Measuring autism with the ADOS-2 using a bifactor model.

The measurement of autism characteristics can be challenging due to variability of social impairments and restricted and repetitive behaviors or interests (RRBs). Psychometrically strong measures such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) can improve our capacity for thorough autism assessment. The conceptualization of the ADOS-2 has been shaped by research exploring the structure of its items, which evaluate autism traits associated with social affect and RRBs.

Morphological Assessment Features and their Relations to Reading: A Meta-Analytic Structural Equation Modeling Study.

Morphemes are the smallest meaningful unit of language (e.g., affixes, base words) that express grammatical and semantic information.

A mHealth application for the training of caregivers of children with developmental disorders in South Africa: rationale and initial piloting.

Background: Evidence-based mobile health (mHealth) interventions have been successful for an array of physical and mental health conditions. Children with developmental disorders (DD) often have secondary speech and language disorders. The lack of high-quality medical and educational services in low- and middle-income countries limits the opportunities for children with DD to succeed in life.

Still having his say: David Yoder's legacy in AAC.

On February 2 2023, one of the guiding lights in the field of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) for more than four decades, David E. Yoder, passed away at the age of 90. A voracious reader and gifted storyteller, David was particularly fond of a quote from George Bernard Shaw's , "You see things; and you say 'Why?' but I dream things that never were; and I say 'Why not?'" That vision led him to take on multiple leadership roles and influence the field of AAC in multiple ways.

Parent-implemented augmented communication intervention and young children with Down syndrome: an exploratory report.

Introduction: Young children with Down syndrome (DS) present with speech and language impairments very early in childhood. Historically, early language intervention for children with DS included manual signs, though recently there has been an interest in the use of speech-generating devices (SGDs). This paper examines the language and communication performance of young children with DS who participated in parent-implemented communication interventions that included SGDs.

It's Never Too Late: Debunking Myths About Communication and Adults With Severe Disabilities.

Communication infuses all dimensions and stages of life, influencing one's self-determination and quality of life. A number of empirical studies have demonstrated that people with severe disabilities continue to develop communication and language skills well into their adult years and make measurable gains when provided with appropriate communication services and supports. Several myths about age, ability, and experiences limit opportunities for persons with severe disabilities.

Language comprehension in toddlers with significant developmental delays: An IRT approach.

Purpose: Language comprehension, or the ability to understand spoken language, is critical to a variety of child outcomes. Effective early intervention relies on valid, reliable language comprehension assessment. The purpose of this study was to explore language comprehension in a sample of toddlers with significant developmental delays associated with varied medical conditions.

Patterns of Cognition, Communication, and Adaptive Behavior in Children With Developmental Disabilities.

Young children with developmental disabilities (DD) exhibit a range of strengths and weaknesses in cognitive, language, and adaptive skills. Identifying individual patterns of abilities across these domains is important for informing interventions. This study examines how 129 toddlers with significant developmental delays and less than 10 spoken words perform across different developmental domains and assessment methods (i.

Supporting Early Communication Skills of Children with Developmental Disorders in South Africa: Caregiver and Clinician Perspectives about Mobile Health Applications.

Using a mobile health application (i.e. app) to empower primary caregivers of young children with developmental disorders in low- and middle-income countries is opening up new avenues for early childhood intervention.

Spoken Vocabulary Outcomes of Toddlers With Developmental Delay After Parent-Implemented Augmented Language Intervention.

Purpose Early intervention using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) supports both receptive and expressive language skills. However, many parents and clinicians still worry that augmented language intervention might delay or impair speech development. This study aimed to (a) characterize and analyze the speech sound development of toddlers with developmental delay who participated in a parent-implemented language intervention; (b) examine the accuracy of speech sounds among toddlers who participated in an augmented language intervention using speech-generating devices and toddlers who participated in a traditional, spoken language intervention; and (c) examine the relationship between baseline factors (i.

Language Differentiation Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication: An Investigation of Spanish-English Bilingual Children With and Without Language Impairments.

Purpose Children with severe speech and language impairments growing up in dual language environments may communicate in more than one language using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). This study investigated predictors of bilingual children's ability to differentiate between Spanish and English using an AAC iPad app during a cued language-switching task and examined whether switching between languages using AAC incurred a cognitive cost. Method Participants were 58 Spanish-English bilingual children ages 4;0-6;11 (years;months; 23 with language impairments).

Growing up with AAC in the digital age: a longitudinal profile of communication across contexts from toddler to teen.

Smart technology (e.g., smartphones, smartwatches, tablets) and the age of information have transformed our society and changed the lives of individuals who rely on assistive technology.

Intervention focus moderates the association between initial receptive language and language outcomes for toddlers with developmental delay.

This ex-post facto study reanalyzed data from Romski et al. to examine whether intervention focus moderated the relationship between pre-intervention standardized measures of receptive language and post-intervention standardized measures of receptive and expressive language age and observations of expressive target vocabulary size. In all, 62 toddlers with developmental delay were randomly assigned to augmented communication-input (AC-I), augmented communication-output (AC-O), or spoken communication (SC) interventions.

Visual-graphic symbol acquisition in school age children with developmental and language delays.

Augmented language systems have become both an integral component of communication intervention programs for children with severe communicative impairments and spurred research on their language and communication development. This study examined intrinsic and extrinsic factors that may influence the language development process for children with developmental disabilities, by exploring the relationship between varying degrees of symbol arbitrariness and extant speech comprehension skills in the discrimination, learning, and use of symbols for communication. For the study, 13 school-aged participants (M = 8.

The complexities of AAC intervention research: emerging trends to consider.

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is always about intervening and the subsequent effects of the interventions (e.g., on the AAC user, family perspectives, educational outcomes, and vocational outcomes).

Adapting and translating the Mullen Scales of Early Learning for the South African context.

Background:  South African speech-language therapists have identified the need for culturally valid and sensitive assessment tools that can accommodate multiple languages and cover a reasonable age range. The Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) extend from birth to 68 months, contain five separate subscales including receptive language, expressive language, gross motor, fine motor and visual reception scale, are straightforward to administer and have been successfully used in other African countries, such as Uganda. It also identifies a child's strengths and weaknesses and provides a solid foundation for intervention planning.

The Relationship Between Speech, Language, and Phonological Awareness in Preschool-Age Children With Developmental Disabilities.

Purpose: A number of intrinsic factors, including expressive speech skills, have been suggested to place children with developmental disabilities at risk for limited development of reading skills. This study examines the relationship between these factors, speech ability, and children's phonological awareness skills.

Method: A nonexperimental study design was used to examine the relationship between intrinsic skills of speech, language, print, and letter-sound knowledge to phonological awareness in 42 children with developmental disabilities between the ages of 48 and 69 months.

Language Assessment for Children With a Range of Neurodevelopmental Disorders Across Four Languages in South Africa.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is (a) to examine the applicability of a culturally and linguistically adapted measure to assess the receptive and expressive language skills of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in South Africa and then (b) to explore the contributions of 2 additional language measures.

Method: In Part 1, 100 children with NDD who spoke Afrikaans, isiZulu, Setswana, or South African English were assessed on the culturally and linguistically adapted Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). Clinicians independently rated the children's language skills on a 3-point scale.

Narrative Language and Reading Comprehension in Students With Mild Intellectual Disabilities.

Past research shows positive correlations between oral narrative skill and reading comprehension in typically developing students. This study examined the relationship between reading comprehension and narrative language ability of 102 elementary students with mild levels of intellectual disability. Results describe the students' narrative language microstructure and relative strengths and weaknesses in narrative macrostructure.

Mary's Case: An Illustration of Interprofessional Collaborative Practice for a Child With Severe Disabilities.

Purpose: The principles of interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) are illustrated through the case of Mary, a child with severe disabilities.

Method: Mary's experiences from early childhood to young adulthood are highlighted by both optimal and less-than-ideal examples of clinical services and collaborative practice. The range of collaboration illustrates potential variations in service delivery.

Cognitive Development in a Young Child with Mucolipidosis Type IV: A Case Report.

Mucolipidosis Type IV (ML IV) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by severe psychomotor impairments and ophthalmologic abnormalities. Reports on the cognitive development of people with ML IV are limited, but suggest that achievement of language and cognitive milestones varies between a 3- and 18-month level. There is also variability in reports of whether people with ML IV make developmental progress, regress, or remain static after infancy.