Background: Children's language abilities set the stage for their education, psychosocial development and life chances across the life course. Aims: To compare the efficacy of two preschool language interventions delivered with low dosages in early years settings (EYS): Building Early Sentences Therapy (BEST) and an Adapted Derbyshire Language…

Purpose: This study examined the effect of Vocabulary Acquisition and Usage for Late Talkers (VAULT) treatment on toddlers' expressive vocabulary and phonology. Parent acceptability of VAULT treatment was also considered. Method: We used a nonconcurrent multiple baseline single case experimental design with three late talking toddlers aged 21-25…

The effect of word-level variables on expressive phonology has not been widely studied, although the properties of words likely bear on the emergence of sound structure (Stoel-Gammon, 2011). Eight preschoolers, diagnosed with phonological delay, were assigned to treatment to experimentally induce gains in expressive phonology. Erred sounds were…

Reviews the literature on late talkers, children producing fewer than 50 words and/or limited word combinations by 24 months of age. Notes that a substantial number of these children will continue to have difficulties with expressive language acquisition. Clinical implications for speech language pathologists working with these children are…

Modeling, prompting, token reinforcement and praise were used to increase the verbal behavior of a 5 year old expressive aphasic child in a speech therapy room setting. Followup data indicated that a frequncy of three word sentences was maintained without further intervention procedures. (Author)

Two approaches to intervention geared to autistic children's characteristics are presented: one stressing speech and the other sign and speech. Some findings relevant to implementation of simultaneous sign and speech are discussed, and due to observed variability in processing and responsiveness to intervention, the need for individual programing…

Pacing boards can assist in the transition from single word to multiword utterances by children with language impairments. The pacing board provides visual and motor cues to help young children imitate and spontaneously produce multiword utterances as well as increase metalinguistic awareness of speech units. Instructions for making pacing boards…

The paper describes a successful attempt to stimulate expressive language in Becky, a young child with Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a condition characterized by moderate to severe mental retardation, dwarfed stature, and excessive body hair. The child participated in infant stimulation and individual speech therapy and her expressive output has…

Background: Parents and professionals can both play a role in improving children's expressive language development and a number of alternative models of delivery exist that involve different levels of input by these two groups. However, these alternative treatments have not been subject to rigorous comparative analysis in terms of both cost and…

The impact of a disordered phonological system (expressive or receptive) on language development is examined. Research results and guidelines are presented for identification of critical intelligibility and phonological awareness deficiencies and for intervention. Options for expediting intelligibility gains and research findings on enhancing…

This purpose of this randomized group experiment was (a) to test the post-treatment (i.e., immediately after treatment) and follow-up (i.e., 8 months after the end of treatment) efficacy of a treatment designed to facilitate both sentence length and speech intelligibility (i.e., broad target recast), and (b) to explore whether pretreatment speech…

This study found that naturalistic conversation training improved the spontaneous speech production of two children (ages three and four) with speech production disabilities. (Author/DB)

Twenty-three years of observation and testing of the communication skills of a male with agenesis of the corpus callosum and normal IQ revealed initial weakness in language. Difficulties with fluent speech persisted into young adulthood. With intensive intervention, communication and academic skills developed and the participant completed high…

BASED ON A SERIES OF CONFERENCE PAPERS BY VARIOUS AUTHORS, THE BOOK CONSIDERS BOTH EMPIRICAL AND CONCEPTUAL ASPECTS OF LANGUAGE AND MENTAL RETARDATION AND THEIR INTERRELATIONSHIPS. LITERATURE REVIEWS PROVIDE BIBLIOGRAPHIES ON RELEVANT RESEARCH (68 RESEARCH, 1955-66) AND ON LANGUAGE AND MENTAL RETARDATION (149 CITATIONS, 1929-66). FURTHER PAPERS ON…

This pamphlet presents an overview of speech and language disorders including a description of symptoms, possible causes, identification, intervention, and current research. Description of the disorders includes examples of symptoms; the four components and the physical tools of speech; and the role of the brain, including its hemispheres,…