Michael is a 6-year-old boy with an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). He and the other children in his class have delays in their verbal and nonverbal communication skills and difficulty with social interactions. Higgins and Eliza are two lovable cockapoos who help young children with ASD learn new words, expand the length of their sentences, try…

For more than 25 years people have known that children and adults with Down syndrome have a specific impairments in working memory. Within the working memory system, they have particular difficulty with the verbal short-term memory part of the system. However, memory training may become more popular as recent work with both children with Down…

Many adults come up short on social skills. Some of these may be co-workers, friends, or family members who make occasional blunders. Some of these individuals may experience marked social skills deficits throughout life, as is the case with young adults who are diagnosed with High Functioning Autism or Asperger Syndrome (HFA/AS). Following years…

Using a multiple probe design across responses, we demonstrated the effectiveness of intensive intervention in establishing spontaneous verbal responses to 2 3-year-old children with autism with generalization to novel settings involving novel persons. Intervention involved discrete-trial instruction (i.e., repeated instructional opportunities…

Native North Americans ("n" = 35) received training in verbal self-guidance (VSG) designed to increase self-efficacy in a selection interview. At the end of the training program, the trainees who acquired skills in VSG had higher self-efficacy than the participants in the control group ("n" = 31) regarding their interview performance. They also…

While many people may not realize that the words they speak may offend, carelessly used words can indeed lead to hurt, discrimination, and, on occasion, violence. Hate crimes occur all too frequently, even on college campuses--places which should be designed to be open and accepting. The role of educators and student leaders is to raise…

The preparation procedure increased correct expectations about treatment for both the children and the parents. Prepared families had fewer cancelled and failed appointments. The preparation procedure did not significantly affect children's verbalizations in their therapy sessions or children's satisfaction with treatment. (Author/BEF)

Presents a scenario outlined by a librarian interested in sponsoring a staff development program together with a hired consultant. It is argued that, through candid discussions and a commitment to shared program goals, a successful match can be made between a librarian and the consultant. (MAB)

Identifies social, academic, and career adjustment problems resulting from college students' apprehension of communication situations. Describes a ten-hour program designed to reduce communication anxiety and presents the results of the program, along with other helpful suggestions. (Author)

This report to the Joint Dissemination Review Panel of the Office of Education and the National Institute of Education provides an overview of the Mother-Child Home Program of the Verbal Interaction Project: a voluntary, home-based early education program for low-income pre- preschoolers (2- and 3-year-old children), their mothers and other adults…

In 1976, small special sections of English A (basic composition) were initiated within the English Department of the University of California at Davis to teach university-level writing skills to students in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), seventy-five per cent of whom speak English as a second language. This paper describes the design…