This paper reviews research on the consequences of prenatal exposure to alcohol and cocaine on children's speech, language, hearing, and cognitive development. The review shows that cognitive impairment, learning disabilities, and behavioral disorders are the central nervous system manifestations of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), and cranio-facial…

This study investigated the use of computer-based intervention for enhancing communication functions of children with autism. The software program was developed based on daily life activities in the areas of play, food, and hygiene. The following variables were investigated: delayed echolalia, immediate echolalia, irrelevant speech, relevant…

At 3 years of age the spontaneous language of 17 typically developing children was compared to two groups of toddlers who were at risk for language delay for very different reasons. One at-risk group, late talkers, appeared normal in all respects except for their delayed language. These 20 children scored at or below the fifteenth percentile for…

The purpose of this study was to examine the short-term effects of a music education intervention on the receptive language skills of students in an at-risk early childhood program. The target population was nine students ages 3, 4, and 5 in an at-risk, inclusive classroom in a Chicago public school. The problem of language delay is indicated in…

We conducted three studies which examined the performance vs. skill acquisition model of social skills deficits. In Study 1, baseline social behaviors for a random sample of 12 boys with comorbid emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD), learning disabilities (LD), language delays, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) revealed that…

Background: Parental and speech and language therapist (SLT) explanatory models may affect engagement with speech and language therapy, but there has been dearth of research in this area. This study investigated parents' and SLTs' views about language development, delay and intervention in pre-school children with language delay. Aims: The aims…

The findings of language development studies in normally developing children (from birth to school age) and in children who deviate from the norm in physiological and cognitive development are outlined and compared. (LH)

The document describes the Pediatric Language Institutes' program to develop speech and language skills to preschool children with language deficits. Initial sections describe the program in terms of assessment of children's skills, the daily schedule, design of classrooms, lesson presentation, incidental teaching, and behavior management. The…

Eleven selected language programs made available between 1967 and 1975 are described. The introduction explores the theoretical perspectives at work during the past 15 years and discusses the factors which should influence language program choice, how children acquire language skills, and techniques for evaluating the success of language…

Fricatives and affricates in different word positions and initial fricative clusters were elicited from three linguistically deviant children (ages five years, two months to seven years) and one normal child (age two years, nine months) by means of pictures depicting familiar objects. Data from two of the older children and the normal child are…

The validity of the Test of Language Development (TOLD) was investigated with normal reading, reading disabled, and language delayed children (ages seven to nine years). (DLS)

Speech samples were elicited twice (four months apart) from a 4-year-old language delayed child. Clinical analysis involved examination of conversational turns and words, length of unit, speech act variables, amount of speech, and syntax. Although results clearly indicated an unmistakable surge in expressive language, analysis did not explain the…

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