Autism is a lifelong handicapping disorder that occurs on a continuum of severity. Children who show mild autistic behaviors but do not meet the criteria for a diagnosis of autism are often called autistic-like, but it is not known if their development and functioning are similar to that of autistic children. A follow-up study was done on 35 autistic and autistic-like children who were an average of 3 years of age when initially seen. Initial test scores indicated that the children were similar on measures of intellectual/developmental functioning, receptive vocabulary, and adaptive functioning. Approximately 4 years later they were evaluated again. Using the Childhood Autism Rating Scale, the children were divided at follow-up into three groups: nonautistic, mildly/moderately autistic, and severely autistic. Most children made gains on intelligence tests and displayed a diminishing number of autistic symptoms. Changes in nonverbal intelligence, adaptive functioning and receptive vocabulary scores depended on group membership. The results are discussed in relation to the reported stability of cognitive functioning in young autistic children and the implications for clinical practice, early intervention, and research on attachment. The nature of the syndrome of autism is also discussed, particularly in its relation to the milder, atypical children. The superior follow-up status of the autistic-like as compared to the autistic children raises serious questions about including the two groups in the same syndrome.

Investigations into the speech of normal children have indicated that disfluencies are common. It is important for the Speech Language Pathologist to have knowledge of normal disfluencies for differential diagnosis, parent counseling, and in order to plan strategies for intervention. The purpose of this study was to compare the frequency of disfluencies in 4 year old and 6 year old normal male children to the frequency of disfluencies when they were 3 years old and 5 years old respectively.

published_or_final_version / Medicine / Master / Doctor of Medicine

Researchers have successfully labeled specific patterns of expressive language development as it appears in children developing language normally. Little research has identified particular patterns of expressive language in children who display expressive language disorders or delays. Longitudinal studies of expressively language impaired children indicate that linguistic, educational and social impairments exist long after the language impairment was first identified (Aram, Eckelman and Nation, 1984; Aram and Nation, 1980; Fundudis, Kolvin and Garside, 1979; Stark, Berstein, Condino, Bender, Tallal and Catts, 1984). If patterns of delayed or disordered language development are researched and possibly labeled in the early stages of language development, strategies for assessment and intervention can be made more efficient and the effects of early language impairment on later academic achievement may be prevented. The present study was part of the Portland Language Project, a longitudinal study of early language delay. Lee's Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) was used to attempt to identify syntactic patterns used by children exhibiting early language delay. The DSS is a standardized measure for analyzing children's standard English expressive language abilities in the following eight grammatical categories: 1) indefinite pronouns; 2) personal pronouns; 3) main verbs; 4) secondary verbs; 5) negatives; 6) conjunctions; 7) interrogative reversal; and 8) Wh-Questions. Using the DSS, specific syntactical areas of deficit can be identified by analysis of an audiotaped speech sample. A comparison of expressive language in the eight subcategories in the DSS was completed among three groups of preschool children; 1) children developing language normally (the NL group); 2) children who did not meet criteria for normal language development at 20 months, but later fell within the normal range of language development as measured by the DSS (Lee, 1974). This is referred to as the history of expressive language delay group (HELD); and 3) children who did not meet criteria for normal language development at 20 months and again, did not meet criteria for normal language development as measured by the DSS (Lee, 1974) at later ages. This is referred to as the expressive language delay group (ELD). The purpose of this study was to determine if significant differences exist in each of the eight subcategory group scores from the DSS between those children identified as expressively language delayed and those identified as developing language normally at ages three and four. At age three, significant differences were found among the three groups in all eight subcategory scores of the DSS. By age four, the significant differences were found between the delayed group and the normal developing group in the main verb category and the personal pronoun category only. There were no significant differences between the normal developing and the history of delay groups on any of the eight categories at age four. The delayed group exhibited marked improvement and narrowed the deficits in expressive language to a specific area of language. The present study suggested that children with early language delay appear to "catch up" with normal peers in most areas of syntactic production by age four. The DSS (Lee, 1974) provides information about specific areas of syntactic development. Due to the length and complexity of the DSS, it is not a tool that practicing clinicians often use. A study such as this may help the practicing clinician quickly screen a preschool child in a specific syntactic category, such as verb marking, in order to check for possible early language delay. In addition to providing clinical assistance, this study has opened up the door for future research in syntactic development. This study could be expanded to examine the specific verb markers that are being used by the delayed subjects. This may lead to more efficient identification and remediation of early language delays.

The contemporary research suggests that some children who present with early language delays as toddlers outgrow their delays while others continue to develop long-term language difficulties. Several studies over the years have focused on factors that might aid in predicting the outcome of late talkers. This current study emphasized exploring gender as a possible predictive factor. The purpose of this study was to determine if significant differences exist in the rate of growth in language skills, as indexed by scores on the Developmental Sentence Scoring (DSS) procedure (Lee, 1974) of boys versus girls who are late to start talking as toddlers. The research hypothesis was that boys who present as LT toddlers would score significantly higher than LT girls at each age level tested. The DSS is a norm-referenced instrument that assesses age-appropriate morphological development and syntax. The LT subjects used were part of the Portland Language Development Project, a longitudinal study. Spontaneous speech samples were collected, transcribed, and analyzed using the DSS procedure once each year from the time they were approximately 3 years of age, until the age of 7. Late talking children in this present study were grouped by gender. A Chi Square test was used to determine if the proportion of males scoring above the 10th percentile on the DSS was significantly different than the proportion of females scoring above the 10th percentile at each age. Results from this analysis indicated that at the age of 3 years, more boys than girls scored above the 10th percentile on the DSS. There were no significant differences found at the ages of 4, 5, 6, and 7. At-test was used to compare average DSS scores between the two genders for each year of the study. This test revealed a significant difference between the LT girls' and LT boys' scores at the age of 3 years. No significant differences were found for the subsequent years. However, difference between boys' and girls' scores at age 7 approached significance, with boys again scoring higher.

This study was designed to investigate the sustainable academic benefits of a full time kindergarten experience beyond the kindergarten year with additional consideration of the relationship between productive learning behaviors and ongoing academic advantage. The study was conducted across four elementary schools that housed both alternating full day and daily full day kindergarten programs. The initial sample consisted of 321 students enrolled in either daily full day or alternating full day kindergarten during the 2001-2002 school year, which decreased, through attrition, to a total of 198 students enrolled in fourth grade during the 2005-2006 school year. Student academic achievement was measured using a combination of criterion referenced skill assessments, standardized test measures, and a teacher-rated social behavior scale. Hypotheses were tested at the .05 level of significance using chi square analyses, multivariate and univariate analyses of variance, and correlation and regression analyses.The findings indicated that by the end of the kindergarten year, full day kindergarten students outperformed their alternating day peers in both reading and mathematics. However, as measured at the beginning of the second grade year, the academic gains realized during the kindergarten year had dissipated. By the beginning of the fourth grade year, there was no difference in achievement across program types in mathematics, while a significant achievement difference was found in English/language arts, with alternating full day students outperforming their daily full day peers. Further, during the third and fourth grade years, there was a significant interaction between gender and student achievement for the cohort, with significant differences by gender and the combined effect of gender/kindergarten type on social learning behaviors. While the data established a significant, positive relationship between competent social behavior and academic achievement regardless of gender for students from both program types, boys who attended daily full day kindergarten demonstrated significantly less productive social behavior than did boys from the alternating day program and girls from the daily full day program. For those who attended daily full day kindergarten, lower social behavior ratings predicted depressed academic achievement in English/language arts well beyond the kindergarten year. / Department of Educational Leadership

D.Ed. / Societal structures are undergoing drastic changes at present. In the modern technological community, increasing pressure is placed on the child to achieve, particularly in the scholastic field. The urgent need for higher scholastic achievement makes greater demands on both the educator (parent and teacher) and the child. A positive self-concept can provide the motivation which could lead to higher scholastic achievement, but the way in which the child plans and uses his time, and works towards future success, may be of the utmost importance for high average scholastic achievement. Against this background, the aim of this research was to investigate selfconcept and time-concept within an educational context. The study probed the issue of whether there is a difference between the self -concept and time-concept of pupils with a high average scholastic achievement and those of pupils with a low average. Further, the possible relationship between the self-concept and the time-concept of these pupils was investigated. To achieve this goal, the research was based on seven sub-goals. The first three of these goals were realised by investigating a theoretical framework regarding the self-concept and time-concept of pupils within an educational context, and also by educationally founding self-concept, time-concept and scholastic achievement. An empirical investigation was undertaken on the basis of the theoretical framework mentioned. Standard six, eight and ten pupils who were enrolled at an Afrikaans-medium and an English-medium high school in the Roodepoort area falling under the ex-Transvaal Education Department, as well as such pupils at an English-medium high school in the Johannesburg area, falling under the ex-Department of Education and Training, were involved in the investigation. A structured questionnaire in Afrikaans and English was developed on the basis of the above-mentioned self-concept and time-concept by adapting and refining already existing instruments. In accordance with the fourth sub-goal, this questionnaire, consisting of two instruments, was used to investigate the pupils' self-concept (instrument one) and timeconcept (instrument two). The approach followed for analysing and interpreting the data entails six steps. The data on self-concept and time-concept were analysed separately in steps 1, 4 and 5. In step 1 the validity and reliability of the measuring instruments were investigated. First order factor analytical procedures and item analyses were applied respectively in this regard. In each case only one variable (scale), namely self-concept and time-concept, was identified in this way. In step 2 the calculation of the correlation between the average percentage of the previous examination (biographical information) and the calculated average percentage (from information in Annexure C) was done on the basis of the data obtained from the Afrikaans-medium high school. This calculation was aimed at using the data from the questionnaire (obtained from the one English-medium high school that failed to provide the information required in Annexure C) for further statistical analyses. Step 3 entailed the determination of the cut-off points for pupils with a high average and those with a low average in scholastic achievement. Two groups of pupils were thus identified, namely the group of pupils with a high average scholastic achievement and the groups of pupils with a low average. The variables (number of factors) of self-concept and time-concept that could be used in the further analyses of the data, were identified by means of a prime factor analysis (PFA1), together with a Doblimin rotation method identified in step 4. The variables of self-concept and time-concept were subsequently used to conduct multi-variable and single variable analyses according to step 5 on the data of the pupils. These analyses were aimed at establishing whether there was a difference between the self-concept and the time-concept of the pupils with a high average and those of the pupils with a low average in scholastic achievement. The Hotelling T 2 test and MANOVA were used to test multi-variable hypotheses. The Student's t-test, ANOVA and the Scheffe test were used to test the single variable hypotheses. In step 6 of the analyses a canonical correlation analysis was performed on the data to establish whether there were statistically significant relationships between the self-concept and the time-concept of the pupils with a high average scholastic achievement. The same procedure was followed to determine whether there were statistically significant relationships between the self-concept and the time-concept of the pupils with a low average scholastic achievement. The findings obtained from all these analyses are stated briefly: There is, in fact, a difference between the self-concept and time-concept of pupils with a high average scholastic achievement and those with a low average. With regard to self-concept, the pupils with a high average have a more positive academic self, a better relationship with family and relatives, a more supportive religious orientation and a better attitude towards values than the pupils with a low average in scholastic achievement. With regard to time-concept, the pupils with a high average are more future-oriented, more conscientious in their time management, experience less anxiety about the future and are less focused on the present than the pupils with a low average in scholastic achievement. With regard to the relationships between the self-concept and the timeconcept of the pupils, the findings include the following: * Pupils with a high average scholastic achievement - there is a relationship between academic self, relationship with family and - relatives, social relations, religious orientation, physical self, negative experience of frustration, attitude towards values and future orientation, conscientious time management, negative in anxiety about the future, independent utilisation of time and contentment with the present and the past. Pupils with a low average scholastic achievement - there is a relationship between academic self, relationship with family and relatives, social relations, religious orientation, physical self, attitude towards values and future orientation, conscientious time management, time-consciousness, focus on the present, independent utilisation of time and contentment with the present and the past. On the whole, it would therefore appear that two variables of the timeconcept, namely anxiety about the future and focus on the present, can give rise to an inability to achieve a high scholastic average. It could therefore be in the interest of the child that the educators (parents and teachers) should make every effort to foster a positive selfconcept and a future-oriented time-concept in the child. The emphasis should be placed on planning and working towards a future goal. In addition, it should also be stressed that the enjoyment of the moment should be exchanged for future success.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education