The Frequency and Nature of Communication Between School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists and Caregivers of Children With Language Impairment.

Publisher: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 9114726 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1558-9110 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 10580360 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am J Speech Lang Pathol Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Rockville Md : American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Child Language* ; Communication* ; Health Personnel* ; Interpersonal Relations* ; School Health Services* ; Speech-Language Pathology*; Caregivers/*psychology ; Language Disorders/*therapy; Age Factors ; Attitude of Health Personnel ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Humans ; Language Disorders/diagnosis ; Language Disorders/physiopathology ; Language Disorders/psychology ; Language Tests ; Literacy ; Male ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome ; United States ; Vocabulary

Purpose: The present study investigates the extent to which school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) communicate with the caregivers of children with language impairment and the factors that are significantly associated with frequent communication. In addition, this study investigates the extent to which frequent SLP-caregiver communication is associated with change in language and literacy abilities of children.
Method: To address the study aims, weekly communication logs from 73 SLPs, serving 3-5 children with language impairment in grades K-2, were collected for a complete academic year. Logs detailed the frequency and nature of SLP-caregiver communication. Information regarding children's age, language ability, and socioeconomic status were gathered at study onset; additionally, SLPs completed a questionnaire about their work experience and current work conditions (e.g., caseload size and job satisfaction). Finally, children were administered grammar, vocabulary, and early literacy assessments at the beginning and end of the academic year.
Results: Descriptive results indicate that (a) the most common type of communication was via homework, (b) children's socioeconomic status was related to communication frequency, and (c) increased SLP-caregiver communication related to increased grammar gains over the academic year.
Conclusion: These results suggest that SLP-caregiver communication may be important for children's language outcomes; further studies exploring ways to support these communicative efforts are warranted.

Date Created: 20171102 Date Completed: 20180725 Latest Revision: 20220318

20221213

10.1044/2017_AJSLP-16-0235

29090308