Considers the relevance of the points raised in the preceding articles in this issue to the sociolinguistic development of children with speech and language impairments. Notes that such children often have low self-esteem and that their inability to negotiate an identity for themselves through discussion with their peers may contribute to this…

Introduces epidemiology as a health science that is essential as a complement to the basic laboratory and clinical sciences in speech-language pathology and audiology. A definition of epidemiology is presented. Principles of epidemiology, including causal criteria, and concepts such as incidence, prevalence, and risk are discussed. (Author/CR)

This article provides information from a speech-language perspective pertaining to transitions in the early years, especially between preschool settings and kindergarten. It highlights challenges in transition and delineates critical components of transition planning including family-school partnerships, collaboration, and written policies and…

Four interaction analysis systems served as the basis of a descriptive self-study in which 10 supervisory conferences between a graduate student clinician in speech-language pathology and her doctoral-level supervisor were transcribed and analyzed. Results are reviewed to profile a supervisor's and supervisee's objectives, critique the instruments…

This article reviews problems faced by researchers in the association between otitis media with effusion and phonological impairment and then summarizes currently established findings concerning otitis media and its effects on phonological acquisition. Professionals are cautioned to neither ignore nor exaggerate the possible influence of otitis…

This article proposes a synergistic, interactive model of cluttering, a fluency disorder manifested in rapid or erratic speech rates, reduced intelligibility, and language deviations. Clinical strategies are presented in a framework of several working assumptions about cluttering. Despite encouraging reports, further research into the nature and…

Thirty-six elementary school students repeated short meaningful, long meaningful, and long nonce utterances in response to a visual cue. Nonstuttering, stuttering only, and stuttering-plus (concomitant speech and/or language problems) children responded differently to utterance length and meaningfulness. Results suggest that the three groups may…

This article describes a preschool program that fosters emerging speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills in children with speech and language impairments (SLI). Strategies used to incorporate literacy-related events and artifacts into the daily classroom schedule are discussed, and sample activities are given. (Author/DB)

Analysis of 483 questionnaires returned by general early childhood educators found that most early childhood programs enrolled children with speech-language impairments; mainstreamed programs were more likely to employ speech-language pathologists; employment of speech-language pathologists was not distributed evenly across program types; and more…

A study of 16 children (ages 4 and 7 years) and 8 young adults used an "Optotrak" system to study patterning and stability of speech movements in developing speech motor systems. Results indicate that nonlinear and nonuniform changes occur in components of the speech motor system during development. (Author/CR)

Evidence of the positive outcomes of phonological treatment is reviewed, with particular emphasis on treatment procedures that have been deemed effective, the specific effects of these treatment on improving intelligibility, and comparisons between treatments in facilitating improved sound production. The effect of phonological disorders on…

Drawing on archival data on the sound systems of five children ages 3 to 4 with normal development and 47 children ages 3 to 6 with phonological delay, one chain shift (interaction of phonological substitution errors) was identified in the speech of six children. Different derivational and constraint-based accounts of the chain shift were…

A study tested the quality and intelligibility, as judged by several listeners, of four users' electrolaryngeal speech, with and without filtering to compensate for perceptually objectionable acoustic characteristics. Results indicated that an adaptive filtering technique produced a noticeable improvement in the quality of the Transcutaneous…

This study used survival analysis to overcome problems of principled generalization and individual variability in analysis of the conversational speech of 24 children with speech delay recorded over two years. The derived normalization probabilities were lagged according to the strong delay hypothesis and results converged with previous normative…

This 14-year prospective, longitudinal study of children with (n=114) and without (n=128) speech and/or language impairments found (1) high rates of continued communication difficulties; (2) considerable stability in language performance over time; and (3) better long-term outcomes for those with initial speech impairments than for those with…