The purpose of this study was to examine the roles of paraeducators in educational teams who supported young children with complex communication needs (CCNs). Participants included members of three teams which included general and special education teachers, paraeducators, speech and language pathologists (SLPs), and parents. An instrumental,…

This study examined the level of social communication problems (SCP), social anxiety (SA), and mood problems (MP) among children with ASD (age 4-13 years) enrolled in special classes (n = 74) and regular classes (n = 73) and grade level (kindergarten, 1st-3rd, 4th-6th) from teachers' perspective in schools of Palestinian Arabs in Israel. Teachers…

Shortly after accepting my current position as a professor at the University of Connecticut in 1987, I was asked to meet a third-grade student who had not spoken a word in an educational setting for nearly 5 years. During preschool, kindergarten, and in the elementary grades, he was mute. However, in non-educational settings, although shy, he…

Purpose: We examined the association between language experience and elementary students' eligibility for special education in Massachusetts. Method: A secondary descriptive data analysis was conducted on the anonymized demographic data obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Third, 4th, and 5th grade…

Educators need effective ways to build the communication skills of students learning to use aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and support their interactions with peers. This study used a multiple-probe-across-participants design to evaluate the effectiveness of a paraprofessional-facilitated peer network intervention to (a)…

Purpose: In this study, the authors examined how variability in classroom social communication performance differed between children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and pair-matched, typically developing peers. Method: Twelve pairs of children were observed in their classrooms, 40 min per day (20 min per child) for 4 days over a…

This article explores the mediational role of classroom discourse in the development of shared understanding in the multiethnic classroom. Successful participation in classroom discourse not only requires linguistic and cognitive competence, but also demands cultural knowledge, which often is taken for granted. Research carried out in a…