training the next generation of service providers. Look for it in June 2010.In addition, The Volta Review is pleased to announce that online archives of the journal are now available. Visit www.agbell.org/TheVoltaReview to view past archives up to 2006. Earlier issues will be posted as available.This issue contains some important research concerning speech, spoken language, and literacy skill development; decision-making tools for parents considering a second cochlear implant for their children; and commentary on speech-based language acquisition. We hope you enjoy this issue, and please don't hesitate to contribute to The Volta Review . Sincerely,This study examined the speech perception, speech, and language developmental progress of 25 children with hearing lo...

If visual speech training aids are to be used effectively, it is important to assess whether hearing-impaired speakers can accurately interpret visual patterns and arrive at correct conclusions concerning the accuracy of speech production. In this investigation with the Speech Spectrographic Display (SSD), a pattern interpretation task was given to 10 hearing-impaired adults. Subjects viewed selected SSD patterns from hearing-impaired speakers, evaluated the accuracy of speech production, and identified the SSD visual features that were used in the evaluation. In general, results showed that subjects could use SSD patterns to evaluate speech production. For those pattern interpretation errors that occurred most were related either to phonetic/orthographic confusions or to misconceptions concerning production of speech.

A 22-question interview was conducted with 41 severely hearing-impaired students at NTID in order to compare speech intelligibility in communicating social and technical information and in responses which varied in message predictability. Five trained speech pathologists rated responses live, using a 5-point scale. Mean ratings of speech intelligibility were found to be significantly higher for social material than for technical information. Speech intelligibility ratings in both categories decreased as the message predictability decreased. These findings are discussed relative to communication instruction at NTID and to the assessment and reporting of speech intelligibility ratings.

Advanced Communication for Group Presentation is a public speaking course offered by the Communication Program at NTID. The objective of the course is that upon completion, a student will demonstrate competence and confidence in presenting factual information, responding to questions, and expressing feelings and attitudes about varied aspects of hearing impairment, NTID, and personal experiences. The course is described, including details of the four major content areas: (a) readings, (b) assignments, (c) speaking and interviewing activities, and (d) grading. Student records and their suggestions regarding the course are also discussed.