Predictors of language production skills were evaluated in 48 children and adolescents with Down syndrome and compared to 48 children matched for nonverbal mental age and mother's years of education. Comparison of two models found the model that incorporated comprehension performance (as well group membership, chronological age, cognition,…

This study used longitudinal productivity criteria to establish the phonetic skill of 20 children (followed from 9 to 16 months). The number of specific consonants produced consistently across the months predicted referential lexical use at 16 months. Prior use of at least two supraglottal consonants characterized the children achieving…

The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (a parent-report measure of vocabulary and syntax) was administered to 103 children (mean age 103 months) who participated in a study of temporal resolution as infants. Children who had performed above the median on the temporal resolution task demonstrated better later language development than…

Free play and elicited language samples were obtained monthly for 10 to 12 months from five late talking children. Analysis indicated that three of the children resolved their late onset of speech by 33 to 35 months of age. Both quantitative factors (e.g., limited phonetic inventory) and qualitative factors (e.g., atypical error patterns) were…

This study, with 53 Mexican-American infants, found that five predictors accounted for approximately 35 percent of the variance in receptive language at 12 and 22 months with average parental generation from Mexico (acculturation) and infant visual recognition memory accounting for 14 and 15 percent of the variance, respectively. No predictors…

Analysis of data from 96 children in a longitudinal study found that foundation skills in speech perception and language as well as family demographics and home environmental variables were related to and predicted later reading scores. Event related potential measures of speech perception immediately after birth also predicted reading scores,…

This study addressed the extent to which performance on selected verbal and nonverbal measures contributed to the prediction of inflection learning with 20 normal boys (ages 4 to 5). Results suggested that inflection learning may be tied more to other language abilities than to nonverbal cognitive skills in normally developing boys. (DB)

This study examined the relationship among language proficiency, behavior problems, and other areas of development in 36 children (ages 36 to 40 months). A strong association was found between deficiencies in both expressive and receptive language and behavioral difficulties. Specifically, deficits in expressive language at age 2 were more…

Forty-seven children (ages 6 to 14) with mild mental retardation, of whom 27 also had an articulation disorder, were evaluated to identify distinguishing characteristics. Task performance results successfully discriminated 89.3 percent of the children with articulation disorders and 80 percent of the children with normal articulation. Fine motor…

This study compared (1) performance on language skills and phonological process measures by 41 kindergarten children with speech/language impairments, and (2) their reading ability in first grade. Children with semantic-syntactic language deficits exhibited more difficulties in reading than did children with articulation impairments. Phonological…

This study examined the impact of parental involvement on four outcomes for 28 young children with hearing loss. Although parental involvement was a significant positive predictor of early reading skills, maternal communication skill and the child's degree of hearing loss were more significant predictors for positive language and academic…

This longitudinal study first administered the Uzgiris and Hunt scales (to predict learning of manual signs) to 34 children (mean age 5) with severe and profound mental retardation. Evaluation four years later indicated that achievement of stage five on the Uzgiris and Hunt scales was necessary for even minimal learning and use of manual signs.…

The results, which contrasted markedly with findings of major group differences at 12 months of age, indicated that by age two no group differences were apparent on any child development, mother-child interaction, or maternal attitude measures, except that preterms were significantly poorer in motor skills than were full-term infants. (RH)