This guide is designed to help the speech language pathologist teach families language facilitation techniques and to teach basic receptive and expressive skills to preschool children who are nonverbal or have little expressive language. The program's goal is to improve language skills through social interaction including conversations, turn…

This teaching manual for treatment of children with developmental disabilities is divided into seven sections that address: (1) basic concepts; (2) transition into treatment; (3) early learning concepts; (4) expressive language; (5) strategies for visual learners; (6) programmatic considerations; and (7) organizational and legal issues. Among…

Discusses the "less-able" student via a description of the strategies used by the good language learner. Such strategies include a positive, active, and tolerant approach to learning the language, with a willingness to practice the language. The less-able needs a constant sense of achievement to continue. (PJM)

Explored the impact of regular reading of selected children's books in Slovenian preschools on the development of language competencies among 4- to 6-year-olds. Found significant differences in receptive language, expressive language, and storytelling between children exposed to 2 selected books per week over 2 months and those exposed only to the…

A study involving three students (ages 7-12) with deaf-blindness found their special education teachers were highly responsive, although physical preoccupation with other students occasionally prevented them from being able to provide responses in accessible forms. They struggled with expressing themselves in forms that were accessible to the…

Evaluates the effect of didactic techniques used during storybook reading on young children's acquisition of new vocabulary introduced in storybooks under three reading conditions: single-reading; repeated-reading and questioning. Findings suggest that didactic techniques used by adults have differential effects on preschoolers' receptive and…

Thirty-six children, aged four-five, completed four vocabulary measures: Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, Picture Vocabulary subtest of the Test of Oral Language Development, Expressive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test, and Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test. Only moderate correlations were found among these tests, implying that a…

Twenty-nine Australian children (ages 6-9) with learning difficulties participated in 23-week programs involving music, storytelling, or both. Students participating in the programs improved in listening comprehension, phonological processing, and receptive vocabulary skills. Some effects were not evident until posttesting seven weeks after…

A study used impulse response measures and observations in 10 Florida classrooms to develop 10 recommendations for improving the acoustical environment in schools. Recommendations include improving air-conditioning systems, limiting room volume, providing sound-absorbing surfaces, using carpeting, reducing distance between teachers and students,…

This study examined the relationship among language proficiency, behavior problems, and other areas of development in 36 children (ages 36 to 40 months). A strong association was found between deficiencies in both expressive and receptive language and behavioral difficulties. Specifically, deficits in expressive language at age 2 were more…

Relations between children's peer play competence and other relevant competencies were investigated using two samples of urban Head Start children. Dimensions of peer play were examined concurrently with emotion regulation, autonomy, and language. Children exhibiting high levels of peer play interaction were found to demonstrate more competent…

Austin Independent School District provided full-day prekindergarten to 5,196 4-year-olds in 2008-2009 at 66 schools. Seventy percent or more of students made measureable gains on a test of receptive vocabulary, and average gains showed growth about two times greater than that expected for 4-year-olds after a 7-month period.

This paper discusses the evidence that the specific developmental profile frequently described as being associated with Down syndrome--a profile of communication weaknesses relative to social and daily living skills--can be changed. It is not an inevitable outcome of having Down syndrome. Drawing on data collected to explore the outcomes of fully…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among variables that may contribute to poor phonological awareness (PA) skills in preschool-aged children with speech sound disorders (SSD). Method: Ninety-five 4- and 5-year-old children with SSD were assessed during the spring of their prekindergarten year. Linear structural…

A study examined the effect on reading achievement, mathematics achievement, and ACT scores when computer based instruction (CBI) was compressed into a 6-week period of time. In addition, the effects of learning style and receptive language deficits on these scores were studied. Computer based instruction is a primary source of instruction that…