The second of two articles on play reviews the construct of play and its development in typically developing infants, toddlers, and young children. It considers developmental levels of play from early sensorimotor-exploratory to symbolic play involving the functional components of agent, instrument, and scheme. A developmentally based,…

This response to EC 633 617, an analysis of a purported case of facilitated communication, stresses the role of linguistic and grammatical analysis of texts attributed to a Finnish man diagnosed with mental retardation and cerebral palsy. It identifies weaknesses in the analysis, urges use of multi-theoretical approaches, and notes the benefits…

Part 1 of this paper recommends procedures and standards for the acoustic analysis of voice in individuals with dysarthria. In Part 2, acoustic data are reviewed for dysarthria associated with Parkinson disease (PD), cerebellar disease, amytrophic lateral sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, unilateral hemispheric stroke, and essential tremor.…

This study reports the effectiveness of a three-pronged (segmentation, phonological neighbor cues, and rehearsal) phonologically based strategy designed to reduce word finding errors of two third-graders. Results indicated an improvement in word finding in single-word contexts that was generalized to sentences and maintained during follow-up.…

This article highlights the debut of a new three-digit number for access to all Telecommunication Relay Services. Under new federal rules, 711 dialing must be provided by all U.S. telecommunication carriers, including wireline, wireless, and payphone providers. In addition, carriers are required to publicize the availability of 711 access. (CR)

This fact sheet discusses the Speech to Speech (STS) free telephone service that provides communication assistants (CAs) for people who have difficulty being understood by the public on the telephone. Unlike telecommunications devices, STS enables people with speech disabilities who have difficulty typing to communicate by voice through CAs. (CR)

This study compared articulatory movements of 30 adolescents (12-16 years) and 30 young adults. Trajectory variability, especially lip trajectories, was higher for the adolescents. Adolescents also had significantly longer movement durations, lower velocities, smaller displacements, and greater variability on these measures than young adults. No…

The construction and use of an improvised eye-pointing communication device is described. It is suggested for temporary use to establish and enhance initial communication with communication-disabled clients in situations where no other augmentative communication system or assistive technology is yet available. (Author)

Major policy issues relating to children with communication disorders are discussed, along with recommendations for policy changes and a discussion of the barriers that impede progress. Three major issues are covered: provision of services by qualified personnel, caseload size, and availability of a continuum of services. (JDD)

Defines learning disabilities and delineates characteristics of learning disabled students. Outlines steps to be taken by college geography departments for students who enroll in introductory-level geography classes. (SLM)

The mother of a young head injured nonverbal child describes ways used to increase the child's communicative ability including gestures, sign language, and communication boards. (DB)

Examined were the communicative patterns of 9 youngsters, aged 6-20, with moderate or severe mental retardation and severe spoken language impairments who are not independent speakers. Findings are discussed with respect to the modes and functions of the youngsters' communications with conversational partners at home and school. (Author/JDD)

Interactions of two Down Syndrome child-mother dyads were observed during which the level of maternal responding was experimentally decreased. As the percent of maternal utterances decreased, the percent of child revision behaviors increased significantly. As mothers returned to initial levels of responding, the four-year-olds decreased their rate…

The use of visual biofeedback in the treatment of individuals who have residual phonological errors is discussed. Biofeedback is conceptualized as a cognitive treatment that requires the client's analysis of visual information and then use of that information in developing correct productions of residual phonological errors. Results suggest the…

This paper examines contributions of a functional curriculum approach to achievement of functional communication by students with moderate/severe disabilities. It proposes that best practice needs to focus more specifically on the quality of social interactions with students throughout the day, by emphasizing the role of communication partners in…