Purpose: This study investigated the effects of signs on word learning by children with developmental language disorder (DLD), in comparison with typically developing (TD) children, and the relation between a possible sign effect and children's linguistic and cognitive abilities. Method: Nine- to 11-year-old children with DLD (n = 40) and TD…

Purpose: The ability to repair breakdowns in communication is an important pragmatic language skill that helps to maintain clear and meaningful interactions. Examining this ability in genetically based neurodevelopmental disabilities in which pragmatics are affected can provide important information about the precise pragmatic skills impacted…

This study examined whether a novel parent-report questionnaire, the Autism Parent Screen for Infants, could differentiate infants subsequently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder from a high-risk cohort (siblings of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (n = 66)) from high-risk and low-risk comparison infants (no family history of…

Purpose: Debate around the underlying cognitive factors leading to poor performance in the repetition of nonwords by children with developmental impairments in language has centered around phonological short-term memory, lexical knowledge, and other factors. This study examines the impact of motor control demands on nonword repetition in groups of…

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurogenetic developmental disorder characterized by peaks and valleys of cognitive abilities. One peak that has been understudied is the affinity that many individuals with WS have with music. It remains unknown whether their high levels of musical interest, skill, and expressivity are related to their sociable…

There is limited research demonstrating direct instruction (DI) as an effective language intervention for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and developmental disabilities (DD). Existing research has shown that instruction using partial implementation of DI programs resulted in student learning (Ganz, 2007) and instruction using whole…

The purpose of this study was to examine if children with dyslexia learning to read a consistent orthography (Greek) experience auditory and visual processing deficits and if these deficits are associated with phonological awareness, rapid naming speed and orthographic processing. We administered measures of general cognitive ability, phonological…

Williams Syndrome (WS) is a developmental disorder typified by deficits in visuospatial cognition. To understand the nature of this deficit, we characterized how people with WS perceive visual orientation, a fundamental ability related to object identification. We compared WS participants to typically developing children (3-6 years of age) and…

Studies on the distinction between Autistic Disorder (AD) and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) have been inconclusive. This study examined the validity of PDD-NOS by comparing it to AD and other developmental disorders (DD) on parent-reported behavior problems. Fifty-four children with PDD-NOS were individually…

The number of children receiving cochlear implants (CIs) with significant disabilities in addition to their deafness has increased substantially. Unfortunately, children with additional disabilities receiving CIs have largely been excluded from studies on cochlear implant outcomes. Thus limited data exists on outcomes in this population to guide…

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) still lacks a generally accepted definition. A major problem is that the cognitive component processes contributing to arithmetic performance are still poorly defined. By a reanalysis of our previous event-related brain potential (ERP) data (Soltesz et al., 2007) here our objective was to identify and compare…

According to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health model endorsed by the World Health Organization, activity (the execution of a task or action by an individual), and participation (involvement in a life situation) are important components in the assessment of health and functioning of an individual. The purpose of…

Williams syndrome (WS), a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder due to microdeletion in chromosome 7, has been described as a syndrome with an intriguing socio-cognitive phenotype. Cognitively, the relative preservation of language and face processing abilities coexists with severe deficits in visual-spatial tasks, as well as in tasks involving…

Children with dyslexia have consistently been found to have a variety of deficits in motor, cognitive, and sensory processes; however, the few studies that have been reported of the implicit learning ability of these children have produced conflicting results. The present study aimed to investigate the implicit learning abilities of children with…

Previous studies indicate that Multiple Complex Developmental Disorder (MCDD) children differ from PDD-NOS and autistic children on a symptom level and on psychophysiological functioning. Children with MCDD (n = 21) and PDD-NOS (n = 62) were compared on two facets of social-cognitive functioning: identification of neutral faces and facial…