Moving Toward a Unified Effort to Understand the Nature and Causes of Language Disorders

DOI: 10.1017.S014271640505002

Effectiveness of Responsivity Intervention Strategies on Prelinguistic and Language Outcomes for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Group and Single Case Studies

We conducted a systematic review to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and single case research design (SCRD) studies of children with autism spectrum disorder that evaluate the effectiveness of responsivity intervention techniques for improving prelinguistic and/or language outcomes. Mean effect sizes were moderate and large for RCTs (33 studies; g = 0.36, 95% CI [0.21, 0.51]) and SCRD (34 studies; between-case standardized mean difference = 1.20, 95% CI [0.87, 1.54]) studies, respectively. Visual analysis (37 studies) revealed strong evidence of a functional relation for 45% of the opportunities and no evidence for 53%. Analyses of moderator effects and study quality are presented. Findings provide support for responsivity intervention strategies with more robust support for context-bound outcomes than more generalized outcomes

Finiteness Marking in Boys with Fragile X Syndrome

Purpose This study investigated finite marking (e.g., he walks, he walked) in boys with fragile X syndrome; the boys were grouped based on receptive vocabulary (i.e., borderline, or impaired vocabulary). Method Twenty-one boys with the full mutation of fragile X, between the ages of 8 to 16 years participated. The boys completed probes from the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (Rice & Wexler, 2001), a language sample, a nonverbal IQ test (Leiter-R, Roid & Miller, 1997), a receptive vocabulary test (PPVT-IV Dunn & Dunn, 2007), and a measure of autistic symptoms (CARS; Schopler et al., 2002). Results There were group differences for finiteness responses on the third person singular probe; the group with impaired vocabulary omitted markers with greater frequency compared to borderline vocabulary group. There were not significant differences on the past tense probe, although boys with borderline and impaired vocabulary were delayed relative to language expectations. Nonverbal IQ was not correlated with the measures of finiteness marking. Conclusion Boys with FXS demonstrate delays in finiteness marking, in particular on past tense verbs. Boys with impaired vocabulary show a unique profile unlike children with SLI, in which their use of tense markers may exceed expectations benchmarked to clause length

Developmental trajectory of communication repair in children with Fragile X Syndrome

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Background and aims The development of communicative competence requires both language and social skills. The ability to repair following a communication breakdown is critical for continued conversational interchange and to ensure comprehension of bids for communication. Communication repair demonstrates adequate language and social skills. Children with Fragile X Syndrome have difficulty with language development and social skills, which may result in delays or deficits in repair. Repair may be additionally impaired in children with Fragile X Syndrome and co-morbid autism. This study examined the development of repair in children with Fragile X Syndrome from toddlerhood into middle childhood. Methods Fifty-five children with Fragile X Syndrome and their biological mothers participated. Data were collected during in-home visits approximately every 18 months. Videotaped mother–child interactions were collected, as well as standardized assessments of language, social skills, and autism symptomology. Results Children with Fragile X Syndrome acquired the ability to repair at 90% mastery by three-and-a-half years of age. Multilevel logistic regressions predicting probability of repair indicated marginally significant effects of mean length of utterance and number of different words, and significant effects of global social skills and autism symptomology. Effect sizes were small to moderate. Conclusions Ability to repair was measured in a naturalistic setting, which allowed children with Fragile X Syndrome to utilize repairs in their daily interactions. Although children with Fragile X Syndrome may have delayed development of repair relative to typically developing expectations, in general they nonetheless catch up and demonstrate a robust ability to repair by three-and-a-half years of age. However, this study provides evidence that individual differences in language and social skills may influence ability to repair in children with Fragile X Syndrome. Finally, the relationship between autism symptoms and repair remains unclear, necessitating further exploration. Implications: Given the noted delay in repair in young children with Fragile X Syndrome, clinicians working with this population should target development of this skill as early as possible to maximize successful social interactions. This may be particularly necessary for children with Fragile X Syndrome and co-morbid autism.NIH T32 DC000052NICHD R01 HD084563NICHD P30 HD003110P30 HD0253

Systems Analysis Techniques for Business People: How Should These Techniques Differ from Techniques for IS Professionals

Much of the systems analysis and design literature and much of current practice seems to assume that the work will be organized and carried out by professional IS analysts. In the age of decentralization, flat organizations, and outsourcing, business professionals must take on more systems analysis responsibilities, either directly or through their subordinates and contractors

Examination of the ADOS-2 Expressive Language Score in Fragile X Syndrome

The development of an expressive language score for people with autism based on the ADOS-2 was recently reported by Mazurek et al. (2019). The current study examined the construct validity of the ADOS-2 expressive language score (ELS) in a sample of adolescents with fragile X syndrome (n = 45, 10 girls), a neurodevelopmental disorder with high rates of autism symptomology. The ADOS-2 ELS showed strong convergent validity with multiple assessments of expressive language, receptive language, and nonverbal cognition. Divergent validity was demonstrated between the expressive language score and chronological age, symptoms of anxiety/depression, and rule-breaking behaviors. This expressive language score is a promising measure of expressive language ability that can be used in research when other language assessments are unavailable