Talkative children: verbal fluency as a marker for problematic peer relationships in clinic-referred children with attention deficits.

The relationships between attention deficits, hyperactivity, neurodevelopmental performance, and problematic peer relationships were examined in 99 consecutive children (ages 9 to 11 years) referred for school problems to a clinic. Using a teachers' rating scale, 32 children with cognitive inattention and a comparison group of 67 children without cognitive inattention were identified. The former group comprised children who met criteria for Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Neurodevelopmental study of writing disorders in middle childhood.

This study investigated patterns of neurodevelopmental dysfunction in children with writing disorders (WD). Records of children, ages 9 to 15 years, referred to a school problems clinic were examined. Using teacher questionnaire information, including ratings of writing legibility, mechanics, rate, linguistic sophistication, and spelling, 99 cases of WD were found.

Phonological process decline from 2 1/2 to 8 years.

The phonological development of 145 children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 8 years was examined. Speech was assessed annually using a standardized articulation test and analyzed for the occurrence of both common and uncommon phonological processes. A marked decline in process usage was observed between the ages of 2 1/2 and 4 years and infrequent process usage was observed after the age of 4.

Otitis media in early childhood and its relationship to later phonological development.

The relationship between otitis media during the first 3 years of life and subsequent speech development was examined in 55 socioeconomically disadvantaged children who attended a research day-care program. The children were participants in a longitudinal study of child development in which the number of episodes of otitis media and the duration of each otitis episode were reported prospectively from infancy. Standardized tests of speech were administered between the ages of 2 1/2 and 8 years.