Theses and Dissertations - Department of Communicative Disorders

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations - Department of Communicative Disorders by Subject "Psychology"

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    Attitudes of stuttering within the social networks of people who stutter
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2019) Hawkins, Haley; Buhr, Anthony P.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    This study examined attitudes about stuttering in the social networks of people who stutter. This study included seven people who stutter (PWS) as well as 21 other participants across the social networks of the PWS. The PWS were asked to identify up to five individuals they consider to be close to, constituting the inner “circle” of their social network. These individuals were asked to identify two acquaintances and two strangers of the PWS to also participate in the study, constituting the outer circles of the social network. However, low participation rate made it possible to examine only the inner circle. A series of surveys were administered to the PWS and all recruited participants to assess how attitudes toward stuttering change as a function of the “distance” from the PWS, and to evaluate the prevalence of negative attitudes (i.e., stigma) about stuttering in the network. Results showed that perceived stigma was similar between PWS and those in their social networks. In addition, PWS rated their overall experiences of stuttering and the level of debilitation as less negative than their social networks. The perceived closeness of the individuals did not appear to have a major impact on the attitudes about stuttering. One limitation of the study is that stigma of stuttering proved to be an obstacle to studying the stigma itself. This suggests a need for more communication about stuttering within the networks of PWS.
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    Is dosage important?: parent and child outcomes with project impact therapy
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Noble, Hylan; Barber, Angela B.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    The primary purpose of this study was to compare both pre- and post- language and social communication outcomes between two different groups, receiving various dosages of ImPACT (Improving Parents as Communicative Partners) therapy. A secondary objective was to investigate the feasibility of parent adherence to the ImPACT strategies and levels of self-perceived parent competency in implementing the treatment. Parent-mediated therapy has been shown to be a successful form of facilitating social skills and language in children with ASD (Ingersoll, 2012). Specifically, Project ImPACT implemented as an “off the shelf” model has resulted in increased social-engagement and communication as well as decreased parental stress (Ingersoll and Wainer, 2015). Results demonstrated clinically significant gains in social-communication across both groups, particularly in children receiving a higher dose of treatment. Parents also demonstrated increased parental satisfaction. Overall, the study highlights (1) the feasibility of implementing an “off the shelf” approach of the manualized Project ImPACT intervention in a clinic setting, without prior formal training, (2) emphasizes the importance of implementing parent-mediated interventions for the purposes of increasing overall functional communication in children with an ASD.