Papers by Lekeitha Morris
Parental Satisfaction and Impact of an Internet Intervention for Interactive Storybook Reading
Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups
Purpose: This article evaluated the utilization of an Internet-based, self-managed parent trainin... more Purpose: This article evaluated the utilization of an Internet-based, self-managed parent training program (i.e., Success with Stories [SWS]) designed to facilitate parental motivation about interactive storybook reading, perceived competence in their ability to engage in interactive storybook reading, and their reading practices and beliefs. Method: Ten parents of young children with/or at-risk for a spoken language disorder enrolled in SWS. The satisfaction of content, usability, presentation, suitability, and exercises of SWS among the parents were examined using an intervention satisfaction rating survey, a focus group, and semistructured interviews. Results: The survey revealed high levels of satisfaction, and qualitative data reflected the survey data. Parents found the program to be acceptable, functional, and practical. Pre- and postprogram responses on the Parental Reading Beliefs Inventory were compared. Significant differences were reported with a large effect size. Withi...
Administrative Sciences
In this paper, we examine university discretionary interpretation of the 2020 social upheaval tha... more In this paper, we examine university discretionary interpretation of the 2020 social upheaval that emanated from George Floyd’s murder as an element of university social responsibility (USR) policymaking. The paper addresses two research questions: (a) What are university presidents’ implicit and explicit social justice responses to George Floyd’s death and the idealistic protests of 2020? (b) To what degree are principles of social justice embedded in universities’ intellectual roots and social responsibility? Using a sample of university presidents’ public statements in response to George Floyd’s death and the idealistic protests of 2020, we analyze the response and responsibilities of universities in the struggle for a just society. We cross-check mission statements and strategic plans to corroborate universities’ public statements with their institutional philosophies, mission, and action plans relating to discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities and systemic racism. ...
From Interest to Engagement: Recruiting and Retaining Parents of Children Within School Contexts
Supplemental material, AUT864222_Lay_Abstract for A cross-sectional descriptive analysis of portr... more Supplemental material, AUT864222_Lay_Abstract for A cross-sectional descriptive analysis of portrayal of autism spectrum disorders in YouTube videos: A short report by Monica L Bellon-Harn, Vinaya Manchaiah and Lekeitha R Morris in Autism
Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences and Disorders, 2021
Preliminary investigation of the relationship between the temperament of young children who stutt... more Preliminary investigation of the relationship between the temperament of young children who stutter and the temperament of their parents.
This study examined African American (AA) caregivers' beliefs about their children's language-lit... more This study examined African American (AA) caregivers' beliefs about their children's language-literacy development and their book reading behaviors with their children as a function of socioeconomic status (SES). Caregivers' behaviors were examined before, during, and after a three-day caregiver training program that targeted four behaviors (i.e., tracking print, reference to print, text to life, and interpretations). Participants were 20 caregiver-child dyads classified as Low-SES (LSES) or Middle-SES (MSES) based on the caregivers' level of education. Children were typically developing girls between the ages of four and five years. At pre-test, the two groups of caregivers differed in some of their beliefs about children's language-literacy development. They also were similar in the length of their book reading sessions, in their use of tracking print, text to life, and reference to print behaviors, but the MSES group produced more interpretations and other book reading comments than the LSES group. During training and at post-test, both groups increased the length of their book reading sessions and their use of all targeted behaviors. Nevertheless, the MSES group's book reading sessions were longer and they produced more target behaviors than the LSES group. The MSES group also incorporated more facilitative language behaviors that were not targeted in the training into their book reading sessions than the LSES group. Correlations between the caregivers' behaviors and beliefs at pre-testing were positive but low in magnitude. Correlations were higher at post-test, but did not reach a level of statistical significance. Findings demonstrate the appropriateness of book reading as a caregiver training target for AA caregivers because both groups were able to increase the length of their book reading sessions, and within these sessions, increase their ability to use a number of behaviors that are
A Self-Managed Internet Parent Training Program for Interactive Storybook Reading: Extension to a Public School Setting
Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups
Purpose This research note evaluated the collaboration, recruitment, enrollment processes, as wel... more Purpose This research note evaluated the collaboration, recruitment, enrollment processes, as well as outcomes of an online, self-managed parent training program (Success With Stories [SWS]) concurrent with a Head Start school curriculum. Method This case examination presents the research processes used to examine an online program concurrent with Head Start school programming. Challenges, outcomes, and next steps in the process were evaluated. The engagement of parents who completed the program was examined. Results Collaborative processes were developed, and recruitment strategies were initiated. Of the 92 parents who expressed immediate interest, 38 registered and 16 consented but only seven completed the program. Of the parents who completed the program, survey data revealed high levels of parent satisfaction, motivation, and perceived competence. Conclusions Results indicate a breakdown in the recruitment, enrollment, and completion processes. Results indicate that SWS has prom...
An Unequal Partnership
Critical Perspectives on Social Justice in Speech-Language Pathology
This chapter addresses what Rickford referred to as an unequal partnership between researchers an... more This chapter addresses what Rickford referred to as an unequal partnership between researchers and the researched. In this chapter, Rickford's assertion of an unequal partnership within the field of sociolinguistics is extended to the field of communication sciences and disorders (CSD). A summary of the CSD literature on the Black speech community identifies shortcomings, leading the authors to argue that more can be done to equalize the partnership between CSD researchers and the Black speech community. The authors make the case for the establishment of service-in-return as a general principle of CSD research – especially when the researched community is a minority, marginalized, or underserved community. Ideas of ways that researchers can give back to the researched communities are provided. The authors also suggest ways that researchers can foster a sense of civic responsibility in student researchers in order to usher in a new generation of researchers who are more committed...
Development and Functionality of an Internet-Based, Self-Managed Parent Training Program
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
Purpose This research note evaluated a self-managed, Internet intervention (i.e., Success With St... more Purpose This research note evaluated a self-managed, Internet intervention (i.e., Success With Stories) designed to facilitate parental reading practices and beliefs. Method Twelve reviewers were composed of parents of young children, speech-language pathologists, and experts in self-managed, Internet intervention. Satisfaction of usability, content, presentation, suitability, and exercises of Success With Stories was examined using an intervention satisfaction rating. Value and usefulness of content was evaluated via a survey. Results Reviewers found content to be valuable and useful for facilitating parental reading practices and beliefs. Results indicated high satisfaction across all reviewers. Conclusion Results point toward strengths and limitations of the protocol and future directions.
Journal of Child and Family Studies
No review to date has focused on evaluating the use of videos and digital media in parent-impleme... more No review to date has focused on evaluating the use of videos and digital media in parent-implemented interventions for parents of children with primary language or speech sound disorder (LD/SSD). Research objectives guiding this scoping review included an evaluation of (a) use of videos and/or other digital media in parent-implemented interventions; (b) use of videos and/or other digital media in asynchronous content; (c) the role of the parent as learner; and (d) the program impact on parents and children. This review followed a five-stage framework: (a) identify research questions; (b) identify relevant studies; (c) select studies; (d) chart the data; and (e) collate, summarize and report the results. Ten studies were included. No program included parents of children with speech disorders. One fully asynchronous program was identified, though many programs included videos concurrent with direct instruction. No study described the parent as learner and only four studies examined parent satisfaction and perceptions. These four studies directly measured specific parent behavior and results indicated that the programs had a positive impact on parents' interactions. Nine of the ten studies included child outcomes. This low volume of studies suggests limited work in this area. The review describes research gaps and future directions.
A cross-sectional descriptive analysis of portrayal of autism spectrum disorders in YouTube videos: A short report
Autism
Professionals have expressed concerns about the quality of autism-related information available f... more Professionals have expressed concerns about the quality of autism-related information available from Internet-based sources. The purpose of this study was to examine the source, content, usability, and actionability of autism spectrum disorder–related information contained in 100 different videos directed to families of children with autism spectrum disorder uploaded to YouTube. Upload sources were identified, and video content was coded. Understandability and actionability of the videos were examined using Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials. The collective number of views of the videos was almost 100 million. The length of videos was 691.17 min (i.e. 11.5 h) with the shortest video being 30 s and the longest video being 37.36 min. The YouTube videos related to autism spectrum disorder covered a range of issues, although much of the content was focused on signs and symptoms. No difference in content reporting was noted based on sources for most cat...
Comparison of African American Children's Performances on a Minimal Competence Core for Morphosyntax and the Index of Productive Syntax
American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
This study is a response to the need for evidence-based measures of spontaneous oral language to ... more This study is a response to the need for evidence-based measures of spontaneous oral language to assess African American children under the age of 4 years. We determined if pass/fail status on a minimal competence core for morphosyntax (MCC-MS) was more highly related to scores on the Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn)-the measure of convergent criterion validity-than to scores on 3 measures of divergent validity: number of different words (Watkins, Kelly, Harbers, & Hollis, 1995), Percentage of Consonants Correct-Revised (Shriberg, Austin, Lewis, McSweeney, & Wilson, 1997), and the Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised (Roid & Miller, 1997). Archival language samples for 68 African American 3-year-olds were analyzed to determine MCC-MS pass/fail status and the scores on measures of convergent and divergent validity. Higher IPSyn scores were observed for 60 children who passed the MCC-MS than for 8 children who did not. A significant positive correlation, rpb = .73, between MCC-MS pass/fail status and IPSyn scores was observed. This coefficient was higher than MCC-MS correlations with measures of divergent validity: rpb = .13 (Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised), rpb = .42 (number of different words in 100 utterances), and rpb = .46 (Percentage of Consonants Correct-Revised). The MCC-MS has convergent criterion validity with the IPSyn. Although more research is warranted, both measures can be potentially used in oral language assessments of African American 3-year-olds.
Uploads
Papers by Lekeitha Morris