A well-established imitative repertoire can facilitate the acquisition of functional communication, social behaviors, and observational learning. Although early intensive behavioral intervention programs for young children with autism incorporate imitation training, learners with autism may exhibit difficulties in acquiring an imitative…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility of the delivery of complex syntax recast therapy via telepractice to Spanish-English bilingual children and provide preliminary evidence of the efficacy of this approach. Method: Fifteen bilingual children with developmental language disorders were stratified based on language…

Echolalia, a language phenomenon whereby individuals imitate the speech of others, is commonly used by children and adults with autism. Research into the underlying nature and meanings associated with this repetitive behaviour is characterised by a lack of conceptual definitions and conflicting opinions about the functions of echolalia. A scoping…

Introduction: Echolalia, the repetition of others' speech, is a common observation in autistic people. Research has established that echolalia is functional and meaningful for many; however, some clinicians and researchers continue to characterise it as pathological and in need of reduction. The aim of this systematic review was to understand the…

Background: Children with speech sound disorders (SSD) form a heterogeneous group, with respect to severity, etiology, proximal causes, speech error characteristics, and response to treatment. Infants develop speech and language in interaction with neurological maturation and general perceptual, motoric, and cognitive skills in a social-emotional…

Considerable evidence has shown that physical exercise could be an effective treatment in reducing stereotypical autism spectrum disorder (ASD) behaviors in children. The present study seeks to examine the underlying mechanism by considering the theoretical operant nature of stereotypy. Children with ASD (n = 30) who exhibited hand-flapping and…

A body of research indicates the importance of interventions for promoting the development and progress of children with visual impairments. However, the research available on suitable interventions for this population is relatively sparse. The purpose of this review is to identify, collate and appraise the available research evidence on…

Vocal stereotypy is a commonly occurring challenging behavior in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is frequently maintained by automatic reinforcement and often interferes with skill acquisition. Matched stimulation (MS), and response interruption and redirection (RIRD) are two interventions that have been demonstrated to be…

This study investigated the costs of different summer reading programs and compared costs to the benefits of summer school as a way to avoid retaining students not reading proficiently at the end of third grade. Per pupil costs ranged from US$1,665 to US$2,194. The average cost was US$1,887 (range: US$266-US$5,552) with 82% of overall expenses…

This survey study describes rates of utilization of evidence-informed auditory-verbal strategies among 132 professionals (teachers of the deaf, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, early interventionists, and others) working with children who are deaf or hard of hearing who use listening and spoken language. Relationships between provider…

Reading is a major problem for most students with learning disabilities in the United Arab Emirates. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of repeated reading intervention strategy on improving oral reading fluency and reading comprehension of 47 United Arab Emirates students with learning disabilities. All participants were assigned…

Recently, researchers have begun to employ rigorous statistical methods and developmentally-informed theories to evaluate outcomes for students retained in non-kindergarten early elementary school. However, the majority of this research focuses on academic outcomes. Gaps remain regarding retention's effects on psychosocial outcomes important to…

Although the literature clearly demonstrates that repeated readings result in immediate effects on students' performance on the intervention materials as well as long-term benefits, data are less promising regarding its immediate generalization effects to similar materials. Using an alternating treatments design, the current study evaluated the…

Adult co-construction with children who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) has been found to facilitate child communicative competence in general, but few studies have examined adult co-construction during the telling of personal narratives. This study explored the use of adult co-constructive strategies during personal…

The primary objective of this study was to improve the educational success of children with sickle-cell disease (SCD) and cerebral infarcts. A prospective intervention trial was conducted; a multidisciplinary team was created to maximize educational resources for children with SCD and cerebral infarcts. Students were evaluated systematically…