One of the primary diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is the presence of a language delay or impairment. Children with ASD are now being identified at significantly younger ages, and prior research has consistently found that early language skills in this population are heterogeneous and an important predictor…

Background: Previous studies of outcome for children with early language delay have focused on measures of early language as predictors of language outcome. This study investigates whether very early processing skills (VEPS) known to underpin language development will be better predictors of specific language and social communication outcomes than…

Boys with fragile X syndrome with (n = 49) and without (n = 33) characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, boys with Down syndrome (39), and typically developing boys (n = 41) were compared on standardized measures of receptive vocabulary, expressive vocabulary, and speech administered annually over 4 years. Three major findings emerged. Boys…

Background: Effective literacy skills are crucial in supporting communication for children with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI). Reading and spelling difficulties are reported to be over-represented in this group, even where language and cognitive skills are age appropriate. Aims: To compare the performance of children with SSPI on a…

Maternal education is a strong correlate of children's language, cognitive, and academic development. In most prior research, mothers' education has been treated as a fixed characteristic, yet many mothers, particularly economically and educationally disadvantaged mothers, attend school after the birth of their children. In the present study, we…

Research Findings: Child care delivery practices promoting continuous, primary caregiver-child relationships (relationship-focused child care) were evaluated for 223 preschool-age children (45% African American, 55% Latino) attending child care centers serving low-income children. Both relationship-focused and non-relationship-focused centers were…

Reports an experiment designed to throw light on the interference between the reception and production of speech by controlling the level of interference between decoding and encoding, using hesitancy as an indicator of interference. This proved effective in spotting the levels at which interference takes place. (Author/RM)

Evaluation of the ability of 12 hearing children (3-year-olds) to use iconic cues to comprehend signs indicated that resemblance of signs to their referents did not enable subjects to decipher the meaning of most signs. Results were applied to use of adapted assessment instruments with young hearing impaired children. (DB)

Contends that simultaneous speech is not necessary for the recognition of "interruption" by interlocutors. A speaker's "completion right" is validated by how long s/he has been speaking, how often s/he has spoken, the number of "points" s/he has made, and the rights of some speakers to speak about some topics. (SED)

Presents a conceptual framework for analyzing and interpreting turn exchange and speaking turns from two perspectives: that of the surface forms of turn taking such as smooth and simultaneous exchanges and that of an empirical analysis of the formal or underlying structure of a turn-taking system. (SED)

Revised methods of scoring the Token Test and Reporter's Test were developed to accommodate specific types of errors committed by language-disordered children during a previous standardization study. Test modifications are explained as are the results of administering the revised tests to both normal and language-disordered school-aged children.…

Eighteen adults with developmental dyslexia were asked to repeat orally what they heard. Analysis of responses revealed an average vowel error rate of 29 percent and an average consonantal error rate of 22 percent, significantly different from those of nondyslexic control groups. Clinical histories suggested genetic transmission of the speech…

Research shows that appropriate gestures, either discrete or continuous, substantially enhance speechreading performance and that inappropriate gestures reduce speechreading performance. (Author/KW)