The performance of 20 children with educable mental retardation (ages 8 to 12) and 20 verbal mental age-matched nonretarded controls was compared on identifying emotional facial expressions and producing the equivalent word adjectives. There were no significant differences between the two groups in general, despite the fact that children with…

This study, involving 48 children and adolescents with Down's syndrome, found that chronological age and mean mental age collectively accounted for much of subjects' variability in vocabulary comprehension and syntax comprehension, with total passes on a hearing screening accounting for additional variability. (Author/DB)

Data from two-year-old children and mothers were collected concerning age at which she began to read to child, frequency of home reading, number of stories read per week, frequency of visits by child to library. Picture-book reading exposure was more strongly related to receptive than expressive language. Age of onset of home reading routines was…

The study compared results of the Preschool Language Scale, administered to 214 rural and 214 suburban children in Nebraska. Both groups scored above age level, but a higher percentage of rural children failed a wide range of verbal ability and auditory comprehension items. The scale did not meet criteria for nonbiased, ecologically valid…

This study examined early childhood characteristics of 82 11-year- old boys with either reading disabilities (RD) only, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) only, or both conditions. At ages 3 and 5 the RD only boys had performed poorly on measures of receptive and expressive language, whereas the RD/ADHD groups performed poorly on…

This article reviews some relevant events in the development of acoustical standards for classrooms, describes classroom challenges to providing clear acoustical signals to children in classrooms, and outlines amplification solutions to some of those classroom challenges. Solutions include personal amplification devices and use of signal-to-noise…

This article discusses the lack of an acoustic standard in classrooms and an effort by a broad-based coalition of engineers, audiologists, parents, architects, and educators to develop a standard for acoustics that would then be referenced in the Americans with Disabilities Act. The benefits to all children are emphasized. (Contains six…

This closing article on a clinical forum exploring negative effects of classroom noise on learning discusses the need to make structural changes to classrooms to provide a high-quality acoustical environment for learning. The efforts of the Classroom Acoustics Working Group to develop acoustic standards for classrooms is highlighted. (Contains one…

This draft standard developed by the Classroom Acoustics Working Group provides acoustical performance criteria and accompanying design guidelines intended to ensure good speech communication among students and teachers in learning spaces. To ensure the noise limits are not exceeded, adequate sound isolation between classrooms and adjacent spaces…

An experimental procedure was developed to investigate word-learning skills of children who use cochlear implants (CIs). Using interactive play scenarios, 2- to 5-year olds were presented with sets of objects (Beanie Baby stuffed animals) and words for their names that corresponded to salient perceptual attributes (e.g., "horns" for a goat). Their…

Wilkinson and Green (1998) reported that differences in the procedure by which new words were introduced to learners with cognitive impairments significantly affected their accuracy in later tests of receptive understanding of word meanings. However, a limited sample and no control group rendered the data preliminary. Here, I replicated and…

Background: There is a need to develop and adapt therapies for use with people with learning disabilities who have mental health problems. Aims: To examine the performance of people with learning disabilities on two cognitive therapy tasks (emotion recognition and discrimination among thoughts, feelings and behaviours). We hypothesized that…

This book is the second of a three-volume series on conflict resolution for educational administrators. Following the introduction, the first three chapters discuss the following communication skills critical to communication--building rapport, listening and pacing, and chunking and problem solving. Chapter 4 provides a generic problem-solving…

A study examined mothers' accuracy in predicting the responses their children would give and the scores they would achieve on two standardized vocabulary tests. Specifically, the study's primary purpose was to examine maternal estimates of both expressive and receptive vocabulary skills according to two indices: accuracy of total score and…

An assessment battery, measuring multiple aspects of language, was administered to 29 children between 4 and 5 years of age who had been born prematurely. The children, who weighed less than 2,500 grams at birth after less than 37 weeks of gestation, were recruited from a cohort of children originally admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit…