Children with severe physical disabilities often do not have the capabilities for oral communication. Therefore, the vocabulary needs of nonspeaking children has been a subject of research in the area of augmentative communication for a number of years. The idea of allowing children with disabilities the opportunity for expression and communication is one not easily ignored. Obtaining vocabulary items, however, that are useful to nonspeaking disabled children that also meet normal language acquisition standards has been a concern. This study specifically addresses this concern by looking into the vocabulary issues of twins. The purpose of this research project is to verify that differences exist in the expressive vocabulary needs that are determined for a nonspeaking, cerebral-palsied twin and a speaking, able-bodied twin by a caregiver despite similar verbal environments.

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English