People with disabilities are more likely to be hospitalized and use health care services than people without disabilities. They also report negative experiences interacting with health care providers during these encounters, placing them at risk for preventable adverse medical events, poor quality of life, and dependence on others. Fortunately,…

Selective mutism is a disorder that can negatively impact a student's learning. It can be treated effectively if it is understood as an anxiety related condition and if it is diagnosed early. Intervention strategies can be complex and are therefore difficult for educational practitioners to implement. Simplifying intervention by addressing the…

Providing support to a child with complex communication needs during shared storybook reading activities can be challenging. Storybooks often contain specific vocabulary items (e.g., character names) that are key to conversations about the story but would be difficult to add and of limited long-term use in an augmentative and alternative…

Purpose: The purpose of this epilogue is to offer five ways speech-language pathologists can positively impact children with dyslexia, drawing from and expanding on the articles presented in this clinical forum on dyslexia.

Little research has been undertaken into how children with complex communication needs living in residential care are encouraged to express their views, be involved in decision-making, and importantly, make it known when they are unhappy. This group are often placed a long distance from home and can be some of the most vulnerable children in the…

Recently, as many as 50,000 migrant children from Central America have entered the United States without their parents. Under federal law, public schools must enroll a child who lives in the community, regardless of his or her immigration status. Ming and her twin brother Chang enrolled in my district's elementary school. Ming would not speak,…

Augmentative and alternative communication based interventions support individuals with complex communication needs in becoming effective and efficient communicators. However, there is often a disconnect between language models, communication opportunities, and desired intervention outcomes in the intervention process. This article outlines a…

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 35 million people around the world have been displaced because of natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, or tsunamis. In addition, there are a number of persons who have been displaced or who have fled their homeland due to civil conflict or war. The WHO estimates that between…

Children with complex and severe communication impairments often cannot meet their communication needs with their natural voice and may require the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). There are many communication and learning challenges facing children who use AAC; however, using AAC for social communication is especially…

Despite increasing awareness, the childhood disorder of selective mutism is under-researched and commonly misdiagnosed. The purpose of this article is to highlight current issues related to this disorder as well as describe various treatment approaches including behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, family, and pharmacological…

Selective Mutism is a low incidence disorder but has considerable impact on the school system when it occurs. Over the last decade several research articles have been published which have challenged the understanding of the aetiology of Selective Mutism. Current perceptions about the aetiology of Selective Mutism are considered in order to inform…

Selective mutism is a rare anxiety disorder that prevents a child from speaking at school or other community settings, and can be detrimental to a child's social development. School psychologists can play an important role in the prevention and treatment of selective mutism. As an advocate for students, school psychologists can work with teachers,…

The number of children with autism served in early intervention or the public school system appears to be growing at an alarming rate. This article provides a basis for understanding this dramatic increase. In addition, the authors present a brief overview of the characteristics of autism, research on early behavioral indicators of infants and…

Behavior modification procedures are described for establishing compliant behavior in elective mutes. The results are discussed for three children to whom the procedure was applied. Two of the three subjects generalized responsive and spontaneous language from the experimental to everyday settings. (Author)

Researchers have been placing an increased importance on discovering what variables contribute to better prognosis during behavioral interventions for children with autism. This article preliminarily identifies sleep problems that may exacerbate symptoms of autism; thus, possibly influencing effectiveness of daytime interventions. A data-base of…