Date of Graduation
5-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Communication Disorders (MS)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders
Advisor/Mentor
Glade, Rachel
Committee Member
Pate, Tracy
Second Committee Member
Rosenzweig, Elizabeth
Third Committee Member
Holyfield, Christine E.
Keywords
Auditory skills hierarchy; Auditory Verbal Therapy; Hearing loss; Parent engagement; Speech-Language Pathology; Telepractice
Abstract
Parent engagement is a key component during early language development for all children, but particularly for a child with hearing loss. Through the application of technology-based models of service delivery such as telehealth, researchers have found an increase in parent-child engagement during auditory-verbal therapy (AVT) sessions due to the physical absence of the provider and parents becoming the primary language facilitators. However, current measures of parent-child interactions do not have a coding system to monitor facilitation of auditory skills. This present study will discuss the development of the Caregiver-Child Auditory Skills Tracking (CAST) Scale to track progress of caregiver implementation of the auditory skill hierarchy. Initial development included using the CAST scale for a pilot case study of parent interaction during 2 sessions (6 months) of auditory-based sessions via international telehealth. The participants were Spanish-speaking parents of a 2-year-old child with bilateral cochlear implants who reside in Mexico and received intervention from an Arkansas-based clinician. Parent interactions were qualitatively coded by graduate student clinicians using the CAST scale to rate implementation of auditory skill hierarchy stages. Data was coded twice (approximately 4 weeks apart) for both sessions on the auditory skills strategies data sheet developed by the researchers. The statistical analysis performed on the data collection was a repeated measures ANOVA. The results of the analysis found that there is a significant effect of time on both session conditions (rating one and rating two). Specifically, the rater’s auditory skills training had a statistically significant effect on auditory skills strategies data. Additionally, telehealth was observed to increase parent engagement in both sessions. These findings provide a guideline towards continued progression of the CAST scale and adds to research that supports telehealth as a viable option of speech-language pathology service delivery.
Citation
Ocampo-Roman, E. (2020). Development of the Caregiver-Child Auditory Skills Tracking (CAST) scale: A Pilot Study on Caregiver Implementation via International Telepractice. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/3644