Speech, reading, and writing are the basic forms of linguistic communication. Therefore, it is very important to diagnose any problems with them as early and completely as possible, particularly in children with special needs. One of the methods that focuses primarily on the diagnosis and therapy of such learning difficulties is the one developed…

The validity of the calibrated severity scores on the ADOS as reported by Gotham et al. (J Autism Dev Disord 39: 693-705, "2009"), was investigated in an independent sample of 1248 Dutch children with 1455 ADOS administrations (modules 1, 2 and 3). The greater comparability between ADOS administrations at different times, ages and in…

English language learners (ELLs) who are in the process of acquiring English as a second language for academic purposes, are often misidentified as having Language Learning Disabilities (LLDs). Policies regarding the assessment of ELLs have undergone many changes through the years, such as the introduction of a Response to Intervention (RTI)…

Research on the language development of internationally adopted children has increased substantially in the past few years, with a variety of methods used to measure language abilities in this population, including parent and teacher reports, norm-referenced tests, conversational and narrative language samples, and other procedures. These…

At least 60% of children with disabilities have multiple disabilities including visual impairments (VI). Because the visual system is neurologically based, any problems of the neurological system will also likely affect vision. The estimated number of students with VI and additional disabilities has increased significantly over the years. Since…

Pragmatic language skills are important for developing relationships with others, and for communicating with a range of interlocutors in a variety of contexts, including preschool and elementary school classrooms. Pragmatic language difficulties frequently are a primary area of disability for children diagnosed with autism, Asperger's syndrome,…

This paper argues that conventional educational and psychological assessment is not sufficient to identify dyslexia, and that psycholinguistic assessment by clinicians specializing in language is required. Psycholinguistic assessment involves use of testing, clinical observations, and language histories for evaluating complex interactions between…

This article discusses using cross-language transfer as a diagnostic tool for identifying reading difficulties of language learners. It is argued that if children have enough exposure to and instruction in their first language, their skills and insights can be assessed and compared to skills and insights in their second language. (Contains…

A naturalistic probe of early language content was administered to 31 normally developing preschool children. The productivity of 3 different strategies for eliciting 27 content categories was tested and the efficiency of the probe technique compared with analysis of language samples. Results suggest this nonstandardized, criterion-referenced…

Because eligibility for speech-language services often is based on the relationship between the child's cognitive ability and language performance, this study examined the agreement of measurement practices used in the cognitive referencing model of eligibility determination. Administration of 5 measures to 26 preschool children with delayed…

A study examined the differences between 17 children with language disorders and 20 children with normal language development (ages 8-13) in the way they developed shared knowledge with an adult using an interactive communication task. The structure interaction map task involved the child describing a route through a simple schematic map to an…

A study of general and English-as-a-Second-Language elementary classrooms investigated teacher and student functional uses of language. The need to use dynamic assessment procedures and ethnographic observations to distinguish between a language disorder and typical difficulties associated with second-language acquisition is discussed. (Author/CR)

This article presents the Triune Assessment-Intervention Model (TAIM), which uses the constructs of sensemaking and dynamic literacy as its conceptual framework. The model assesses use of semantics/syntax, phonology/orthography, organization, and scripts/schemas rule systems though analysis of oral and literate discourse events, communication, and…