Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and hyperlexia (HPL) have both advanced word reading skills and a reading comprehension disorder, alongside impaired oral language. We developed a unique, parent-supported, tablet-based intervention aiming to improve oral and reading comprehension at the word-, phrase- and sentence-level, for…

Poor word learning is a hallmark characteristic of students with specific language impairment (SLI). Explicit vocabulary instruction has shown to positively improve word learning in this population. Mobile technology has many advantages making it conducive for addressing the word learning needs of students with SLI. The current study utilized a…

Background: Many lines of evidence now suggest that inferencing plays a substantial role in text comprehension. However, inferencing appears to be difficult for children with language impairments, many of whom are also struggling readers. Aims: To assess the effects of a "think-aloud" procedure on inference generation and narrative text…

The study investigated morphosyntactic abilities and semantic-pragmatic competence in 24 children with developmental dyslexia aged 7-12 years. Morphosyntactic abilities were investgated in a direct object clitic production task, semantic-pragmatic competence in a quantifier comprehension task. Children with dyslexia produced fewer clitics than…

The literacy abilities of 11-year old children with specific language impairment (SLI) were investigated through comparing subgroups with current expressive-only language impairment (E-SLI, n 30), current combined expressive and receptive language impairment (ER-SLI, n 32) and a history of now-resolved language impairment (Resolved-SLI, n 28). The…

Background: Children with specific language impairment experience story comprehension deficits. Research with typically developing children, poor comprehenders and poor readers has shown that the use of mental imagery aids in the comprehension of stories. Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention program in the use of mental imagery…

Language and reading outcomes at 13 years of age were examined in 28 children identified at 24 to 31 months as late talkers, all of whom came from middle--to upper-class socioeconomic status (SES) families and had normal nonverbal ability and age-adequate receptive language at intake. Late talkers were compared with a group of 25 typically…

The study investigates strategies and contexts for supporting the literacy development of young, augmented speakers, whose difficulties in literacy learning are not explained by their levels of cognition alone. Indeed, quantitative and qualitative differences exist in their literacy experiences at home and school. In this study, four primary…