Purpose: In this study, we examine joint engagement (JE) in young children with fragile X syndrome (FXS) and its relationship to language abilities and autism spectrum disorder symptomatology at 24 to 36 months (toddler period) and 59 to 68 months (child period). Method: Participants were 28 children with FXS (24 boys, four girls) and their…

Purpose: The authors examined (a) whether dose frequency of milieu communication teaching (MCT) affects children's canonical syllabic communication and (b) whether the relation between early canonical syllabic communication and later spoken vocabulary is mediated by parental linguistic mapping in children with intellectual disabilities (ID).…

Purpose: The authors sought to determine whether a program of 5 weekly doses of milieu communication teaching (MCT) would yield improvements in children's communication and word use compared with a once-weekly delivery of the same treatment. Method: Sixty-four children with intellectual and communication delay were randomly assigned to receive…

This study examined the relationship between prelinquistic vocalization and expressive vocabulary one year later in 58 toddlers (ages 17- to 34-months old). Rate of vocalizations, rate of vocalizations with consonants, and rate of vocalizations used interactively were all positively related to later expressive vocabulary. (Author/DB)

Effects of adult contingent vocal imitation on vocal imitation skills of three young (26 to 29 months) children with mental retardation were investigated. All children vocally imitated in response to adult contingent imitation during training. There was minimal generalization to adult contingent imitation and elicited imitation prompts but…

Prelinguistic children (N=58) with developmental delay received one of two staff-implemented treatments designed to increase intentional communication ability. Results confirmed the prediction that treatment effects on children's receptive and expressive language 6 and 12 months after intervention would vary as a function of pretreatment maternal…

This study reports effects of a neurobehavioral intervention approach on motor skills of four children (ages 1 to 3) with cerebral palsy. Children demonstrated generalization of the movement component by using it to perform both a treated exemplar skill and an untreated exemplar skill, indicating that motor skills can be treated concurrently.…

This study examined whether maternal responsivity would predict the extent to which prelinguistic milieu teaching (PMT) facilitated generalized intentional communication better than a contrast small-group treatment with 58 children (ages 17 to 36 months) with developmental disabilities. If mothers were relatively responsive before treatment, PMT…

Fifty-eight prelinguistic children with developmental disabilities and their mothers participated in an experimental test of whether intentional communication elicits maternal responses purported to facilitate language development. Results indicated that treatment effects on maternal responses varied by pre-treatment maternal education level and…

A study involving 58 children (ages 17-32 months) with prelinguistic communication delays found that in families with high responsivity, prelinguistic milieu teaching treatment facilitated increased self-initiated proto-imperatives and proto-declaratives. In families with low responsivity, responsive small groups comparison intervention…

Fifty-eight toddlers with developmental delays participated in a 12-month longitudinal study of the relationship between prelinguistic representational ability and later expressive vocabulary. Results indicated that representational play was a significant predictor of later expressive vocabulary, but vocabulary comprehension was not. (Author/DB)

Receptive language, prelinguistic communication, maternal responses, vocabulary level, and expressive language were measured at six-month intervals for 58 young children with disabilities or developmental delays and their primary caretakers. Results supported the importance of caregivers responding differentially to preintentional and intentional…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching for toddlers (n=39) with intellectual disabilities and responsivity education for their parents as a means of facilitating children's communication and language production skills. Comparison of parent child pairs receiving or not receiving the intervention found the…

A study involving 58 children (17 to 36 months) with developmental disabilities in the prelinguistic period of development and their mothers found that the relationship between intentional communication and later language was, in part, due to covarying relationships with maternal responsivity. (Author/CR)

Two experiments with young children with mental retardation found that a milieu teaching approach was effective in facilitating subjects' use of such prelinguistic communication skills as requesting, commenting, and vocal imitation, in both the training and generalized settings. Evidence of reciprocal effects on teacher-student interaction was…