Speech-language pathology has different practice and research histories, standards, methods, and challenges in different countries and regions. Awareness of these different realities may contribute to the scientific development of the field and improve the services delivered to different populations. Sharing solutions to similar problems in…

Purpose: Outcomes of script training for individuals with apraxia of speech (AOS) and mild anomic aphasia were investigated. Script training is a functional treatment that has been successful for individuals with aphasia but has not been applied to individuals with AOS. Principles of motor learning were incorporated into training to promote…

The Bilingual Aphasia Test (BAT) is designed to be objective (so it can be administered by a lay native speaker of the language) and equivalent across languages (to allow for a comparison between the languages of a given patient as well as across patients from different institutions). It has been used not only with aphasia but also with any…

Minimally verbal children with autism commonly demonstrate language dysfunction, including immature syntax acquisition. We hypothesised that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) should facilitate language acquisition in a cohort (n = 10) of children with immature syntax. We modified the English version of the Bilingual Aphasia Test (BAT)…

This review brings together evidence from a diverse field of methods for investigating sex differences in language processing. Differences are found in certain language-related deficits, such as stuttering, dyslexia, autism and schizophrenia. Common to these is that language problems may follow from, rather than cause the deficit. Large studies…

The study examined the use of primary sentence stress by seven preschool autistic children with mean length of utterance (MLU) scores between 1.9 and 4.1 morphemes with normal and aphasic subjects serving as controls. Differences were seen in the number of correct responses and in the pattern of stress misassignment. (Author/DB)

Listed with ordering information and in some cases brief annotations are 61 resources pertinent to use of manual communication by retarded, autistic, and aphasic individuals who cannot communicate effectively by speaking. (JG)

Available from: Melvin Lewis, M.D., Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, Yale Child Study Center, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06510. The conception of primary childhood aphasia and childhood autism is delineated as two parallel, but related, syndromic clusters, each with pervasive impact on development and affecting…

A comparative study of nonverbal MA matched groups of five autistic, five aphasic, five normal and five retarded children (3 to 16 years old) was made on an auditory-visual and a visual-visual paired-associate learning task. (Author)

The article addresses the use of sign language and drama with young children with such disabilities as mental retardation, aphasia, autism, and other language learning disorders. Examples of activities that integrate creative drama techniques with sign language techniques are offered. (DB)

An art therapist addresses the issue of art therapy within the public school system. She describes her involvement within a cooperative special education program in which she provides direct individual and group therapy as well as consultation to regular class teachers. She reviews methods, materials, and approaches she has used in working with…

The Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) and electrical status epilepticus in slow wave sleep (ESES) are rare childhood-onset epileptic encephalopathies in which loss of language skills occurs in the context of an epileptiform EEG activated in sleep. Although in LKS the loss of function is limited to language, in ESES there is a wider spectrum of…

The report presents information from a survey of the needs and characteristics of children with severe communication disorders in Ontario and the programs available to serve them. It is explained that information was gathered from structured interviews with principals, teachers, and 28 parents of language handicapped children, as well as visits to…

INTENDED FOR SPEECH THERAPISTS, THEACHERS OF THE MENTALLY RETARDED, AND OTHERS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION, THE COLLECTION CONTAINS REPORTS BY VARIOUS AUTHORS ON SPEECH AND LANGUAGE MODIFICATION ATTEMPTS THAT HAVE UTILIZED OPERANT CONDITIONING PROCEDURES, AS WELL AS SEVERAL PAPERS ON BACKGROUND TOPICS. BACKGROUND PAPERS ON TEACHING TREAT ENVIRONMENTAL…