This study evaluated an Extended Optional Infinitive theory of specific language impairment (SLI) in children, which suggests that SLI children omit finiteness markers longer than do normally developing children. Comparison of 18 SLI 5-year olds with 2 normally developing groups (ages 5 and 3) found that SLI subjects omitted finiteness markers…

The syntactic development of preschoolers (n=22) who later became disabled readers was compared to that of similar children who became normal readers. Expressive and receptive syntactic abilities were examined from age 30 to 60 months. The dyslexic group was poorer on all measures until age five, when both groups exhibited similar syntactic…

This study assessed the family history of speech, language, and school problems in 62 young children (mean age 28 months) with developmental expressive language delay (ELD). Comparison with normally developing children indicated no strong familial component of ELD. (Author/DB)

This study compared the relative effectiveness of imitative intervention and conversational recast language intervention applied to grammatical morpheme and complex sentences in 21 children with specific language impairment. The conversational procedure was found to require fewer presentations to first spontaneous use and to produce more…

Acquisition of passive and active vocabulary in sign and oral language was analyzed in 2 children congenitally deaf, through age 54 months. Acquisition of sign occurred more quickly than oral language. Production of active nouns, function words, and "wh" question words in sign was equivalent to that of hearing peers, and was later transferred to…

This paper deals with the specific problems of the adolescent and adult hearing-impaired individual who wishes to improve and develop his or her expressive speech ability. Considered are issues critical to the learning process, intervention strategies for improving speech production, and speech production as one part of communication competency.…

Voice programing for preschool children with communication disabilities is discussed, including suggestions for enriching the child's auditory environment, selecting target goals, and providing consistency of target presentations by caregivers. Sample vocal awareness and production goals and strategies are offered. (Author/DB)

A portrait is presented of the toddler with slow expressive language development (SELD), based on research examining the health history; cognitive, communicative, and adaptive skills; behavior; and phonology of 30 toddlers with SELD and 30 nondisabled toddlers. The paper offers a review of research on the outcomes of SELD, and explores…

This article presents a five-step sequence for teaching children with disabilities to read pictures. Steps are sequenced for content and complexity of picture, student response requirement, and language demands. They include: (1) identify person, (2) identify object, (3) identify person and object, (4) identify action, and (5) identify sequence.…

Investigated the ability of Swedish student teachers to explain everyday phenomena in science education, asking all fourth-term student teachers about phenomena where transformations of matter were involved. Analysis of students' written answers indicates that there is a great need in teacher training to work with conceptual understanding and with…

This study examined representational matching to sample with 68 subjects with severe mental retardation. Participants differed in their expressive communication and included symbolic (speaking) individuals, distal-gesture users, and contact-gesture users. Contact-gesture users performed significantly more poorly on identical matching to sample…

A multiple baseline study evaluated effects of using voice output devices to facilitate communicative initiation behaviors of two young nonverbal children with developmental delays. Both children increased their specific initiations and decreased unclear initiations and adult prompted communication behaviors. Results support the use of…

This study, with 53 Mexican-American infants, found that five predictors accounted for approximately 35 percent of the variance in receptive language at 12 and 22 months with average parental generation from Mexico (acculturation) and infant visual recognition memory accounting for 14 and 15 percent of the variance, respectively. No predictors…

A study compared 11 preschool children with developmental delays and 15 with autism to evaluate early vocal behaviors in young children with autism. Results indicated that children with autism did not have difficulty with the expression of well-formed syllables, however they did display significant impairments in vocal quality. (Contains…

A study involving 82 children with low vision evaluated the new developmental age levels and psychometric properties for the Reynell-Zinkin scales. The usefulness of age levels of the Reynell-Zinkin scales is discussed in relation to the aim of the scales, which is to have guidelines for assessment and developmental advice. (Contains references.)…