Purpose: Differences in communication development impact long-term outcomes of children with autism. Previous research has identified factors associated with communication in children with autism, but much of the variance in communication skill remains unexplained. It has been proposed that early differences in sensory responsiveness (i.e.,…

The ability to disengage attention and reengage elsewhere has been proposed as a fundamental deficit in the autism spectrum, potentially disrupting development of higher cognitive domains. Eye-movements were recorded while 16 autism spectrum children of mixed ability, and 18 typically developing age-matched controls, completed the Gap-Overlap…

Purpose: The extant literature suggests that individual differences in speech perception can be linked to broad receptive language phenotype. For example, a recent study found that individuals with a smaller receptive vocabulary showed diminished lexically guided perceptual learning compared to individuals with a larger receptive vocabulary. Here,…

Comparison of 384 male and 91 female autistic children (three through eight years old) revealed that females as a group scored less well on intelligence tests. Boys also performed better than girls on eye-hand integration and perceptual tasks. Predictions of female superiority in affect and receptive vocabulary were not supported. (CL)

Background: There is a need to develop and adapt therapies for use with people with learning disabilities who have mental health problems. Aims: To examine the performance of people with learning disabilities on two cognitive therapy tasks (emotion recognition and discrimination among thoughts, feelings and behaviours). We hypothesized that…

Two experiments showed that: 5- and 6-year-old listeners have difficulties with spatial reference if it includes "left" and "right"; and 7-year-olds understand this limitation on the comprehension skill of younger children and make appropriate allowances by using more landmarks instead. (CB)

The importance of competence in both receptive and expressive language, selective perception, and a rich experiential background for reading readiness skills of hearing impaired children is empahsized. (CL)

This booklet offers practical, easy-to-read suggestions for teachers, paraprofessionals, and parents to help them understand language development and language disabilities. The first section highlights some of the factors involved in language development. The second section deals with some of the common causes for language disabilities and…

A study examined the use of a body awareness microcomputer program on young children as a predictor of early reading achievement. Subjects, 58 preschool and kindergarten students (prereaders) from a university laboratory school in the southern region of the United States, were asked to work in the microcomputer center in small groups to identify…

One of 10 documents developed for preschool programs for handicapped children, the manual presents classroom directed home training activities. The activities are based on such principles as the effectiveness of home instruction by a parent and the need for a parent to feel responsibility for the child's learning. Intended to provide teachers of…

Research on reading has tried, and failed, to account for wide disparities in reading skill even among children taught by the same method. Why do some children learn to read easily and quickly while others, in the same classroom and taught by the same teacher, don't learn to read at all? In "Language Development and Learning to Read", Diane…