The early use of first and second person pronouns has been viewed as a sign of emerging social understanding. However, it may also depend on general language development: pronouns do not appear among the first words children acquire. In addition, some languages conjugate verbs for person, and the inflections may thus show similar relations to…

Classroom organization is an important facet of prekindergarten quality but is typically measured at a "global level" and as a "single construct." Little is known about how experiences of different facets of classroom organization--namely, exposure to teacher organizational strategies--vary across "individual…

This pilot placebo-controlled trial (NCT00965068, 07/28/2009) explored effects of cholesterol supplementation on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms in children with abnormally low cholesterol. Fifteen children age 4-12 with ASD and cholesterol <5th percentile for age/sex were randomized to 225 mg cholesterol vs. matched placebo twice daily…

Purpose: In this article, we review the role of retrieval practice on the word learning and retention of children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method: Following a brief review of earlier findings on word learning in children with SLI and the assumptions behind retrieval practice, four experiments are described that compared novel words…

Purpose: This study examined the performance of Gulf Arabic-speaking children with developmental language disorder (DLD) on a Gulf Arabic nonword repetition (GA-NWR) test and compared it to their age- and language-matched groups. We also investigated the role of syllable length, wordlikeness, and phonological complexity in light of NWR theories.…

Purpose: This study compared perception of consonants in medial position by preschoolers, with and without speech sound disorder (SSD), with similar vocabulary and language skills. In addition, we investigated the association between speech perception and production skills. Method: Participants were 36 monolingual English-speaking children with…

Background: Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) show difficulties with everyday planning. A tablet-based training program for everyday planning may be a suitable intervention, but its feasibility must be evaluated. This study evaluated how behavior changes during training and if individuals with ID can use technology by themselves.…

This study investigated attributions and stigmatization self-perceptions of 40 adolescents with and 34 adolescents without ADHD for their problematic behaviors and ADHD as a disorder. Adolescents identified behaviors that they believed described them, indicated which of these behaviors was most problematic for them, and responded to a…

To determine whether patterning instruction was as useful or more useful than other forms of instruction, kindergarten children (age five) were taught either patterning or early literacy or mathematics or social studies in matched sessions. Instruction was conducted in 15-minute sessions from November through mid-April. Posttests on patterning,…

Reading fluency undoubtedly underlies reading competence; yet, the role of executive functions (EFs) is less well understood. Here, we investigated the relation between children's reading fluency and EF. Children's (n = 82) reading and language performance was determined by standardized assessments and EF by parental questionnaire. Results…

General cognitive and specific number abilities that underlay arithmetic performance have been heavily investigated among typically developing students; however, the inquiry has rarely been applied to students with mild intellectual disability (MID). We examined whether domain-general cognitive abilities (i.e. working memory, processing speed, and…

Research Findings: The purpose of the current study was to investigate direct associations between the home literacy environment (HLE) and preschool children's executive function (EF), academic readiness, and social-emotional competence and to explore the indirect association between the HLE and academic and social-emotional outcomes working…

Purpose: Many children begin school with limited vocabularies, placing them at a high risk of academic difficulties. The goal of this study was to examine the effects of a vocabulary intervention program, "Story Friends," designed to improve vocabulary knowledge of at-risk preschool children. Method: Twenty-four early-childhood…

The present study examined the factor structure of the Luria interpretive model for the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (KABC-II) with normative sample participants aged 7-18 (N = 2,025) using confirmatory factor analysis with maximum-likelihood estimation. For the eight subtest Luria configuration, an alternative…

The structural validity of the "Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition" (WISC-IV) was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis for a clinical sample of 1,537 students diagnosed with specific learning disabilities (SLD) by school psychologists in two large southwestern school districts. Results indicated that a…