ERIC Number: EJ762890
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2007-Apr
Pages: 11
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0161-1461
EISSN: N/A
A State of Double Jeopardy: Impact of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Adverse Environments on the Social Communicative Abilities of School-Age Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Coggins, Truman E.; Timler, Geralyn R.; Olswang, Lesley B.
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, v38 n2 p117-127 Apr 2007
Purpose: This article is a retrospective examination of environmental risk, language performance, and narrative discourse data from a clinical database of school-age children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Method: A case-defined diagnostic approach for measuring and reporting the full spectrum of disabilities in children with prenatal alcohol exposure is presented. Demographic, environmental, language, and social communication (as reflected by narrative discourse) data are reported for a large cohort of children with FASD between the ages of 6;0 (years;months) and 12;0. Results: Children with FASD are a heterogeneous group with varying levels of compromise. The data demonstrate a substantial comorbidity between the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure and adverse caregiving environments. The data further reveal that school-age children with FASD often exhibit clinically meaningful deficits in language and social communication. Clinical Implication: Children with FASD may be particularly vulnerable to language and social communication deficits as a result of prenatal alcohol exposure and atypical or adverse social interactive experiences. Comprehensive assessment is recommended. Dynamic and functional assessment paradigms may document the language and social communicative deficits in children with FASD and other clinical populations with complex neurodevelopmental profiles.
Descriptors: Functional Behavioral Assessment, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Prenatal Influences, Environmental Influences, Communication Skills, Interpersonal Competence, Interpersonal Communication, Language Acquisition, Disabilities, Demography, Correlation, Family Environment, Language Impairments
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. Tel: 800-638-8255; Fax: 301-571-0457; e-mail: subscribe@asha.org; Web site: http://lshss.asha.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A