Factors associated with age of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder among children in Saudi Arabia: new insights from a cross-sectional study.

Objectives: Research examining the age of diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and its influencing factors mostly originate from developed Western countries, providing little to no systematic information about the understanding and management of ASD in the rest of the world. The present exploratory study examined the influence of child and family characteristics on the age of ASD diagnosis in Saudi Arabia.

Results: The median age at diagnosis was 3.

English BESA Morphosyntax Performance Among Spanish-English Bilinguals Who Use African American English.

Purpose This study examined the use of African American English (AAE) among a group of young Latinx bilingual children and the accuracy of the English Morphosyntax subtest of the Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment (BESA) in classifying these children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). Method Children ( = 81) between the ages of 4;0 and 7;1 (years;months) completed a narrative task and the BESA Morphosyntax subtest. We identified DLD based on four reference measures.

Insights Into Category Sorting Flexibility in Bilingual Children: Results of a Cognitive Lab Study.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore how bilingual children shift sets to gain flexibility when forming categories. Using a cognitive lab approach focused on understanding how learners approach problems, we asked children to sort 10 sets of pictures representing common objects in two different ways and to explain their rationale for the sort. We explored the relationship between age and language use on their performance.

A View of the Lexical-Grammatical Link in Young Latinos With Specific Language Impairment Using Language-Specific and Conceptual Measures.

Purpose This study investigated the nature of the association of lexical-grammatical abilities within and across languages in Latino dual language learners (DLLs) with specific language impairment (SLI) using language-specific and bilingual measures. Method Seventy-four Spanish/English-speaking preschoolers with SLI from preschools serving low-income households participated in the study. Participants had stronger skills in Spanish (first language [L1]) and were in the initial stages of learning English (second language [L2]).

Similarities and differences in the lexical-grammatical relation of young dual language learners with and without specific language impairment.

This study examines the lexical-grammatical relation within and across in preschool Latino dual language learners (DLLs) with and without specific language impairment (SLI) using language-specific vocabulary and conceptual lexical-semantic skills. The participants were sixty-one typically developing (TD) Spanish-English speaking DLLs and seventy-four DLLs with SLI from low-income households. Standardized and researcher developed assessment tools were used to measure vocabulary, semantics, and grammar in both Spanish and English.

Using Language-Specific and Bilingual Measures to Explore Lexical-Grammatical Links in Young Latino Dual-Language Learners.

Purpose: This study examined the nature of the relation between language-specific vocabulary and conceptual lexical-semantic skills with grammatical abilities within and across languages in preschool Latino dual language learners (DLLs).

Method: Sixty-one typically developing, Spanish-English speaking DLLs from preschools serving low-income families participated in the study. Lexical, semantic, and grammar skills were assessed toward the end of the fall in both Spanish and English using normative and researcher-developed assessment instruments.

Bilingualism, a human right in times of anxiety: Lessons from California.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights refers to the individual's right of expression without interference, "through any media and regardless of frontiers". Currently, in some nations across the world, there is decreasing interest in cross-cultural interactions and a new interest in nationalism and assimilation, in communication within frontiers and in a specific medium: the national language. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) advocate for individuals with communication disorders that interfere with their comprehension and expression.

Services for children with autism in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Little information is available about autism spectrum disorder services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A sample of 205 parents completed an online survey about the use of autism spectrum disorder services for their children. The results revealed that on average, children began services by 3.

Preschool language interventions for latino dual language learners with language disorders: what, in what language, and how.

About a quarter of young children in the United States are dual language learners. The large majority are Latino children who are exposed to Spanish in their homes. The language needs of Latino dual language preschoolers are different from the needs of monolingual English-speaking children.

Predictors of growth or attrition of the first language in Latino children with specific language impairment.

We investigated the factors that may help understand the differential rates of language development in the home language (i.e., Spanish) of Latino preschoolers with specific language impairment (SLI).

Predictors of second language acquisition in Latino children with specific language impairment.

Purpose: This study evaluated the extent to which the language of intervention, the child's development in Spanish, and the effects of English vocabulary, use, proficiency, and exposure predict differences in the rates of acquisition of English in Latino children with specific language impairment (SLI).

Method: In this randomized controlled trial, 188 Latino preschoolers with SLI participated in a small-group academic enrichment program for 12 weeks and were followed up 3 and 5 months later. Children were randomly assigned to either a bilingual or an English-only program.

Using Nonword Repetition Tasks for the Identification of Language Impairment in Spanish-English Speaking Children: Does the Language of Assessment Matter?

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to evaluate the clinical utility of a verbal working memory measure, specifically, a nonword repetition task, with a sample of Spanish-English bilingual children and (b) to determine the extent to which individual differences in relative language skills and language use had an effect on the clinical differentiation of these children by the measures. A total of 144 Latino children (95 children with typical language development and 49 children with language impairment) were tested using nonword lists developed for each language. The results show that the clinical accuracy of nonword repetition tasks varies depending on the language(s) tested.

Using language sampling in clinical assessments with bilingual children: challenges and future directions.

Current language tests designed to assess Spanish-English-speaking children have limited clinical accuracy and do not provide sufficient information to plan language intervention. In contrast, spontaneous language samples obtained in the two languages can help identify language impairment with higher accuracy. In this article, we describe several diagnostic indicators that can be used in language assessments based on spontaneous language samples.

A cross-linguistic and bilingual evaluation of the interdependence between lexical and grammatical domains.

The purpose of this study was to examine within and across language relationships between lexical and grammatical domains by focusing on measures of lexical diversity and grammatical complexity in Spanish and English. One hundred and ninety-six preschool and school-aged Latino children with different levels of English and Spanish proficiencies and different language abilities produced narratives in Spanish, English, or both. Analyses revealed strong associations between lexical (number of different words and number of different verbs) and grammatical measures (mean length of utterances in words and use of ditransitive predicates), supporting the domain interdependence hypothesis within a language.

Codeswitching in Bilingual Children with Specific Language Impairment.

Children with specific language impairment (SLI) exhibit limited grammatical skills compared to their peers with typical language. These difficulties may be revealed when alternating their two languages (i.e.

Bilingual children with language impairment: A comparison with monolinguals and second language learners.

The purpose of this study is twofold: (a) to examine whether English finite morphology has the potential to differentiate children with and without language impairment (LI) from Spanish-speaking backgrounds and different levels of English proficiency in comparison to Hispanic English speakers and (b) to investigate the extent to which children who are bilingual exhibit differences in their grammatical performance because of cross-linguistic influence from their first language. Seventy-one children between the ages of 4 years, 5 months and 6 years, 5 months were distributed into the following five groups: English as a first language (EL1) speakers with typical language development (TLD), EL1 speakers with LI, Spanish-English bilinguals with TLD, Spanish-English bilinguals with LI, and English as a second language (EL2) learners with TLD were compared on regular verb finiteness and nominative subject use using spontaneous narrative samples. The EL1 children with LI had significantly lower verb accuracy rates than the EL1 controls with TLD.

The discriminant accuracy of a grammatical measure with Latino English-speaking children.

Purpose: To evaluate the discriminant accuracy of a grammatical measure for the identification of language impairment (LI) in Latino English-speaking children. Specifically, the study examined the diagnostic accuracy of the Test of English Morphosyntax (E-MST; Peña, Gutiérrez-Clellen, Iglesias, Goldstein, & Bedore (n.d.

Evaluating the discriminant accuracy of a grammatical measure with Spanish-speaking children.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the discriminant accuracy of a grammatical measure for the identification of language impairment in Latino Spanish-speaking children. The authors hypothesized that if exposure to and use of English as a second language have an effect on the first language, bilingual children might exhibit lower rates of grammatical accuracy than their peers and be more likely to be misclassified.

Method: Eighty children with typical language development and 80 with language impairment were sampled from 4 different geographical regions and compared using linear discriminant function analysis.