A REPORT OF A CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN SPEECH AND HEARING FOR MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN IS PRESENTED. THE MAIN AREAS INCLUDED ARE THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION, PROCEDURES FOR MEASURING LANGUAGE, AND SPECIAL METHODS FOR TREATMENT. SPECIFIC REPORTS GIVEN ARE--"PSYCHOLINGUISTICS IN THE STUDY OF MENTAL RETARDATION" BY JOHN B. CARROLL, "REFERENTIAL PROCESSES OF SPEAKERS AND LISTENERS" BY SEYMOUR ROSENBERG, "THE RELEVANCE OF ANIMAL RESERACH" BY JACK MICHAEL, "THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNICATION SKILLS" BY R.L. SCHIEFELBUSCH, "LANGUAGE AND MENTAL RETARDATION--EMPIRICAL AND CONCEPTUAL CONSIDERATIONS" BY THOMAS E. JORDAN, "CONFERENCE ON PLANNING RESEARCH ON THE MENTALLY RETARDED CHILD" BY JOSEPH M. WEPMAN, "PROCEDURES FOR MEASURING OR EVALUATING LANGUAGE" BY JOSEPH E. SPRADLIN, "ISSUES FOR SPEECH AND LANGUAGE TRAINING OF THE MENTALLY RETARDED" BY BERNARD B. SCHLANGER, "LANGUAGE TRAINING FOR MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN" BY SYLVIA O. RICHARDSON, AND "THE SLOW LEARNER, GROUPING PATTERNS, AND CLASSROOM COMMUNICATION" BY ELIZABETH MONROE DREWS.