Studies of language development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been primarily focused on the influence of child-based factors such as autism traits, IQ, and initial language skills. Yet the findings of these studies are inconclusive. There has, moreover, been little research compared the relative influences of child-based…

Purpose: This study followed up children identified with expressive language delay (ELD) or receptive/expressive language delay (R/ELD) at 2 years of age, Time 1 (T1), in order to identify their language profiles at 4--5 years, Time 2 (T2), and explore relationships to T1 language, gesture use, and symbolic comprehension. Method: Nineteen of 22…

Purpose: Summarizing expository passages is a critical academic skill that is understudied in language research. The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of verbal summaries produced by adolescents for 3 different discourse types and to determine whether a composite measure of cognitive skill or a test of expressive syntax predicted…

Purpose: Several studies have reported that "useful speech" at 5 years of age predicts outcomes in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but this skill has been vaguely defined. This study investigates which specific aspects of expressive language in children with ASD best predict adult language and communication outcomes.…

This study evaluates the ability of different measures of socioeconomic status (SES) to predict lexical outcomes for preschoolers raised in a context of nationwide bilingualism. The participants were 58 children aged 3;11-4;3 from Maltese-dominant homes who attended state preschools. Receptive picture name judgement and picture naming, in Maltese…

The 3 papers by Hammond and Drummond (2019), LoBue and Adolph (2019), and Stern, Botdorf, Cassidy, and Riggins (2019) bring into focus some of the exciting and promising new directions emerging in the field of emotional development. This commentary urges researchers moving in these new directions to leverage what is already known about emotional…

Little empirical evidence exists about school-age pragmatic communication or predictors in siblings at heightened familial risk for ASD (HR) and low-risk (LR) controls. The "Pragmatic Rating Scale-School-Age" (Landa unpublished) was scored for 49 HR siblings and 18 LR controls at 8-12 years. Social-communication and language measures…

Few American Sign Language (ASL) assessments are readily available for educators to administer and score to document deaf students' skill levels and direct ASL instruction. Even fewer studies include deaf students with intellectual disabilities or document deaf students' ASL skills across time. The present study reports deaf school-aged students'…

This study examined the writing skills of first-grade students who are English Language Learners (ELLs) or Native English Speakers (NESs). We examined the roles of transcription and oral language skills on contextualized spelling, writing fluency, and writing quality outcomes for ELL and NES students. Thirty-four ELLs (Mean age (A) = 78.03 months,…

Much research in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has focused on the development of efficacious interventions to address the core deficits of ASD. However, the heterogeneous nature of ASD complicates the development of such interventions. With great heterogeneity in the expression of ASD's core deficits, it is unlikely that there is a one size fits…

Purpose: When speakers retrieve words, they do so extremely quickly and accurately--both speed and accuracy of word retrieval are compromised in persons with aphasia (PWA). This study examined the contribution of two domain-general mechanisms: processing speed and cognitive control on word retrieval in PWA. Method: Three groups of participants,…

Background & aims: Due to the complexity of early diagnostic decision making, we examined the predictive value of an early diagnostic classification and early abilities on later best estimate diagnosis for 22 clinically referred children with language difficulties. Methods and procedures: Four years after initial evaluation (Time 1), the…

Infants and toddlers with hearing loss (HL) are at risk for developing communicative delays that can have a substantial lasting effect. Understanding child characteristics that may be targeted in early intervention is essential to maximizing communicative outcomes in children with HL. Among the most malleable predictors of communication skills…

Research on the implementation of CLIL at the onset of primary school is limited and has largely overlooked the role of other sources of individual differences. This study investigated the effects of the CLIL approach to English learning, together with the effects of out-of-school exposure to the language through media and other sources of…

Research Findings: The current study examined whether collective small-group behavioral engagement and teacher behavior management during small-group instruction predicted print knowledge, phonological awareness, letter writing, and expressive vocabulary gains for preschoolers at-risk for literacy difficulties. This study, part of a larger…