Narrative Skills in Children With Selective Mutism

2004 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 304-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison McInnes ◽  
Daniel Fung ◽  
Katharina Manassis ◽  
Lisa Fiksenbaum ◽  
Rosemary Tannock

Selective mutism (SM) is a rare and complex disorder associated with anxiety symptoms and speech-language deficits; however, the nature of these language deficits has not been studied systematically. A novel cross-disciplinary assessment protocol was used to assess anxiety and nonverbal cognitive, receptive language, and expressive narrative abilities in 7 children with SM and a comparison group of 7 children with social phobia (SP). The children with SM produced significantly shorter narratives than children with SP, despite showing normal nonverbal cognitive and receptive language abilities. The findings suggest that SM may involve subtle expressive language deficits that may influence academic performance and raise additional questions for further research. The assessment procedure developed for this study may be potentially useful for language clinicians.

1997 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 160-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny L. Griffith ◽  
Diana L. Rogers-Adkinson ◽  
Gary M. Cusick

This study compared two groups of students (i.e., day versus residential) with severe behavioral disorders on several language measures to determine whether more severe language deficits were present based on restrictiveness of behavioral placement. Second, types of language deficits were compared to categories of behavioral problems to see if language problems were more prevalent in different behavioral categories. No significant differences were found between groups on standardized language measures, with both groups showing receptive and expressive language deficits below normal. Students in the day program were rated higher on conversational skills by their teachers than students in the residential program. Receptive language deficits correlated with Interpersonal Difficulties and Inappropriate Behavior categories on the Behavior Evaluation Scale-2 (BBS). Differentiation of language problems according to severity or category of behavioral difficulty was inconclusive.


1987 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 683-687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Beitchman ◽  
Martha Tuckett ◽  
Susan Batth

The possibility of a separate subgroup of language-delayed hyperactive preschoolers was explored. Cognitive and demographic variables of a series of cases at the Royal Ottawa Hospital Preschool Program were examined. A group of language-delayed hyperactive preschoolers was compared with a non-language delayed group of hyperactives and a non-hyperactive clinical comparison group. Significant differences between the language-delayed hyperactives and the two comparison groups were found on such variables as IQ, expressive language, receptive language, and visual-motor integration. The evidence presented supports the possibility of a separate subroup of hyperactive preschoolers with language delay and hyperactivity. The implications for both practice and theory are discussed and suggestions are made for further research.


1982 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-10
Author(s):  
Clara S. Wing

Historical reasons for the variety of approaches to the classification of language abilities and disabilities are explained. A model of language abilities in matrix form is described in which areas of language ability are defined in terms of the effects of receptive and expressive language processes on four linguistic levels: phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. The language processes are selective auditory attention, auditory discrimination, auditory memory, auditory association or comprehension, response selection and organization, oral retrieval, oral sequencing, and oral motor output. This model provides a better basis for assessment and remediation of language deficits than does one in which language processes and linguistic levels are seen as parallel because its framework can be used for evaluating and selecting nonconfounding assessment instruments so that specific areas of deficit can be identified.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 627-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Chin ◽  
Srishti Jayakumar ◽  
Ezequiel Ramos ◽  
Gwendolyn Gerner ◽  
Bruno P. Soares ◽  
...  

Early studies following perinatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) suggested expressive language deficits and academic difficulties, but there is only limited detailed study of language development in this population since the widespread adoption of therapeutic hypothermia (TH). Expressive and receptive language testing was performed as part of a larger battery with 45 children with a mean age of 26 months following perinatal HIE treated with TH. Overall cohort outcomes as well as the effects of gender, estimated household income, initial pH and base excess, and pattern of injury on neonatal brain MRI were assessed. The cohort overall demonstrated expressive language subscore, visual-reception subscore, and early learning composite scores significantly below test norms, with relative sparing of receptive language subscores. Poorer expressive language manifested as decreased vocabulary size and shorter utterances. Expressive language subscores showed a significant gender effect, and estimated socioeconomic status showed a significant effect on both receptive and expressive language subscores. Initial blood gas markers and modified Sarnat scoring did not show a significant effect on language subscores. Binarized MRI abnormality predicted a significant effect on both receptive and expressive language subscores; the presence of specific cortical/subcortical abnormalities predicted receptive language deficits. Overall, the language development profile of children following HIE in the era of hypothermia shows a relative strength in receptive language. Gender and socioeconomic status predominantly predict expressive language deficits; abnormalities detectable on MRI predominantly predict receptive language deficits.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 1509-1522
Author(s):  
Laura J. Hahn ◽  
Nancy C. Brady ◽  
Theresa Versaci

Purpose This study examines differences in the communicative use of triadic eye gaze (TEG) during a communicative interaction in 2 neurodevelopmental disorders: Down syndrome (DS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and a 3rd group of varying disabilities associated with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). Also, the relationship between TEG use and language abilities was explored. Method Participants were 45 children, 15 in each group. The frequency of TEG was coded during a scripted communication assessment when children were between 3 and 6 years of age (37–73 months). Receptive and expressive language was measured using raw scores from the Mullen Scales of Early Learning concurrently between 3 and 6 years and again 2 years later when children were between 5 and 8 years (59–92 months). Results Descriptively, children with DS had a higher frequency of TEG than children with ASD and IDD, but significant differences were only observed between children with DS and ASD. More TEG at Time 1 in children with DS was associated with higher receptive language at Time 1 and higher expressive language at Time 2. For children with ASD, a trend for a positive association between TEG at Time 1 and language abilities at Time 2 was observed. No significant associations were observed for children with IDD. Conclusion Children with DS used TEG significantly more than children with ASD in this sample. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in TEG use is important because providing caregiver training to facilitate TEG can result in increased opportunities to respond with language models and promote language development.


2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Camarata ◽  
Keith E. Nelson ◽  
Heather Gillum ◽  
Mary Camarata

Children with SLI (Specific Language Impairment) display language deficits in the absence of frank neurological lesions, global cognitive deficits or significant clinical hearing loss. Although these children can display disruptions in both receptive and expressive grammar, the intervention literature has been largely focused on expressive deficits. Thus, there are numerous reports in the literature suggesting that expressive language skills can be improved using focused presentation of grammatical targets (cf. conversational recast; Camarata, Nelson & Camarata, 1994), but there have been few investigations addressing the remediation of receptive language skills in SLI for those children with receptive language deficits. The purpose of this study was to examine whether focused grammatical intervention on expressive grammar is associated with growth in receptive language in 21 children with SLI who have receptive language deficits. These children displayed significant growth in receptive language scores as an incidental or secondary association with expressive language intervention and significantly higher gains than seen in a comparison-control group with SLI and receptive language deficits ( n = 6). The theoretical and clinical implications of these results are discussed.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 81 (6) ◽  
pp. 795-806
Author(s):  
John M. Graham ◽  
Anthony S. Bashir ◽  
Rachel E. Stark ◽  
Annette Silbert ◽  
Stanley Walzer

Previous studies of XXY boys suggest that they are at risk for certain communication disorders involving oral and written language. In this study, the language, reading, and spelling skills of a group of 14 XXY boys identified during neonatal cytogenetic screening were compared with those of a group of 15 control children. The two groups were matched for age, grade, race, parity, birth weight, parental age and education, and socioeconomic status. The mean age of the XXY group was 9 years 7 months and that of the control group was 9 years 3 months. The mean academic grade level for both groups was at the transition between third and fourth grade. There was selective reduction in verbal IQ scores for the XXY group and no significant differences apparent between groups for performance IQ scores. The decrease in verbal IQ was associated with a reduced full-scale IQ and also with significant problems in expressive language, auditory processing abilities, and auditory memory. Word-finding difficulties and problems in the production of syntax were major components of the specific expressive language deficit. Except for difficulties in the understanding of complex sentence structures, the receptive language skills of XXY boys did not differ significantly from those of the control group. These reductions in speech and language abilities correlated with decreased achievement by the XXY group on a variety of reading and spelling tasks. These results suggest that difficulty learning how to read and spell may be due to a preexistent language disability. Early attention to such expressive language problems may be essential to ameliorate secondary maladaptive behaviors due to chronic language-related learning disabilities.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Tzu Wu ◽  
Chih-Hsuan Tsao ◽  
Hsiao-Ching Huang ◽  
Tian-Ai Yang ◽  
Yao-Jen Li

Abstract Objectives Few studies have examined the relationship between language abilities and specific motor skills in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The aim of this study was to compare the relationship of receptive language (RL) and expressive language (EL) abilities with motor functioning between toddlers with ASD aged 24–36 months and their typically developing (TD) peers. Furthermore, the study compared multidimensional motor functioning between toddlers with ASD with delayed RL and EL development and toddlers with ASD and typical RL and EL development. The predictive powers of the motor skills were examined for the group with delayed RL and EL development. Methods The language abilities of 38 toddlers with ASD and 38 age-matched TD toddlers were evaluated using the Receptive and Expressive Language Subscales of the Mullen Scale of Early Learning, and their motor skills were assessed using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd Edition. Results Significant correlations between language ability and motor functioning were observed in the ASD and TD groups. The ASD group with delayed RL and EL development had lower scores for multidimensional motor functioning than the ASD group with typical RL and EL development and the TD group. Moreover, the risks of delayed EL and RL development could be predicted by the lower motor scores among toddlers with ASD. Conclusions The positive correlation between language abilities and motor functioning among toddlers with ASD indicated potential connections between the early onsets of motor and speech–language impairments among these toddlers. Impact The results may have implications for the development of motor-based interventions targeting language development among young children with ASD.


1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bruce Tomblin ◽  
Cynthia M. Shonrock ◽  
James C. Hardy

The extent to which the Minnesota Child Development Inventory (MCDI), could be used to estimate levels of language development in 2-year-old children was examined. Fifty-seven children between 23 and 28 months were given the Sequenced Inventory of Communication Development (SICD), and at the same time a parent completed the MCDI. In addition the mean length of utterance (MLU) was obtained for each child from a spontaneous speech sample. The MCDI Expressive Language scale was found to be a strong predictor of both the SICD Expressive scale and MLU. The MCDI Comprehension-Conceptual scale, presumably a receptive language measure, was moderately correlated with the SICD Receptive scale; however, it was also strongly correlated with the expressive measures. These results demonstrated that the Expressive Language scale of the MCDI was a valid predictor of expressive language for 2-year-old children. The MCDI Comprehension-Conceptual scale appeared to assess both receptive and expressive language, thus complicating its interpretation.


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