Focusing on the preconversational child who has yet to develop a stable or generalized habit of spontaneous conversation, this book presents ECO (Ecological Communication Model), a new intervention model for social and communicative development of developmentally delayed children. The model is based on two perspectives: the literature on the…

The Consensus Validation Conference on Augmentative and Alternative Communication Intervention brought together researchers, educators, parents, clinicians, and persons who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems to arrive at consensus on best practices and benefits of AAC. Questions addressed include: definition of AAC and…

These guidelines outline certification requirements for public school teachers in Utah and standards for teacher education programs. The Basic Teaching Certificate is distinguished from the Standard Teaching Certificate. Within each type, requirements are explained for early childhood, elementary, secondary, special education, communication…

This resource guide contains 91 one-page profiles of Texas agencies and consultants providing assistive technology services to persons with disabilities. Profiles are in alphabetical order and contain general information (name, address, phone number, contact person, cost of services, population served, number served, waiting list, and referral…

The case study is designed to be used with the inservice training program developed by the Child-Centered Inservice Training and Technical Assistance Network (Syracuse, New York), which provides services to professional and paraprofessional personnel working with students with severe disabilities receiving their education in regular education…

The language of hearing impaired students differs from that of their hearing peers, and can affect their ability to comprehend printed material. Language can be defined as the knowledge of the integration of semantics, syntax, and pragmatics. Hearing impaired children will have difficulty in acquiring language at a normal developmental rate…

This guide examines problems in the assessment, evaluation, and teaching of language minority children who come from diverse sociocultural backgrounds. School systems must find valid means to assess linguistic minority students and must offer instructional approaches that can facilitate growth and development. General guidelines for assessment…

To facilitate awareness in Indian child services by identifying perennial needs and pointing out developing responses at as many levels as possible the conference was divided into five major sections. Each workshop summary includes names of presenters, purpose of workshop, major points made during workshop, and available materials and human…

The report presents information from a survey of the needs and characteristics of children with severe communication disorders in Ontario and the programs available to serve them. It is explained that information was gathered from structured interviews with principals, teachers, and 28 parents of language handicapped children, as well as visits to…

A study was conducted to test the utility of a protocol, consisting of 30 pragmatic parameters of language, to evaluate conversational speech from 157 subjects in six diagnostic groups. Four distinct profiles emerged separating the diagnostic groups within which differences in the distribution of pragmatic deficits were identified. (Author/KM)

Acquired severe communication disorders may result from physical impairment, language impairment, cognitive impairment, or combination of impairments. This paper reviews the demographics and characteristics of communication-disordered adults based on etiology, introduces models of assessment and intervention, highlights intervention strategies and…

Seventeen speech/language pathologists were surveyed concerning reasons for and success of sign language intervention with 118 severely/profoundly mentally retarded students. Though sign language was part of the educational program for approximately one quarter of the students, results suggested that sign language was not an effective…

In this study the strategic constituent approach to organizational effectiveness was applied to a diagnostic program for handicapped children. Supervisors, clinicians, referring school professionals, and parents were interviewed, and resulting data was inductively categorized. A rating scale was designed and completed by internal constituents.…

This information packet presents materials which focus on early identification of hearing impairment in infants and young children to prevent speech and language delays. A glossary of terms is followed by a summary of results of the National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference (1993) concerning early identification of hearing…

Language samples from 14 students (ages 6-9 at study start) with communication disorders were obtained over a three-year period to determine the effectiveness of a language-in-the-classroom (LIC) intervention model. Results noted that students in the LIC model had more complete and intelligible utterances and fewer incomplete/unintelligible…