Criteria for determining candidacy for an augmentative communication system include a consideration of cognitive, oral reflex, language, motor, intelligibility, emotional, chronological age, previous therapy, imitative, and environmental factors of the communication disordered individual. (Author/PHR)

The relationship between normal age-related changes and pathological aging is not always clear. Contributing physical, social, and psychological factors need to be considered by speech pathologists and audiologists in diagnosing and treating problems. (SK)

The current investigation explored understanding of idioms in context in 93 children with communication disorders and 39 age-matched peers. The clinical group was subdivided by (a) the presence of autistic features and (b) the presence of language impairment. Idiom definitions were gathered in isolation and in context. Related skills such as…

School success in the 21st century requires proficiency with expository discourse--the use and understanding of informative language in spoken and written modalities. This occurs, for example, when high school students read their textbooks and listen to their teachers' lectures, and later are asked to demonstrate their knowledge of this complex…

The study describes the perspectives of individuals with Asperger syndrome and other autism spectrum disabilities (ASDs) regarding social challenges and supports. Eighteen adults with ASDs were individually interviewed. They were asked to describe their experiences navigating their social worlds, and recommend effective social supports and…

Selective Mutism (SM) in children and adolescents is characterized by a persistent failure to speak in certain social situations including at school or with friends despite the ability to speak and comprehend language. Not due to a specific communication disorder, SM is actually a pervasive psychological problem that lies along the continuum of…

Purpose: To determine the rankings of 6 input-output functions for understanding low-level, conversational, and high-level speech in multitalker babble without manipulating volume control for listeners with normal hearing, flat sensorineural hearing loss, and mildly sloping sensorineural hearing loss. Method: Peak clipping, compression limiting,…

Guidelines for dismissal of a student who has been receiving educational interventions are available from both the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Ad Hoc Committee on Admission/Discharge Criteria and from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Yet as speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the schools enroll…

The paper reviews techniques suggested in the literature for the improvement of suprasegmentals (prosody) and the role of music in speech remediation with communicatively impaired children. Specific strategies, including the Z. Kodaly method of teaching singing and the use of a quartz metronome, are recommended. (Author/CL)

The article demonstrates the use of word processing commands for the creation of sections of diagnostic reports, intervention plans, and progress summaries. The use of basic commands for searching and finding key words in a core report is illustrated, along with chaining sequences for writing objectives. (Author/CL)

The article examines computers in the learning processes, noting applications in drill and practice, remediation, tutorial programs, testing, and simulation. A summary of computer use with children having communicative disorders concludes the article. (CL)

Current applications of microcomputers to the field of communication disorders (recordkeeping, word processing, assessment and intervention, educational instruction, and research) as well as emerging applications (interactive video, videotape systems, and videodisk systems) are reviewed. Future applications are briefly noted. (CL)

Results of a survey on the current minimum certification requirements in each state for the employment of speech/language pathologists in public school settings indicated that the majority of states and the District of Columbia require a bachelor's degree as a minimum for certification. Minimum clinical practicum hours and certification renewal…

Research is reviewed on the Makaton Vocabulary, a sign lexicon used with severely communicatively handicapped pupils. It is concluded that the lack of published teaching strategies tends to perpetuate an oversimplified teaching formula. (CL)

A language diagnosis model which reverses the traditional model of testing first and assessing later is described. The 11-step approach is explained to allow for the incorporation of new information as it becomes available. (CL)