The Effect Of An Inter Disciplinary Approach On Vocabulary Development in Children With Hearing Impairment; A Randomized Control Trial

The aim of the current research is to devise a joint interventional program between the speech and language pathologist and teachers in order to support their comprehension and expression of functional vocabulary. This study was devised as there is a gap in collaborative working by professionals in Pakistan. Often therapy is provided through a medical model of taking the child outside the class for one to one sessions. There is lack of lack of collaborative goal planning. This is particularly true for children who are in hearing impairment centres.

In Pakistan, the prevalence of all hearing loss in rural Pakistan has been estimated to be 7.9%, in a general population setting. The high prevalence rates are a source of concern. The impact of hearing impairment manifests itself in many ways. As is evident from the studies carried out on the impact of hearing impairment on vocabulary skills and speech-language and communication difficulties in general of children and adolescents, that these difficulties if not identified in a timely manner will affect later schooling and educational attainment. Vocabulary knowledge is a key predictor of reading comprehension, which is essential for academic progress.

In the field of early intervention and early childhood special education caregiver involvement has been documented as important. Speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) are prevalent among primary school-aged children. Collaboration between speech and language therapists (SLTs) and teachers is beneficial for supporting children's communication skills. Findings from an Australian study suggests that change to service delivery needs to be considered at an individual, interpersonal and organizational level to enable better outcomes for children with SLCN and increased support for their families and the professionals who work with them.

Hence, timely identification and management plays a pivotal role. It is critical that therapy is provided in a manner as to generalize learnt skills. Research described speech therapy services as largely happening outside of the classroom such as removing individuals or small groups from the classroom for intervention sessions ('pull out') or that involve the speech-language pathologist indirectly affecting the child's educational program by providing modeling or coaching to relevant educators in the use of strategies to promote specific skills ('consultation').

There is no denying that collaborative working is essential. A study comparing improvement on a specific study measure designed on selected vocabulary in 12 classrooms with 3 conditions: (1) Pull-out - 50-minute group or one to one sessions for twelve weeks. (2) Classroom-based - Weekly 40-minute lessons for 12 weeks (3) Collaborative - Weekly 40-minute SLP-teacher planned and team taught lessons for 12 weeks. The results suggested evidence for the benefits of collaborative working such as the ability to discuss, design and plan between the teacher and SLP, resulting in greater outcomes and facilitating generalization of the activities in students who require it the most. The study sheds light on the need for such collaboration and provides evidence sums for further research to address similar outcomes in Pakistan.