This study examined the speech production and phonological skills of six children (ages, 2:8 to 6:8) who had undergone tracheostomy before age 8 months. The study found slow development of sound acquisition, vowel production, and the distinction between voiced and voiceless stops for some of the children. Excessive use of inappropriate…

Three children with developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) identified syllables in words, judged intrasyllabic sound positions, and constructed syllable shapes within monosyllabic frames. Results suggest that DAS children demonstrate an apparent breakdown in the ability to perceive "syllableness" and to access and compare syllable…

This study attempted to identify diagnostic markers for suspected developmental apraxia of speech (SD-DAS) in 30 children with either SD-DAS or speech delay using analytic procedures from metrical phonology. Findings indicated that, although lexical metrical patterns did not differentiate the groups, syllable omissions persisted until much later…

We used functional communication training to teach Bob, a 10-year-old student with autism and severe language delays, to reject items by touching an icon. Our initial assessment revealed that Bob's behaviours serving a rejecting function consisted of pushing away, yelling, bear hugging-grabbing, and leaving. We used prompting, differential…

This single-subject case study evaluates effects of treatment of a complex onset on the sound system of a monolingual Spanish-speaking child (female, aged 3;9) with phonological delay. Pretreatment, the child excluded all consonant+liquid clusters, as well as [the alveolar tap] and trill /r/. Immediately following training on [using the alveolar…

The effects of an intervention designed to facilitate interactions between two older, typically developing children and their younger siblings with Down syndrome were investigated using a multiple-baseline design across behaviors and participants. The researchers used written materials, modeling, role play, and oral feedback to teach two…

Research into the long-term effects of language delay reflects an increasing concern that many childrens needs are not being met by current early years educational practice. This paper reports on a twopart intervention designed to improve language skills within a nursery setting. In the first part of the intervention, a directly taught small group…

Background: Previous research on the pragmatic abilities of late talkers at 24 months of age indicates that they have difficulties initiating conversational interactions, but possess intact responsiveness skills. This study uses a parent-administered questionnaire for evaluating the conversational skills of late talkers and suggesting pragmatic…

Conversational speech is the most socially valid context for evaluating speech intelligibility, but it is not routinely examined. This may be because it is difficult to reliably count the number of words in the unintelligible portions of the sample. In this study four different approaches to dealing with this problem are examined. Each is based on…

A 16-year-old boy, first seen at 4 years of age because of his severe language difficulties, was reexamined to provide data on the later functioning of language-delayed children. (Author/DB)

Man uses essentially the same structures for eating as he does for speaking. Speech, however, is accomplished by elaborating upon the basic ingestion functions of these structures. It is theorized that the appropriate and efficient use of these motile organs in eating should lead eventually to more appropriate and efficient patterns of speech. For…

A pair of severely speech delayed twin girls were separated and placed into parallel school classes where they were given language training with the aim of remediating the effects of their early deprivation. The acceleration in their linguistic ability was paralleled by a marked increase in intellectual functioning as measured by standardized…

Three kindergarten children with residual articulation problems, as evidenced by the consistent misarticulation of "s," participated in a therapy program which employed simultaneous training of "s" in the initial, medial, and final positions of familiar words. Rapid generalization of correct "s" production occurred for all children. (Author/DB)

Evaluation monthly over a seven-month period of 11 kindergarten children who misarticulated /s/ found that one factor associated with /s/ acquisition was the presence of adjacent palatal-fricative/affricate sounds. A score of 38 percent correct /s/ responses or better in two consecutive test periods predicted good progress in /s/ acquisition.…

Lists several physical exercises and activities for deaf children to help them in speech development. (GB)