Browsing by Author "Loveall, Susan J."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Matching variables for research involving youth with Down syndrome: Leiter-R versus PPVT-4
    (Pergamon, 2014) Phillips, B. Allyson; Loveall, Susan J.; Channell, Marie Moore; Conners, Frances A.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; University of Kansas; University of California Davis
    Much of what is known about the cognitive profile of Down syndrome (DS) is based on using either receptive vocabulary (e.g., PPTV-4) or nonverbal ability (e.g., Leiter-R) as a baseline to represent cognitive developmental level. In the present study, we examined the relation between these two measures in youth with DS, with non-DS intellectual disability (ID), and with typical development (TD). We also examined the degree to which these two measures produce similar results when used as a group matching variable. In a cross-sectional developmental trajectory analysis, we found that the relation between PPVT-4 and Leiter-R was largely similar across groups. However, when contrasting PPVT-4. and Leiter-R as alternate matching variables, the pattern of results was not always the same. When matched on Leiter-R or PPVT-4, the group with DS performed below that of the groups with ID and TD on receptive grammar and below the group with TD on category learning. When matched on the PPVT-4, the group with ID performed below that of the group with TD on receptive grammar and category learning, but these differences between the groups with ID and TD were not found when matched on the Leiter-R. The results of the study suggest that the PPVT-4 and Leiter-R are interchangeable at least for some outcome measures for comparing youth With DS and TD, but they may produce different results when comparing youth with ID and TD. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Narrative Language Sampling in Typical Development: Implications for Clinical Trials
    (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2018) Channell, Marie Moore; Loveall, Susan J.; Conners, Frances A.; Harvey, Danielle J.; Abbeduto, Leonard; University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; University of Mississippi; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; University of California Davis
    Purpose: This study examined cross-sectional age-related trajectories of expressive language variables (syntactic complexity, lexical diversity, unintelligibility, dysfluency, and talkativeness) derived from a narrative language sampling procedure. Method: Narrative samples were analyzed from 103 typically developing individuals, ages 4-21 years. Results: Results showed that this procedure was effective for the entire age range, with participants producing an utterance on virtually every page of the wordless picture books used to prompt the narrative. Importantly, the cross-sectional trajectories for syntactic complexity and lexical diversity showed age-related increases through the age of 18 years, although measures of other dimensions of language showed different relationships with age. Conclusions: These data inform developmental work and document the extent to which the narrative procedure can be used to characterize expressive language over a wide age range. This procedure has been proposed as an outcome measure for clinical trials and interventions involving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The present data document the developmental levels for which the procedure and metrics derived are appropriate.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Patterns of autism spectrum symptomatology in individuals with Down syndrome without comorbid autism spectrum disorder
    (BMC, 2015) Channell, Marie Moore; Phillips, B. Allyson; Loveall, Susan J.; Conners, Frances A.; Bussanich, Paige M.; Klinger, Laura Grofer; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; University of California Davis; University of Kansas; University of Wisconsin Madison; University of North Carolina; University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
    Background: Prevalence estimates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Down syndrome (DS) are highly varied. This variation is partly due to the difficulty of screening for and diagnosing comorbid ASD in individuals with a syndrome that carries its own set of social communicative and behavioral difficulties that are not well documented. The aim of this study was to identify the typical range of social communicative impairments observed in children, adolescents, and young adults with DS who do not have comorbid ASD. Methods: We examined patterns of scores from the five subscales of the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) in 46 individuals with DS (ages 10-21 years) without comorbid ASD relative to the published normative sample. We also explored the correlations between SRS symptomatology and age, nonverbal cognition, and receptive language. Results: SRS scores were elevated (i.e., more ASD symptoms endorsed), with mean scores falling into the clinically significant range. Analysis by subscale revealed a specific pattern, with Autistic Mannerisms and Social Cognition scores significantly more elevated than Social Communication scores, which were significantly more elevated than Social Awareness and Social Motivation scores. Correlations between SRS scores and the other measures varied by subscale. Conclusions: General elevated ASD symptomatology on the SRS indicates the need for developing population-based norms specific to DS. The pattern of scores across subscales should inform clinicians of the typical range of behaviors observed in DS so that individuals with atypical patterns of behavior can be more easily identified and considered for a full ASD evaluation.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Strengths and weaknesses in reading skills of youth with intellectual disabilities
    (Pergamon, 2013) Channell, Marie Moore; Loveall, Susan J.; Conners, Frances A.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Reading-related skills of youth with intellectual disability (ID) were compared with those of typically developing (TD) children of similar verbal ability level. The group with ID scored lower than the TD group on word recognition and phonological decoding, but similarly on orthographic processing and rapid automatized naming (RAN). Further, phonological decoding significantly mediated the relation between group membership and word recognition, whereas neither orthographic processing nor RAN did so. The group with ID also underperformed the TD group on phonological awareness and phonological memory, both of which significantly mediated the relation between group membership and phonological decoding. These data suggest that poor word recognition in youth with ID may be due largely to poor phonological decoding, which in turn may be due largely to poor phonological awareness and poor phonological memory. More focus on phonological skills in the classroom may help students with ID to develop better word recognition skills. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.