Purpose: This article is a response to Alan Kamhi's treatise on improving clinical practices for children with language and learning disorders by focusing on what is known about learning (see Kamhi, 2014, article in this issue). Method: Descriptive methods are used to discuss general learning principles and the fact that they do not always…

Background: Children diagnosed with intellectual difficulties experience difficulties with narrative skills, due to limited syntactic knowledge. The Colourful Semantics approach with thematic roles and a colour coding system may encourage syntactic development in children experiencing intellectual disabilities. Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness…

We evaluated the narrative and expository writing samples of 12 adolescents with language-learning disabilities (LLD) in Grades 6 to 12 for elements of microstructure (e.g., productivity, grammatical complexity) and macrostructure (genre-specific text structure elements) using an experimental measure. Writing samples were elicited with…

"School-Age Language Intervention: Evidence-based Practices" explains how to teach the language and literacy skills, strategies, and underlying processes needed for educational success. This book brings together an array of experts to provide the latest practical and evidence-based guidance to school speech-language pathologists.…

A multiple-baseline design across subjects was used to investigate the effects of word prediction and text-to-speech alone and in combination on four narrative composition-writing skills (writing fluency, syntax, spelling accuracy, and overall organization) of six fifth-grade Hispanic boys with specific learning disabilities (SLD). Participants…

Investigation of learning-disabled elementary school students' (N=29) ability to comprehend narrative text when important information was systematically dispersed or centralized within the text revealed no significant effect for input mode on measures of comprehension and recall. (Author/CB)

In recent years effective instruction in reading for learners with physical and educational disabilities has received great attention in the schools. However, instruction in the corollary skill of writing has received considerably less emphasis. This review paper notes that through the use of assistive technology, students with a variety of…

The article examines the social-academic nature of storytelling, reviews studies of narrative ability of learning disabled students, and offers suggestions for developing narratives in the classroom setting. (CL)

The study assessed the oral narrative abilities of 10 normal and 10 learning-disabled (LD) middle school children (11-12 years old). Narratives were assessed using A. Applebee's system for the development of story organization. The narratives were also examined for the specific components used within the stories themselves. Findings revealed…

Spontaneously generated oral stories were analyzed from 93 learning-disabled (LD) and normally achieving (NA) students (8-13 years old). Results showed significant group and age differences. The stories told by the LD Ss contained fewer propositions and complete episodes and contained significantly fewer minor setting statements than those of…

Twenty language-disordered and 20 nonimpaired children, aged 9-11, performed story generation and story retelling tasks. For both groups, retold narratives were longer and contained more story grammar components and complete episode structures. Clause length differentiated story generation from story retelling for the language-disordered children…

Using two modes of production, writing and dictation, the study compared the story production, coherence, and fluency of learning-disabled (LD) children (N=47) with that of normal-achieving and low-achieving subjects across three grade levels. Among results were that mode of production had no effect upon story production or fluency for any…

The study evaluated the ability of six learning disabled adolescents with normal language ability and eight learning disabled adolescents with deficient language skills to appropriately mark ambiguous referents. Subjects were compared with control groups of normally achieving chronologically age matched adolescents and children matched with the…

This study analyzed spoken narratives of 10 high-achieving and 10 under-achieving gifted adolescents. Results suggested that language problems are common in underachievers. Variables contributing most to differences were number of complete episodes produced, number of statements referring to characters' internal states, reactions of characters to…

High quality children's literature should be used to facilitate language-learning-disabled children's narrative abilities in the areas of structure, content, values, and aesthetic appreciation. Using the macrostructure of the story can lead to the exploration of feelings and values in real or imagined situations. (DB)