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Introduction: With the growth in the field of speech and hearing globally, the requirements in training programs have seen a transition in India. One of the changes is an increase in the number of institutions worldwide offering specialization in either audiology or speech-language pathology (SLP) at the master's level, instead of a dual program. However, in the year 2017, out of 19 speech and hearing institutes offering master's degrees in the field of speech and hearing, only two provided specialization (as per the website of the Rehabilitation Council of India, 2017). Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the requirement for specialization in the field of speech and hearing. Methods: Using a twenty-item checklist, an e-survey was conducted to obtain the views of the Indian Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ISHA) life members regarding specialization at the master's level. Results: The majority of the participants indicated that specialization at the master's level is more beneficial than having a dual degree in speech and hearing. Furthermore, Pearson's Chi-square test indicated a significant association between their views on specialization and their educational qualification as well as their specific work area. Conclusion: The results indicated that ISHA life members were of the view that specialization in audiology and in SLP should be conducted in India at the master's level. This requirement was felt irrespective of whether they had a specialized or a dual degree as well as irrespective of their area of work.

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Introduction: Stuttering is reported to be highly prevalent in both children and adults, and has always drawn the attention of the clinicians and researchers. A vast body of literature exists on the intervention of stuttering in adults. However, research in the case of children who stutter (CWS) has gained momentum in the recent past. Research investigations in the past and clinical anecdotes have proven the potential benefits of early intervention. However, only a handful of the techniques have been explored. Response cost (RC) treatment is a widely adopted clinical approach with some positive evidence. The current study explored the effectiveness of RC treatment in preschool CWS. Methods: Participants were five children who stuttered in the age range of 3– 6 years. Spontaneous speech samples of all children were recorded both pre- and post-treatment. Recorded samples were analyzed for percentage of syllables stuttered (%SS), parent and clinician severity ratings, stuttering severity instrument (SSI)-4 scores, and naturalness ratings. Results: The results revealed a significant decrease in the %SS, severity ratings, and SSI-4 scores, and significant improvement in speech naturalness ratings in all the five participants. Conclusions: The study is the first one to document significant clinical improvement following RC intervention in Kannada-speaking preschool CWS. Future investigations with an experimental design, larger sample sizes, and monolingual as well as bilingual participants who stutter and multiple outcome variables are warranted.

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Introduction: Animacy effects refer to the processing advantage of animate concepts over inanimate concepts, and this effect has been studied using episodic memory tasks. However, animacy effects in the context of novel word learning, specifically through fast mapping (FM) and explicit encoding (EE), remain under-researched. Furthermore, the role of overnight consolidation of animate and inanimate novel words encoded through FM and EE remains unknown. Hence, the current study was undertaken to explore animacy effects in novel word learning through FM and EE and its modulation following overnight consolidation. Methods: Sixty-four healthy adults learned 24 novel words through standard FM and EE tasks and completed a delayed recognition test on the day of encoding and on the following day. Results: Results revealed a reliable animacy effect on both days in the recognition rates, with FM encoded-words reaching statistical significance. Of the encoding methods, EE was found to be superior than FM for novel word learning, but overnight consolidation leads to the decline of words encoded via EE alone. Overnight forgetting affected animate and inanimate words equally. Conclusion: The findings suggest the role of animacy in novel word learning tasks based on FM and EE. However, the data-driven cues recommend that future studies should focus on forgetting rates of animate and inanimate words as the encoding advantage noted for animate words did not influence forgetting rates following overnight consolidation.

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Introduction: The present study was carried out to assess the parental information about cochlear implant (CI) monitoring and maintenance. Methods: A questionnaire was developed during the study period aimed toward assessing parental knowledge, perception, and information with respect to CI monitoring and maintenance. This questionnaire was used to interview the parents of children implanted under the assistance to disabled persons for purchase/fitting of aids and appliances (ADIP) scheme. 30 parents of cochlear implantees were interveiwed in this study. The feedbacks of the parents were recorded and later analyzed to compute the results. Results: The results showed a good internal consistency between the questions with a Cronbach's alpha value >0.7. The results are suggestive of the need for better training programs postimplantation for parents as these could aid in the reduction of maintenance costs in the form of replacement of parts and troubleshooting appointments. Conclusion: The study showed a poor knowledge and understanding of cochlear implant in parents and showed a need for better training programs and counselling.

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The study was undertaken to perform a systematic review to investigate the diagnostic relevance of primitive reflexes (PR) such as Moro, Rooting, Sucking, Palmar, and Plantar/Babinski reflexes in high-risk newborns. A systematic literature search was carried out using different search engines between the years 1980 and 2018. There were 48 articles considered out of 61 articles, based on screening of the title and abstract. Finally, among 48 articles, a total of 8 articles were considered for the detailed review based on the inclusion criteria. The results of the selected articles on the different PRs have been discussed in the present study. Though most studies have evaluated the moro and the plantar reflex, every reflex considered in the study has been found to be affected in high-risk newborns and consequently, it is difficult to undermine the significance of any of these. All the studies reviewed highlighted the importance of assessing these reflexes in high-risk newborns and indicated that an abnormal reflex is an indication of a neurological abnormality. These findings indicate that the assessment of PRs should be included in the newborn screening protocol because they are not time consuming and can be performed easily with minimum or no tools. Future studies that are aimed at investigating the efficacy of these PRs in identifying children with developmental disabilities are essential.

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