Recent studies of autism diagnosis in New Zealand have revealed inconsistent implementation of best practice standards in autism assessment and high rates of parental dissatisfaction with the diagnostic process. These findings have arisen despite the development and dissemination of the New Zealand Autism Spectrum Disorder Guideline (the…

Purpose: We investigated and compared the outcomes from two standardized, norm-referenced screening assessments of language (i.e., Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool--Second Edition [CELFP-2], Diagnostic Evaluation of Language Variation--Screening Test [DELV-ST]) with African American preschoolers whose spoken dialect differed…

Purpose: Previous research into the working, declarative, and procedural memory systems in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) has yielded inconsistent results. The purpose of this research was to profile these memory systems in children with DLD and their typically developing peers. Method: One hundred four 5- to 8-year-old…

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the performance of a group of Spanish-speaking, dual language learners (DLLs) who were attending English-only schools and came from low-income and low-parental education backgrounds on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals--Fourth Edition, Spanish (CELF-4S; Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 2006).…

Approximately 10% of children with a speech sound disorder present with an inconsistent phonological disorder, characterized by inconsistent production of words across multiple trials. A number of studies have provided evidence of the efficacy of core vocabulary therapy for the remediation of this speech sound disorder with a dosage of two…

This study examined whether web-based phonological awareness (PA) assessment in early childhood, specifically the year preceding formal schooling, could help educators reliably predict children's risk for reading difficulties in the first year of school. Ninety Australian children participated in several web-based PA tasks with a high priority…

The "Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fifth Edition" (CELF-5; Wiig, Semel, & Secord, 2013) is a recently updated battery of tests designed to assess, diagnose, and measure changes in language and communication in individuals 5 to 21 years of age. Designed to identify language strengths and weaknesses, determine service…

Dynamic assessments (DA) of language have been shown to be a useful addition to the battery of tests used to diagnose language impairments in children, and to evaluate their skills. The current article explores the value of the information gained from a DA in planning intervention for a child with language impairment. A single case study was used…

A wealth of research has been conducted into emergent literacy (i.e., precursors to formal reading) skills and development in typically developing (TD) children. However, despite research suggesting children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at risk of reading challenges, limited research exists on their emergent literacy. Thus, we aimed to…

This study investigated three conversational subskills in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS, n = 8, ages 7-13) and Williams syndrome (WS, n = 8, ages 6-12). The researchers re-evaluated these subskills after 18 to 24 months and compared them to those of peers with idiopathic intellectual disability (IID) and IID and comorbid…

Behavioral investigations of the acquisition of "some" have shown that children favor its logical interpretation ("some and possibly all"). Adults, however, use the pragmatic interpretation ("some but not all") derived by a scalar implicature. Certain experimental manipulations increase children's rates of adult-like…

Purpose: Standardized tests are one of the primary assessment tools used by speech-language pathologists (SLPs) to diagnose child language impairment. Numerous child language tests are commercially available; however, it is unknown what factors lead clinicians to select particular tests to use in clinical practice. This study investigated whether…

Assessment is at the center of a decision-making model within a Response to Intervention (RTI) framework. Assessments that can be used for universal screening and progress monitoring in early childhood RTI models are needed that are both psychometrically sound and appropriate to meet developmental needs of young children. The Preschool Early…

The researchers examined how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in a small northern California school district assessed Spanish speaking English learning (EL) Latino children suspected of language impairments. Specifically we sought to (1) determine whether SLPs adhered to federal, state, and professional guidelines during initial assessments and…

The aim of this study was to determine if phonological processing deficits in specific reading disability (SRD) and specific language impairment (SLI) are the same or different. In four separate analyses, a different combination of reading and spoken language measures was used to divide 73 children into three subgroups: poor readers with average…