Three trends emerged from independent parent and teacher ratings of receptive communication and expressive forms and functions among students with severe disabilities and visual impairment/blindness. Parents had higher ratings than teachers, receptive communication was rated the highest, and no skills occurred often. Implications are discussed for…

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (1996) estimated that 10% of the United States population has a disorder of speech, language, or hearing, with proportional distribution among members of racially and ethnically diverse groups. Individuals of Hispanic origin are the fastest-growing minority group in the country. Current national…

Presents an "expose" of academic jargon that often confuses educators and other readers. The terms are humorously defined to reveal the money and status struggles that protect academics from "unhealthy preoccupation" with teaching and scholarship. (CJH)

Many Down Syndrome children have some disruption in the oral communicative processes, including an unusual voice quality which may have negative social effects. Factors to be considered include fundamental frequency, fundamental frequency range, frequency perturbations, amplitude perturbations, spectral noise, formant amplitude, and oral and nasal…

Discusses how speech-language pathologists can use photography to encourage more active language expression in children with language and learning disabilities, and describes seven categories for photography use in language learning environments. Each photo project includes suggested language objectives, applications, and advantages. (Author/CR)

Vocabulary development includes learning to recognize, comprehend, and produce alternative ways of communicating a word, an image, or a concept. Instruction in such language alternatives can increase the effectiveness of students' communication skills, making their vocabulary usage more appropriate, precise, descriptive, and interesting.…

The article describes a series of 10 games designed to improve the communication skills of pupils with severe learning difficulties. The games encourage attention development, initiating comments, and giving and receiving instructions. (DB)

Landau-Kleffner syndrome is characterized by difficulty in receptive or expressive language, abnormal electroencephalograms, and seizures. This article describes the primary and secondary characteristics of children with this syndrome and offers educators a framework for intervention techniques. These include using predictable language, creating…

This pamphlet is the sixth in a series of ten stemming from the view that language is central to learning, that teachers can gain insights into their work and into learning by examining the language of the classroom, and that current language theory can be the means to such insights. The pamphlet outlines a students-helping-students program for…

This report discusses a study that examined the perceived credibility of children with learning disabilities once they received instruction in a procedure to increase recall during narrative testimony. Narrative Elaboration Training (NET) helps children to develop memory skills by teaching strategies for remembering the details that are expected…

As most deaf individuals experience two languages (American Sign Language, English) and three modalities (sign, speech, print), this article describes code variations and adaptations in particular situations at a school for the deaf. Most language was mixed in both code and mode; such mixing was seen to be a strategy which uniquely adapts…

The School and Home Enrichment Program for Severely Handicapped Children includes 332 activities. Focus is on the development of sensory responsiveness, eating skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, expressive language, receptive language, personal hygiene, dressing, and social interaction that can be used by parents or teachers as a…

The Educational Sign Skills Evaluation (ESSE) was developed to provide a means of identifying the dominant signing style of an individual and to provide feedback on areas of strength and areas in need of improvement. It provides an overall expressive skills rating as well as information on the type, level, and degree of understanding demonstrated…

This article describes the Oral and Written Language Scales, an assessment of receptive and expressive language for children and young adults aged 3 to 21. The test assesses overall language skills and specific performance in oral expression, listening comprehension, and written expression. Its administration, standardization, reliability, and…

The monograph consists of 13 author contributed chapters arising out of a Nebraska study which attempted to quantify the performance of 150 profoundly hearing impaired students (4-20 years old) in the areas of language (receptive and expressive), academics (reading, spelling, math), and related learning (visual perception and short-term memory)…