Research in Logopedics

Anu Klippi, Ph.D., is a speech and language therapist and a professor of logopedics and head of the Department of Speech Sciences at the University of Helsinki. She is the author of Conversation as an Achievement in Aphasics (1996). She has published a number of scholarly articles on the different fields of logopedics, on the methodological questions of the research of logopedics, and on the training of speech and language therapists. Her principal interests are communication and interaction with people with communication disorders, and especially with people with aphasia and dementia. In particular, the question concerning the relationship between verbal and nonverbal behaviour, as well as the question of the capacity of nonverbal behaviour to convey meanings in conversation, has been elucidated in her study. Kaisa Launonen, Ph.D., is a speech and language therapist, and a professor of logopedics in the Department of Speech Sciences at the University of Helsinki. Her doctoral thesis (1998, in Finnish) dealt with development, application and long-term effects of an Early Signing Programme in the early intervention of children with Down’s syndrome. She is the leading researcher in Finland in the field of augmentative and alternative communication where her principal interests are in developmental issues and in people with the most severe communication challenges. She has also done research in the international field of AAC where she has contributed to several edited publications. Her other interests are early interaction and communication development, as well as ethical issues in communication intervention, professional ethics of speech and language therapists, and research ethics.

Part 1: Introduction

1. Challenges of Logopedics and Speech-language Therapy in Finland - Kaisa Launonen and Anu Klippi

2. Aspects of the Structure of Finnish - Marja-Liisa Helasvuo

3. Tests and Assessment Methods Currently Used and New Ones Desired by Finnish Speech and Language Therapists - Kerttu Huttunen, Leila Paavola and Anne Suvanto

Part 2: Characteristics of Finnish and the Study of Child Speech and Language Disorders

4. Normal and Disordered Phonological Acquisition in Finnish - Pirjo Kulju and Tuula Savinainen-Makkonen

5. Logopedic Research on Communication Difficulties in Childhood - Pirjo Korpilahti and Kaisu Heinänen

6. Alternative Communication Form as a Genuinely Shared Language - Kaisa Launonen

Part 3: Characteristics of Finnish and the Study of Adult Speech and Language Disorders

7. Text Production of Finnish Speakers with Aphasia - Anna-Maija Korpijaakko-Huuhka

8. Semantic Impairment in Finnish-speaking People with Alzheimer’s Disease: A Review - Seija Pekkala

9. The Interplay between Verbal and Nonverbal Behaviour in Aphasic Word Search in Conversation - Anu Klippi and Liisa Ahopalo

Part 4: The Development of Speech and Language in Hearing Disorders, Sign Language and Cochlear Implant

10. The Acquisition of Finnish Sign Language - Ritva Takkinen

11. Children with Cochlear Implants Acquiring the Finnish Language - Eila Lonka

12. Speech Intelligibility in Hearing Impairment - Kerttu Huttunen

Part 5: Voice Disorders

13. Experiences from Six Years of Screening for Voice Disorders among Teacher Students - Susanna Simberg and Eeva Sala