Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Specific Language Impairment (SLI) are disorders of communication that are sometimes thought to show similar structural language difficulties. Recent research has even suggested that they might be aetiologically related. However, it may be that standardized language tasks are not sensitive enough to detect…

Three groups of children with communication disorders were assessed using the CELF (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals). The results were used to compare the language skills of children with specific language impairment (SLI), autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and a middle group who shared some characteristics of both SLI and ASD (Shared…

The report presents information from a survey of the needs and characteristics of children with severe communication disorders in Ontario and the programs available to serve them. It is explained that information was gathered from structured interviews with principals, teachers, and 28 parents of language handicapped children, as well as visits to…