by Sean Sweeney May 30, 2022 2 min read
I know I can’t!
With much of the USA wrapping up the 2021-22 school year, it’s time to embark on another summer study series. Naturally, each post will have a tech tie-in with a practical resource as well.
First up, I was super excited to tell Maryellen and Sheila about a meta-analysis on narrative language interventions from October 2021 and have been eager to write about it here. A meta-analysis is considered among the highest levels of evidence and is a study of studies so to speak, applying criteria to include research on a topic and determining effect sizes of interventions. The study in question, Interventions Designed to Improve Narrative Language in School-Age Children: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analyses (Pico, Prahl, Biel, Peterson, Biel, Woods & Contesse) was published in ASHA’s Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools and is therefore available to all ASHA members, or ask your friendly SLP for a copy.
As usual, I will give you some bullet points and hope you will go on to peruse the article yourself and add it to your repository of Evidence-Based Practice resources, because it certainly backs up your use of SGM®:
Besides the support for interventions such as SGM® being used with students with diverse learning characteristics and potentially all children, the studies analyzed also highlighted the potential for employment of these techniques by a variety of educational staff besides speech and language pathologists—e.g., classroom teachers and paraprofessionals—thus extending their reach.
So, for a practical summer resource…did this study bring you a wave of excitement? Check out Wave by Suzy Lee in its book form or in the lovely sound-enhanced video (3:32 length) below. This wordless picture book provides you with a Complete Episode as its main character enjoys a day at the beach interacting with the crashing waves.
Sean Sweeney, MS, MEd, CCC-SLP, is a speech-language pathologist and technology specialist working in private practice at the Ely Center in Needham, MA, and as a clinical supervisor at Boston University. He consults to local and national organizations on technology integration in speech and language interventions. His blog, SpeechTechie (www.speechtechie.com), looks at technology “through a language lens.” Contact him at sean@speechtechie.com.
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