This study examined the temporal reliability of four quantitative measurements of linguistic behaviors in 20 preschool children observed in a naturalistic setting. Although inadequate reliability was found for the measure which used total number of words, very high reliability coefficients were obtained for the measures which used number of…

This article discusses the role of stimulability in the assessment and treatment of phonological disorders in Spanish-speaking children and applies principles of stimulability to the evaluation and treatment of a phonological disorder in a three-year-old Spanish-speaking child. The case study demonstrated that use of stimulability resulted in…

Eighteen preschoolers with language impairments who had participated in a highly effective five-month intervention that focused on expressive grammar received an additional five-month intervention. Although participants improved during Phase 2, improvements generally were not as strong as those noted for Phase l. The costly clinician-administered…

Studied the way in which 32 preschoolers aged three-five years, 28 second-graders and 64 undergraduates generalized from a labeled exemplar to other potential members of the same category. Results indicated that preschoolers focused mostly on single attributes in making category decisions and older individuals primarily exhibited multiple…

When administered to 34 infants with handicaps, Bayley Scale mental age scores were an average of 2.1 months higher than Estimated Developmental Ages (EDA's) calculated from the Uzgiris and Hunt Scales. The EDA's were significantly and positively related to Bayley mental age, and sensorimotor play emerged as the best single correlate. (Author/JDD)

Comparison using paired t-tests of parent and teacher ratings for 16 preschool children on the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Scale found no significant differences between parent and teacher ratings of expressive language, but a significant difference on the receptive language subscale. However, interrater reliability was relatively low…

This study examined the prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in special education children (n=581) and children (n=135) referred to a tertiary-care specialty clinic for learning disabilities and ADHD. Prevalence rates varied depending on whether teacher ratings alone, parent ratings alone, or a combination were used.…

An interpretivist framework and qualitative research methods were used to examine language in five preschool classes composed of children with and without disabilities. Children's language use included spoken, written, signed, and typed forms. Results showed complex communicative and literacy language use outside conventional adult perspectives.…

This study demonstrated the application of mediated learning experience to language assessment of primarily Puerto Rican and African-American children (n=50) in three Head Start classes. Results support the hypothesis that a task matching young children's socialization better differentiates between nondisabled and language-disordered children than…

Thirty children (under 24 months of age) referred to an early intervention program were administered 3 developmental assessments. Although the Griffiths' Mental Development Scales correlated well with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development and the Battelle Developmental Inventory, the Griffiths' age equivalents were considerably higher than the…

Systems for classifying speakers' communicative intents are typically limited in scope, in applicability across the full developmental range of language abilities and disabilities, and in their theoretical foundations. Criteria for an adequate system for analyzing communicative intents are discussed, and a system is proposed which meets those…

This study, which applied an instructional model based on Piaget's theory of cognitive development, pragmatics theory of language development, and Mahler's theory of development of interpersonal relationships, found that 49 preschool children with autism did not make less progress than a comparison group of 27 children with other…

The Stanford Binet Intelligence Scale measures four areas of cognitive abilities (verbal reasoning, abstract/visual reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and short-term memory), providing a continuous scale for appraising cognitive development from age two to adult. This paper describes the test's administration, standardization, reliability, and…

Reports on a study of seven preschool children engaged in drawing activities with traditional media (crayons, felt-tip pens, etc.) and a mouse-driven computer paintbox program. Finds that the same basic media-independent strategies are used when children try to establish a relationship between their mark-making actions and the resultant effects.…

A social interactive training program that focused on eye contact, joint attention, and motor imitation was implemented during regular classroom activities with three preverbal preschool children with autism. Increases in target behaviors and generalization of eye contact and motor imitation behaviors were observed. Social validation measures by…