Purpose: A striking characteristic of the social communication deficits in individuals with autism is atypical patterns of eye contact during social interactions. We used eye-tracking technology to evaluate how the number of human figures depicted and the presence of sharing activity between the human figures in still photographs influenced visual…

The purpose of this study was to observe and implement strategies and adaptations in an arts program for adults with atypical communication due to developmental and intellectual disabilities. This study was conducted in the field using an action research approach with triangulated methods of data collection including semi-structured interviews,…

Purpose: To investigate a model of language development for nonverbal preschool-age children learning to communicate with augmentative or alternative communication. Method: Ninety-three preschool children with intellectual disabilities were assessed at Time 1, and 82 of these children were assessed 1 year later, at Time 2. The outcome variable was…

Many individuals with autism cannot speak or cannot speak intelligibly. A variety of aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) approaches have been investigated. Most of the research on these approaches has been single-case research, with small numbers of participants. The purpose of this investigation was to meta-analyze the single…

Rett Syndrome (RS) is an X-linked, neurodevelopmental disorder that occurs primarily in females and causes significant impairment in cognition, motor control, and communication. Teachers and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) encounter girls with RS with increasing frequency as awareness of the disorder increases, yet the literature on clinical…

This practicum report describes development, implementation, and evaluation of a program which used an augmentative and alternative communication system with six nonverbal preschool children with developmental disabilities attending a special school. An extensive review of the literature on augmentative and alternative communication systems was…

The last 25 years have witnessed an explosion of research at the intersection of typical language development and child language disorders. A pioneer in bringing these fields of study together is Robin S. Chapman, Emerita, University of Wisconsin. This contributed volume honors her with chapters written by former students and colleagues, who track…