Results of two experiments involving four severely handicapped preschoolers suggested that Ss could be taught rudimentary communication skills prior to the attainment of J. Piaget's sensorimotor stage 5. It was further suggested that establishment of initial labeling in an elicited training format will not necessarily generalize to either…

The paper proposes that primary social relationships between child and caregiver are critical context for language learning and examines current assumptions about the nature of language and the processes involved in language learning, with particular attention to the effects of severe handicaps on the social processes underlying language…

Takes exception to some of the language used in the Bullock Report, especially in relation to some of the assumptions about helping parents talk to their children. (RB)

Noting children's inclination for things mathematical, this booklet of activities was written to help parents: use home activities to challenge their children's minds; to help parents and children enjoy mathematics; and to help parents ask their children questions that will get them thinking. The activities in the booklet require no special…

Explains the effective use of paper bags to invite preschoolers' attention and participation in activities. Provides examples of the paper bag technique applied to language, science, and premath experiences as well as creative movement activities. (DP)

Five severely language disordered children (20 months to 11 years old) and their parents participated in a 10-week sign training program. Group parent training sessions were conducted in four phases and individual training was provided on a weekly basis. All children showed substantial gains in use of productive language. (Author/CL)

Eleven four-year-old children were tested for discrimination of the following word pairs: rope/robe, seat/seed, pick/pig, ice/eyes, and mouse/mouth. All word pairs were found to be discriminable, but performance on seat/seed and mouse/mouth was inferior to that of the other word pairs. (Author)

The sign and oral language development of five two-year-old hearing children of deaf parents was studied and compared with the sign and oral language of their mothers. A surprising finding was that the mothers, despite their limited oral linguistic competence, communicated predominantly in the oral mode with their children. (Author)

An incidental teaching procedure (using natural opportunities for instruction) was more effective than a question-labeling procedure (using open questions) in increasing the rate and variety of two-word requests produced by a severely language delayed preschooler during free play. Rate of spontaneous production was lower than expected. (CL)

Reports results of a study to examine the extent to which young English children volunteer prepositions in a simple but structured task of spatial description. Results show that children 3 to 7 years have an extensive and often inventive grasp of locative prepositions. (Author/KC)

Three spina bifida children (mean age 66 months) were studied to illustrate the comprehension deficit and to demonstrate how evaluations can be structured. Available from Eterna Press, P.O. Box 19, Bolingbrook, Illinois 60439. (Author/PHR)

This article draws on empirical data and anecdotal examples to support teaching parents of young children with developmental disabilities naturalistic language intervention strategies. It also identifies the skills that parent educators need to be effective and discusses a model for preparing professionals to teach parents. (Contains references.)…

Simultaneous and successive processing and language development were compared to the early reading behaviors of 64 children, ages 4 through 6 years. Three standard instruments were administered; a multiple linear regression analysis demonstrated that language development and simultaneous processing made greater contributions to early reading…

The connected discourse tracking technique was adapted to an auditory story modeling procedure with two four- to five-year-old children with moderately-severe hearing losses. Over four academic quarters, the two children's word per minute scores increased substantially demonstrating the feasibility of this task for children in this age range. (DB)

Examined concurrent validity of several new and revised conceptual language measures. Administered Bracken Basic Concept Scale (BBCS), Boehm Test of Basic Concepts-Preschool Version (Boehm-PV) or Boehm-Revised, Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) to 99 preschool children attending kindergarten screening. BBCS correlated significantly…