This teaching manual for treatment of children with developmental disabilities is divided into seven sections that address: (1) basic concepts; (2) transition into treatment; (3) early learning concepts; (4) expressive language; (5) strategies for visual learners; (6) programmatic considerations; and (7) organizational and legal issues. Among…

Examined the relationship between performance on the Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test (EOWPVT) and other verbal and nonverbal ability measures in a group of preschool borderline retarded children. Results tentatively support the use of the EOWPVT as a measure of verbal intelligence in this population. (Author/JAC)

Written language performance of 16 11th-grade students differed significantly from their fifth grade performance. Few differences occurred between teachers and eleventh grade students for total amounts of linguistic information used. (CM)

Study results indicated that there were no lasting differences in the English expressive syntactic skills of 57 junior kindergarten through third-grade English-speaking children enrolled in a French immersion program, relative to the English monolingual subjects who made up the normative data. (Author/CM)

Explored the impact of regular reading of selected children's books in Slovenian preschools on the development of language competencies among 4- to 6-year-olds. Found significant differences in receptive language, expressive language, and storytelling between children exposed to 2 selected books per week over 2 months and those exposed only to the…

A study evaluated the use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to provide training in phonological sensitivity skills to 45 preschool children at-risk for reading problems. Children exposed to CAI made significantly greater gains on rhyming and elision skills compared to controls. Expressive vocabulary scores were predictive of pre- to posttest…

A study involving three students (ages 7-12) with deaf-blindness found their special education teachers were highly responsive, although physical preoccupation with other students occasionally prevented them from being able to provide responses in accessible forms. They struggled with expressing themselves in forms that were accessible to the…

Evaluates the effect of didactic techniques used during storybook reading on young children's acquisition of new vocabulary introduced in storybooks under three reading conditions: single-reading; repeated-reading and questioning. Findings suggest that didactic techniques used by adults have differential effects on preschoolers' receptive and…

An extracurricular program in an Australian university French language program that brings together adults of varying ages and nationalities for oral language development activities is described. The program uses improvisation, psychodrama and role playing, and suggestopedia all together to develop a theme or in alternation, for creativity and…

Thirty-six children, aged four-five, completed four vocabulary measures: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, Picture Vocabulary subtest of the Test of Oral Language Development, Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, and Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test. Only moderate correlations were found among these tests, implying that a…

Three high-school students with deafness and additional disabilities used microcomputer software featuring graphics and cartoons to improve their creative writing. Though use of correct syntactic structures did not improve, output of written language did increase. Descriptions of the software used and case studies of the three students are…

Ten two-year-old children with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL), a brain injury associated with prematurity, were evaluated using language samples. The five children with delayed cognitive ability produced significantly fewer lexical tokens and spontaneous verbal utterances than did chronological age-matched nondelayed PVL children. (Author/DB)

The use of Makaton signs was investigated with 49 British children (ages 4-13) with severe learning difficulties. Teacher-directed settings were associated with more use of signs but limited pragmatic functions. Free play settings were associated with less sign use but more varied functions. In both settings, most spoken and signed language was…

The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) and the Cognitive Test for the Blind were used to compare verbal and nonverbal abstraction ability of adults who became blind before age 2 or after age 5 (when expressive language would have been developed). No significant differences were found, but variability of scores on the WAIS-R…

Provides a rationale for using an oral mode of production as a means of composing for individuals with learning disabilities. Supporting research on the use of dictation and studies of both simulated and existing speech-recognition systems with this population are reported. Recommendations are offered for teachers who plan to use dictation or…