An approximatey 225-item bibliography listing publications concerned with the use of unaided nonspeech systems for individuals with severe communication impairments is provided. References specifically designed for use with retarded, autistic, aphasic, and/or multiply handicapped people; and references relating to instruction are specified. (PHR)

The study compared the relative benefits of word lists that were individualized for adolescent and adult subjects (N=10) using augmented communication to word lists selected from standard vocabulary sources. Findings indicated that individualized lists could represent a larger portion of the total communication sample in a relatively short list.…

Purpose: The purpose of this tutorial is to describe 10 criteria that may help clinicians distinguish between scientific and pseudoscientific treatment claims. The criteria are illustrated, first for considering whether to use a newly developed treatment and second for attempting to understand arguments about controversial treatments. Method:…

The study describes the perspectives of individuals with Asperger syndrome and other autism spectrum disabilities (ASDs) regarding social challenges and supports. Eighteen adults with ASDs were individually interviewed. They were asked to describe their experiences navigating their social worlds, and recommend effective social supports and…

Selective Mutism (SM) in children and adolescents is characterized by a persistent failure to speak in certain social situations including at school or with friends despite the ability to speak and comprehend language. Not due to a specific communication disorder, SM is actually a pervasive psychological problem that lies along the continuum of…

Purpose: To determine the rankings of 6 input-output functions for understanding low-level, conversational, and high-level speech in multitalker babble without manipulating volume control for listeners with normal hearing, flat sensorineural hearing loss, and mildly sloping sensorineural hearing loss. Method: Peak clipping, compression limiting,…

Guidelines for dismissal of a student who has been receiving educational interventions are available from both the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Ad Hoc Committee on Admission/Discharge Criteria and from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Yet as speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the schools enroll…

In this interview, Dave Krupke, retired speech-language pathologist in the Davenport, Iowa public schools, describes "See The Sound/Visual Phonics," whose shortened name is "Visual Phonics," and its use with struggling readers and students with communication disabilities. What distinguishes See The Sound/Visual Phonics from…

Jaw movement patterns were examined longitudinally in a 3-year-old male with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) and compared with a typically developing control group. The child with CAS was followed for 8 months, until he began accurately and consistently producing the bilabial phonemes /p/, /b/, and /m/. A movement tracking system was used to…

The study investigated whether significant differences existed among normally developing 3-year-old children in transparency and in the learning of symbols from three different graphic symbol systems (Blissymbols, Picture Communication System, and Picsyms) frequently used with augmentative communication devices for communication disordered…

A classroom calendar, created and used for recording events to illustrate the passage of time and to record school experiences was particularly helpful for a student with a communication disorder who needed more structure for understanding time concepts. Spin-off activities include recreating experiences and illustrating calendar activities. (CB)

In the past 30 years, the treatment of communication disorders has evolved into a complex discipline. This article discusses recent developments and changes in language assessment and remediation, specifically in phonological and pragmatic assessment and remediation. (JL)

Gestural cueing may be used successfully with children who do not require exposure to a sign or total communication approach. Emphasizing cueing in both the training and generalization phases of language learning, this article discusses specific learning activities, the effect of motor components on language, and procedures for using gestural…

The Symbolic Play Test was given to 31 socially impaired and 29 sociable elementary grade children retarded in language comprehension, of similar intelligence (profoundly retarded to normal). Play test age and spontaneous pretend play were similar in sociable Ss but, in the socially impaired, spontaneous pretend play was lower than play test age…

The thesis is developed that, despite commonalities, therapy and research are not necessarily the same activity and that clinicians are not necessarily researchers, and requirements of good therapy and good research are often different in critical ways. (Author/CL)