There has been limited investigation into the nature of specific language impairment (SLI) in adolescence, and even less investigation into speech production in SLI, particularly beyond the preschool years. Phonological output is crucial to oral expressive language, one of the characteristic areas of deficit in SLI. It was hypothesized that adolescents with SLI present with residual speech errors. Accordingly, this study investigated the presence, nature and cause of speech deficits in adolescents with persistent SLI. Adolescents aged 13.0-14.0 years with persistent SLI (n=31) were compared to typically developing (TD) peers (n=31) on an Oral Motor Evaluation (OME) and a Speech Assessment Battery (SAB), consisting of: Multisyllabic Word Repetition, Nonsense Word Repetition, Phrase Repetition, Sentence Repetition and Tongue Twisters. Tasks were analysed in terms of accuracy and the amount of effort required, to determine efficiency and automaticity of phonological output. All participants completed a battery of memory tasks and the language abilities of the SLI group were evaluated. Caregivers completed questionnaires investigating risk factors. Results indicated that adolescents with persistent SLI produced a higher number of inconsistent and context-dependent deviant speech behaviours than TD peers, involving syllable structure changes (phoneme additions/omissions), phoneme substitutions, fluency errors and repetitions/revisions. Participants with SLI also had a higher incidence of neuromotor deficits. Persistent SLI appears to relate to a multifactorial etiology, involving both genetic and early history factors. There was high comorbidity of attention deficits, with implications for resource allocation. Results were interpreted within a functional capacity viewpoint. Speech deficits are thought to contribute to a threshold effect, where even subtle deficits in one area can compromise processing in another area. Speech production in this population appears to be more resource-demanding than in TD peers, which may affect concurrent performance on linguistic and memory tasks. This hypothesis is supported by the high correlation between speech tasks and expressive syntax for SLI participants. The high incidence of speech deficits in adolescents with SLI ii has implications for research and clinical practice with individuals of all ages with SLI.

A intenção deste estudo foi analisar o discurso dos pais em relação ao seu filho com queixa de retardo de linguagem, destacando as marcas indiciárias da constituição dessa criança enquanto objeto do desejo dos pais. Realizamos entrevistas com dois casais e uma mãe, as quais foram gravadas e posteriormente transcritas. Utilizamos os fundamentos teóricos da Psicanálise Lacaniana e da Análise de Discurso de filiação francesa, para estudo das metáforas e metonímias no discurso dos pais. Os resultados mostraram que os pais ao falarem a respeito de seus filhos produzem uma metáfora de si próprios que se manifesta como um sintoma na criança e uma metonímia de seu desejo, que ao ser expresso, constitui a falta na e da criança, sendo denominada na clínica fonoaudiológica por retardo de linguagem. / This study aimed at analyzing parents\' discourse in relation to their children with language impairment by emphasizing the indicative marks of these children\'s constitution as their parents\' object of desire. lnterviews were conducted with two couples and one mother, which were tape-recorded and later transcribed. The theoretical framework based on Lacanian Psychoanalysis and French Discourse Analysis were used in the study of metaphors and metonymies in the parents\' discourse. The results showed that, when speaking of their children, parents produce a metaphor of themselves that is manifested as a symptom in the child, and a metonymy of their desire, which, when expressed, constitutes the \"fault\" in and af the child that is referred to, in the speech therapy clinic, as language impairment.

Crianças com Distúrbio Específico de Linguagem (DEL) podem apresentar dificuldades de recepção e emissão da linguagem que podem trazer prejuízos na sua interação com outras crianças, familiares e sociedade uma vez que estudos relatam a importância social da comunicação como um veículo de extensas redes de trocas sociais, pelas quais se forma e se transforma a cultura e, em consequência a própria realidade social. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar as habilidades comunicativas de seis crianças com DEL, na faixa etária entre sete e oito anos e onze meses e comparar com crianças com desenvolvimento típico pertencentes ao grupo controle (GC), pareado por idade e gênero. A investigação compreendeu: (i) a avaliação do período da narrativa oral com quatro figuras de sequência lógico temporal e (ii) avaliação do desempenho em habilidades sociais comunicativas (HSC) por meio da analise de filmagens de situações estruturadas entre cada criança com DEL e seu respectivo par do GC e entre cada criança com DEL e um adulto do gênero feminino. Como resultado, todas as crianças com DEL apresentaram déficits nas HSC tanto nas interações com seus pares quanto com o adulto e cinco delas mostraram desempenho narrativo abaixo do esperado em relação ao GC, o que evidencia prejuízo nas interações sociais desses indivíduos. O estudo permitiu caracterizar e identificar necessidades especiais relacionadas ao repertório social e comportamental, mas são necessários novos estudos sobre protocolos de avaliação e intervenção que tenham como meta tanto a melhoria nos aspectos de fala e linguagem quanto nas relações interpessoais das crianças com DEL. / Children with Specific Language Impairment ( SLI ) may present difficulties in receiving and issuing of language that can bring harm in their interaction with other children , family and society as social studies report the importance of communication as a vehicle for extensive exchange networks social and shape by which the culture is transformed and therefore social reality . The aim of this study was to investigate the communicative abilities of six children with SLI , aged between seven and eight years and eleven months and compared with typically developing children in the control group ( CG) , matched for age and gender . The investigation included: ( i ) assessing the period of oral narrative with four figures logical temporal sequence and ( ii ) assessing performance in communicative social skills ( HSC ) through the analysis of shooting situations structured between each child with SLI and its respective pair of the GC and between each child with SLI and an adult female . As a result , all children with SLI showed deficits in HSC both in interactions with their peers and with adult and five of them showed narrative performance below expectations compared to GC , which show impaired social interactions of these individuals . The study allowed us to characterize and identify special needs related to social and behavioral repertoire , but further studies are needed on protocols for assessment and intervention that have as a goal the improvement in both aspects of speech and language and interpersonal relationships of children with SLI .

It is well known that language processing depends on specialized areas in the left side of the brain in the majority of the population. A popular view is that developmental language disorders result from a poorly lateralized brain, but evidence in support of this has been weak and inconsistent. In this thesis, I investigated language-related asymmetries in brain structure and function, and their behavioural relevance in both individuals with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing adults. Combining different brain imaging techniques, I looked at group-level as well as individual estimates of language laterality and its relationship to language abilities. The aim of my first two studies was to investigate the neural underpinnings of SLI in terms of white matter microstructure and functional organization associated with auditory processing. For this, diffusion and functional MRI data was obtained in a small number of families with a history of SLI and in control families. Compared with neurotypical controls, children with SLI had lower white matter integrity in the corpus callosum, and in white matter areas corresponding to the dorsal and ventral language pathways. The expected functional lateralization for auditory processing was not observed in either group. In the second half of my thesis, I assessed language laterality in 215 neurotypical adults. I demonstrated that functional transcranial Doppler (FTCD) ultrasonography could reliably assess functional lateralization across different language processes. From this large group, I identified 16 individuals with atypical language lateralization and compared them to a group of 16 typically lateralized individuals using a combination of FTCD, MRI and behavioural measures of language laterality and language abilities. The two groups differed significantly in terms of lateralization assessed by functional MRI and diffusion imaging. The atypical group had lower left and greater right hemisphere activation compared with the typical group, and lacked the leftwards asymmetry in the ventral language tract seen in the typical group. The groups did not differ in terms of cognitive measures. Different functional laterality assessments were concordant in the typically lateralized individuals but were inconsistent in the individuals assessed as atypical by FTCD. In brief, my findings suggest that for some individuals language lateralization may be unstable and varies depending on task or other factors. Even so, such differences do not appear to have consequences for language or other cognitive development.

Crianças com Distúrbio Específico de Linguagem (DEL) podem apresentar dificuldades de recepção e emissão da linguagem que podem trazer prejuízos na sua interação com outras crianças, familiares e sociedade uma vez que estudos relatam a importância social da comunicação como um veículo de extensas redes de trocas sociais, pelas quais se forma e se transforma a cultura e, em consequência a própria realidade social. O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar as habilidades comunicativas de seis crianças com DEL, na faixa etária entre sete e oito anos e onze meses e comparar com crianças com desenvolvimento típico pertencentes ao grupo controle (GC), pareado por idade e gênero. A investigação compreendeu: (i) a avaliação do período da narrativa oral com quatro figuras de sequência lógico temporal e (ii) avaliação do desempenho em habilidades sociais comunicativas (HSC) por meio da analise de filmagens de situações estruturadas entre cada criança com DEL e seu respectivo par do GC e entre cada criança com DEL e um adulto do gênero feminino. Como resultado, todas as crianças com DEL apresentaram déficits nas HSC tanto nas interações com seus pares quanto com o adulto e cinco delas mostraram desempenho narrativo abaixo do esperado em relação ao GC, o que evidencia prejuízo nas interações sociais desses indivíduos. O estudo permitiu caracterizar e identificar necessidades especiais relacionadas ao repertório social e comportamental, mas são necessários novos estudos sobre protocolos de avaliação e intervenção que tenham como meta tanto a melhoria nos aspectos de fala e linguagem quanto nas relações interpessoais das crianças com DEL. / Children with Specific Language Impairment ( SLI ) may present difficulties in receiving and issuing of language that can bring harm in their interaction with other children , family and society as social studies report the importance of communication as a vehicle for extensive exchange networks social and shape by which the culture is transformed and therefore social reality . The aim of this study was to investigate the communicative abilities of six children with SLI , aged between seven and eight years and eleven months and compared with typically developing children in the control group ( CG) , matched for age and gender . The investigation included: ( i ) assessing the period of oral narrative with four figures logical temporal sequence and ( ii ) assessing performance in communicative social skills ( HSC ) through the analysis of shooting situations structured between each child with SLI and its respective pair of the GC and between each child with SLI and an adult female . As a result , all children with SLI showed deficits in HSC both in interactions with their peers and with adult and five of them showed narrative performance below expectations compared to GC , which show impaired social interactions of these individuals . The study allowed us to characterize and identify special needs related to social and behavioral repertoire , but further studies are needed on protocols for assessment and intervention that have as a goal the improvement in both aspects of speech and language and interpersonal relationships of children with SLI .

Language samples are naturalistic sources of information that supersede many of the limitations found in standardized test administration. Although language samples have clinical utility, they are often time intensive. Despite the usefulness of language samples in evaluation and treatment, clinicians may not perform language sample analyses due to the necessary time commitment. Researchers have developed language sample analysis software that automates this process. Coding schemes such as that used by the Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) software were developed to provide more information regarding appropriate grammatical tag selection. The usefulness of SALT precoding in aiding automated grammatical tagging accuracy was evaluated in this study. Results indicate consistent, overall improvement over an earlier version of the software at the tag level. The software was adept at coding samples from both developmentally normal and language impaired children. No significant differences between tagging accuracy of SALT coded versus non-SALT coded samples were found. As the accuracy of automated tagging software advances, the clinical usefulness of automated grammatical analyses improves, and thus the benefits of time savings may be realized.

Research shows that children with language impairment (LI) often have deficits in social communication. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a social communication intervention targeting emotion understanding on teacher perceptions of withdrawal in six elementary-aged boys with LI. The intervention incorporated four elements into treatment sessions: a) Story sharing of children's literature that was rich in emotional content and prosocial behaviors; b) Story enactment of the same children's literature; c) identification and discussion of pictures of facial expressions; and d) journaling to help internalize and reflect on emotions and social behaviors targeted. Two withdrawal subscales of the Teacher Behavior Rating Scale (TBRS), reticence and solitary-passive behavior, were used as variables with which to measure teacher perception. Pre and postintervention measures of teacher ratings were taken and compared for each participant. Results indicated that four of the six participants improved in ratings of withdrawn behaviors following treatment. Two of the boys improved 2 SD for ratings of reticence. Two additional participants did not show improvement, but remained stable in their pre and posttreatment scores for both reticence and solitary-passive withdrawal. These results indicate a generally favorable outcome of the social communication intervention with regard to social withdrawal in children with LI.

This study seeks to: (1) determine if differences exist between children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) compared to age-matched (AM) and language- matched (LM) children with typical language development (TL) in rates and proportions of five types of metalinguistic productions and (2) test theories of metalinguistic production. Forty-five children, 24 with TL and 21 with SLI, paired for age or language level, formed two groups. Previously collected data from two studies of verb learning (Proctor-Williams & Fey, 2007; Proctor- Williams, unpublished) were analyzed for rates and types of metalinguistic productions. Results yielded no within or between group significant differences in the rates types. There were differences in proportional use of types of metalinguistic utterances in the LM group. This study showed that children as young as 3;0 produce metalinguistic utterances. Further, it disproved the Piagetian-Based Metalinguistic Development Theory. Interesting trends suggest direction for future research.

No description available.

Recent studies and literature regarding children with language impairment (LI) indicate that these children have difficulty with social communication skills. This study assessed the effect of a social communication intervention on teacher perceptions of withdrawal in six elementary school age participants with LI. The social communication intervention included story sharing, identifying pictures of facial expressions, and journaling to target emotion understanding. The Teacher Behavior Rating Scale (TBRS) was utilized to measure teacher perception of withdrawal. The TBRS examined three subscales of social withdrawal: solitary-active withdrawal, solitary-passive withdrawal, and reticence. Following treatment, teacher ratings of withdrawn behavior decreased for all six participants on some of the subscales. Solitary-active behavior decreased for four of the six participants, solitary-passive behavior decreased for five participants, and reticent behavior decreased for three participants. Teacher ratings of withdrawal for two participants increased on a single subscale, however. These changes suggest positive post-treatment outcomes with regard to withdrawn behavior in children with LI.