Joint attention (JA), which occurs when two individuals focus on the same object or event, plays a critical role in social and language development. Two major kinds of joint attention have been observed: response to joint attention (RJA), in which children follow the attentional focus of their social partners, and initiation of joint attention…

The heterogeneity found in autism and related disorders (i.e., "autism spectrum disorders") is widely acknowledged. Even within a specific disorder, such as Autistic Disorder, the range in abilities and clinical presentation is broad. The heterogeneity observed has prompted many researchers to propose subtypes beyond the commonly used DSM-IV-TR…

The purposes of this study were to determine the effectiveness of a vocabulary intervention for first-grade students at risk for reading and language difficulties and to compare the results of a regression discontinuity design to those of an experimental design. The specific research questions were: (1) Do first-graders who are at risk of reading…

Prospective questionnaire data from a longitudinal population sample on children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), developmental delay, specific language impairment, or typical development (TD), were collected at ages eight, 12 and 24 months, via the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scale Developmental Profile (CSBS)--Infant Toddler…

This study examined the prevalence and determinants of spanking of children at 3?years of age and the associations between spanking and externalizing behaviour and receptive verbal ability at age 5?years. Overall, we find maternal spanking rates of 55.2% and paternal rates of 43.2% at age 3?years. Mothers facing greater stress and those who…

While early childhood education has received increasing attention in the developing world in recent years, relatively little evidence is available from sub-Saharan Africa on its effects on child development and subsequent school enrolment. We use a prospective case-control design to evaluate the developmental impact of a community-based early…

The development of imitation during the second year of life plays an important role in domains of sociocognitive development such as language and social learning. Deficits in imitation ability in persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from toddlerhood into adulthood have also been repeatedly documented, raising the possibility that early…

Children with autism are often characterized as having abnormalities in auditory processing. This study examined automatic and active processing of simple auditory stimuli in children using a component of event related potentials, the mismatch negativity (MMN). Amplitude of MMN in children with autism was significantly smaller than in children…

This study investigated some of the underlying factors that may relate to and predict the reading comprehension of children in fourth through eighth grade (N = 47). A subset of these children previously had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; n = 10); the remainder are classified as typically-developing (n = 37). The participants…

To investigate the relationship between cognitive and social functioning, 20 Israeli individuals with HFASD aged 8-12 and 22 age, maternal education, and receptive vocabulary-matched preadolescents with typical development (TYP) came to the lab with a close friend. Measures of abstract reasoning, friendship quality, and dyadic interaction during a…

Theories of language acquisition have highlighted the importance of adult speakers as active participants in children's language learning. However, in many communities children are reported to be rarely directly engaged by their caregivers. This raises the possibility that children in these communities learn language from observing 3 rd party…

Background: This study investigates the use of requests for clarification in conversations between teenagers with a cochlear implant (CI) and hearing peers. So far very few studies have focused on conversational abilities in children with CI. Aims: The aim was to explore co-construction of dialogue in a referential communication task and the…

This study investigated three questions: Is it realistic to expect age-appropriate spoken language skills in children with cochlear implants (CIs) who received auditory-oral intervention during the preschool years? What characteristics predict successful spoken language development in this population? Are children with CIs more proficient in some…

Purpose: To examine the role of phonotactic probabilities at the onset of language development, in a new language (Dutch), while controlling for word position. Method: Using a nonword imitation task, 64 Dutch-learning children (age 2;2-2;8 [years;months]) were tested on how they imitated segments in low- and high-phonotactic probability…

The effect of bilingualism on the cognitive skills of young children was investigated by comparing performance of 162 children who belonged to one of two age groups (approximately 3- and 4.5-year-olds) and one of three language groups on a series of tasks examining executive control and word mapping. The children were monolingual English speakers,…