Whilst evidence of theory of mind impairments in children with autism is well established, possible impairments in children with language disorder have only recently been investigated. Children with specific language impairment aged between eight and 12 years were matched by age and gender to high functioning children with autism and normally…

We describe the case of a child with severely unintelligible speech, referred to our clinic after unsuccessful therapy elsewhere. Thomas's speech was characterized by deapicalization and velodorsal articulations, together with hypernasality. Unusually, Thomas was also able to produce a small number of items normally. His speech was investigated by…

While systems approaches are useful for evaluating speech and language therapists' (SLT) work in individual school contexts, there is a need to undertake studies detailing in a replicable format the interventions offered to children and for studies at all levels to assess whether these interventions work, using validated scientific techniques.…

Many child language studies emphasize the value of verbal and social support, of 'scaffolding' processes and mutual adjustments that naturally occur in adult-child interactions in everyday contexts. Based on such theories, this study attempted to improve the language and communication skills in children with special educational needs through…

Of 1100 children referred to a mainstream paediatric speech and language therapy service in a 15-month period (January 1999 to April 2000), 320 had primary speech impairment. No referred child had significant hearing impairment, learning disability or physical disability. This paper describes the nature of the subtypes of speech disability…

Phonological awareness reflects the strength of a child's ability to represent linguistic information cognitively at the phonological level. Although the role of phonological awareness in early reading decoding has been well documented, its relationship to other factors affecting reading decoding has yet to be fully examined. In this study, the…

Evidence-based management of phonological impairment in children is a dynamic process. Speech and language therapists need to evaluate published evidence and use their professional judgement to decide on an intervention plan, evaluate the efficacy of their intervention and re-evaluate decisions. Two case studies are presented to illustrate this…

A major goal of phonological intervention is to help bring a child's speech development to within normal range for his or her developmental stage. Reaching that goal may take longer than anticipated for some children. This paper illustrates an in-depth retrospective evaluation of assessment data from one child with a phonological impairment, who…

All speech and language therapists want to determine which strategies facilitate improvement of their clients' communication skills and to delineate the most efficacious of these. Although laudable preliminary efforts have been made, the field of speech-language pathology is in its nascent period of data gathering regarding efficacy. Determining…

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) (World Health Organization, 2001) is proposed as a framework for integrative goal setting for children with speech impairment. The ICF incorporates both impairment and social factors to consider when selecting appropriate goals to bring about change in the lives of…

Developed in Australia, Parents and Children Together (PACT) is a broadbased, family-centredphonological therapy. It is a treatment approach for developmental phonological disorders in the course of whose implementation speech and language therapists enlist the active participation of parents and significant others. It requires family members to…