Rates of development for children who recover from early language delay and those with persistent problems were compared. Eighty-seven language-impaired children were assessed at the ages of 4, 4 1/2, and 5 1/2 years. The two groups were distinguished in initial level of performance but not in rate of progress. (Author/DB)

The study compared the categorization skills of first-grade children presenting three levels of expressive language development (normal, mild-moderate delay, and severe delay). Results indicated a significant difference in categorization skills between the children with normal expressive language development and each of the two expressive…

The study investigated the utility of a specialized test battery in measuring behavioral and cognitive characteristics of young, atypical preschool children (N=16). Results suggested existence of a syndrome of children with a pattern of delayed language, good visual skills, restricted interests, and easy disorganization. (DB)

Play and language development were compared in four normally developing preschoolers and five language-delayed children (2.5-6 years old). Ss were administered a scale which assessed play, language, and drawing stages. Data were graphed and studied in terms of distribution and level of function across the three symbolic function areas (play,…

The article discusses several linguistic and nonlinguistic teaching strategies to foster language acquisition and increase spontaneous language in preschool children with language delays. Techniques include having the child complete unfinished sentences and intentionally violating an expected routine to elicit the child's language. (DB)

Topic continuing and nontopic continuing utterances produced by three productively language-disordered preschoolers were analyzed. Results suggested that Ss produced a proportion of adjacent utterances comparable to proportions previously reported for children with normal production language skills and that they relied on an imitation strategy to…

The guide describes communication games--simple, noncompetitive structured activities designed to promote conversational and linguistic skills in children with language delays and language disabilities. The approach is distinguished from traditional approaches by the creation of a genuine need for talking rather than arbitrary demands, emphasis on…

To examine the effectiveness of a maternal intervention curriculum, 40 mothers and children with varying degrees of language delay were assigned to one of two intervention groups matched on child characteristics. Program impact was assessed through standardized tests (the Sequenced Inventory of Communicative Development to measure whether…

Summarizes the available data on the spontaneous signing of nonverbal mentally handicapped children and discusses possible reasons for the spontaneity. Instructional techniques for promoting spontaneity are outlined, and implications of sign spontaneity for research are considered. (Author/EJS)

Effects of systematic use of mands (non-yes/no questions and instructions to verbalize), models (imitative prompts), and specific consequent events on the productive verbal behavior of three unresponsive, socially isolated, language-delayed preschoolers were investigated. Treatments resulted in increases in total verbalizations and nonobligatory…

Various techniques of treatment are discussed in this case study of a young child who refused to talk. (ST)

A language development program for a 6-year-old boy with limited language development combined an operant approach in the foster home, where both parents were speech clinicians, and daily 3-hour therapy sessions at a university speech and hearing clinic. (KW)

A 16-year-old boy, first seen at 4 years of age because of his severe language difficulties, was reexamined to provide data on the later functioning of language-delayed children. (Author/DB)

Comparison of dysphasic children (N=8) with control children found that the dysphasic children's language development was both delayed and deviant, and that the children's deviant syntax structures were the result of insufficient language processing and could not be traced back to structural characteristics of the sentences used by their mothers.…