Colleen M Holt

Publications (2) View all

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  Article: Actor vocal training for the habilitation of speech in adolescent users of cochlear implants.

  Colleen M Holt, Richard C Dowell
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  ABSTRACT: This study examined changes to speech production in adolescents with hearing impairment following a period of actor vocal training. In addition to vocal parameters, the study also investigated changes to psychosocial factors such as confidence, self-esteem, and anxiety. The group were adolescent users of cochlear implants (mean age at commencement of training 15.9 years), with approximately half of the group wearing a hearing aid in the contralateral ear. The mean age of implantation of the group was 7.6 years and the participants displayed a range of speech production abilities. Evaluation of posttraining outcomes was performed via a combination of perceptual and acoustic analyses. Significant posttraining changes to vocal parameters included increased pitch range and variability and decreased speaking rate. From a psychosocial perspective, posttraining stress levels were significantly lowered. This study suggested that actor vocal training may benefit young people with hearing impairment, both in the way in which they use their voices and in the way in which they view themselves.
  Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 01/2011; 16(1):140-51. · 1.02 Impact Factor
• Article: Spoken language development in oral preschool children with permanent childhood deafness.

  Julia Z Sarant, Colleen M Holt, Richard C Dowell, Field W Rickards, Peter J Blamey
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  ABSTRACT: This article documented spoken language outcomes for preschool children with hearing loss and examined the relationships between language abilities and characteristics of children such as degree of hearing loss, cognitive abilities, age at entry to early intervention, and parent involvement in children's intervention programs. Participants were evaluated using a combination of the Child Development Inventory, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, and the Preschool Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals depending on their age at the time of assessment. Maternal education, cognitive ability, and family involvement were also measured. Over half of the children who participated in this study had poor language outcomes overall. No significant differences were found in language outcomes on any of the measures for children who were diagnosed early and those diagnosed later. Multiple regression analyses showed that family participation, degree of hearing loss, and cognitive ability significantly predicted language outcomes and together accounted for almost 60% of the variance in scores. This article highlights the importance of family participation in intervention programs to enable children to achieve optimal language outcomes. Further work may clarify the effects of early diagnosis on language outcomes for preschool children.
  Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 11/2008; 14(2):205-17. · 1.02 Impact Factor