Illinois Office of
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• Brittany

  Sep 28, 2017 10:45 am by ugresearch@illinois.eduHumanities

  

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  • Brittany Barajas
  • Homelessness and language in native Spanish-speakers
  • Speech and Hearning Sciences, Spanish

  Describe
  your research
  experience

  My research interests include communication abilities in adults experiencing homelessness, Spanish-English bilingual speech language pathology, and the use of outdoor adventure therapy in speech language pathology.

  Communication disorders are linked to a severe decrease in quality of life. Impeding one’s socializing skills, they are correlated with decreased abilities to maintain and establish relationships and increased levels of social isolation and depression. The loved ones of individuals with communication disorders suffer too, many experiencing burnouts and unsatisfied marriages. Therefore, identification and treatment of communication disorders are crucial. However, very little research has identified the prevalence of communication difficulties in adults experiencing homelessness (AEHs), and the findings of those few studies—all conducted in the US—are mixed and limited to English-speakers. Therefore, this quasi-experiment conducted in Quito, Ecuador, tested 15 native Spanish-speaking AEHs and 17 adults not experiencing homelessness (the control group). Data was collected on their conversational speech, auditory comprehension, oral expression, reading, writing, premorbid intelligence, head injuries, mental health, and substance abuse. The results of the data collection will be analyzed during the fall semester of 2018.

  Brittney is one of the recipient's of OUR's Research Support Grant (2017).

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