Language abilities in adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are variable and can be challenging to ascertain with confidence. This study aimed to compare and evaluate different forms of language assessment: standardized language testing, narrative analysis and parent/teacher reports. 14 adolescents with ASD and 14 typically developing…

Language delay is a common developmental difficulty. Research indicates that it is influenced by environmental factors, particularly social deprivation, but that a parent's interaction protects children's language development against these factors. It is hypothesized that by supporting parents' interaction, language development may be facilitated.…

Children who have sensory, cognitive or oromotor deficits, or come from a bilingual-speaking background are currently excluded from the diagnosis of specific language impairment (SLI). Emerging evidence, however, suggests that at least 7% of all children have language learning difficulties, irrespective of other diagnoses or language learning…

Nine preschool and school-age language assessment tools found to have acceptable levels of identification accuracy were evaluated to determine their overall levels of psychometric validity for use in diagnosing the presence/absence of language impairment. Eleven specific criteria based on those initially devised by McCauley and Swisher (1984) were…

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) often have extraordinary difficulty in the use of tense and agreement morphemes. Because spontaneous speech samples may not provide a sufficient number of obligatory contexts for these morphemes, structured probe items are often employed. However, these usually emphasize actions that can be readily…

Three groups of children with communication disorders were assessed using the CELF (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals). The results were used to compare the language skills of children with specific language impairment (SLI), autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and a middle group who shared some characteristics of both SLI and ASD (Shared…