This manual is designed to help parents facilitate their children's language development. It is divided into five sections based on different levels of language development that extend from children's early use of sounds to their production of four and five word sentences. Each section contains a brief general description of children's speech and…

The mothers and fathers of 11 preschool autistic children were taught operant procedures used in teaching speech to nonverbal children. At posttreatment, the children showed significant gains in pre-speech and speech skills as measured by a 21-step hierarchy of speech behaviors. (Author)

The article analyzes the controversy over total communication vs. oralism in the education of hearing impaired students, notes the differences between speech and language, and suggests points to be considered by parents in deciding on one or the other approach. (CL)

Addressed to parents, the guide considers children with communication disorders. Information provided covers the nature of such disorders, the function of sound in talking, and the development of speech through the first 7 years of childhood. Factors that may be involved if the child has trouble learning to speak are explained, including hearing,…

The manual describes a workshop designed to provide parents of normal and hearing or language impaired young children with information on helping their child's communication development. The workshop series is presented in four sessions intended for 2 hours at a time. Preparation procedures are outlined along with facilitating factors. Curriculum…

The mother of a hearing impaired child explains how the use of simple drawings helped her son to develop spoken language and thereby cope with both common and complex events. (Author/LS)

The parent's guide reviews normal speech and language development and discusses ways in which parents of young children with language problems facilitate that development. Terms such as speech, communication, and receptive and expressive language are defined, and stages in receptive/expressive language development are charted. Implications for…

Examined topic discourse skills in pre-operational level 2- to 6-year-olds (N=30) interacting with their mothers during free play. The results suggested a complex picture of children's management of discourse as it relates to topic and mothers' continuing role in facilitating their children's discourse skills. (Author/CB)

A study examined patterns of development in spoken interaction and types of causal thought that might reflect the human capacity to displace, that is, to shift reference from the present moment to another moment in time. Participants were four infants and their parents, who came to a laboratory for one-half hour every 2 weeks from the child's…

Describes several storytelling activities that allow children to develop their speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills. (FL)

Intended for parents, teachers, speech-language pathologists, and others within the child's "communication environment," this booklet contains suggestions and illustrations for improving children's listening and speech skills. In addition, it presents basic information related to normal communication development, as well as information about…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 21 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: communications curricula for technical education programs; the recorded oral communication of business students; interactions between parents and speech-language…

Noting that children s first words are exciting for parents to hear, this book describes how babies can "talk" before they learn to say actual words and shows ways parents can help babies learn language. The book addresses a neglected area in child development--how to help low literacy parents and parents for whom English is a Second…