The Influence of Language/Cognitive Profile on Discourse Intervention Outcome

kcole{at}wriedu.org

Children with communication needs are often allocated intervention services as a result of the relationship between their cognitive ability and language performance. Children with higher cognitive skills relative to language skills are considered promising candidates for language services. In contrast, children who are delayed in both cognitive and language abilities are considered poor candidates for intervention and are often excluded from services, or given a lower priority for services. This study examines the effects of intervention on one aspect of pragmatic development (discourse skills) following intervention for two groups of young children with delayed language development: one group with measured cognitive performance above language performance, and the other group with similar delays in both language and cognitive performance. Repeated measures analyses of variance indicated significant differences between groups for two of 15 measures derived from language samples. Both favored the children with equivalent delays in language and cognition. These findings do not support the notion that children with equivalent delays in cognition and language development are poor candidates for language intervention. Service delivery and policy implications are discussed.

KEY WORDS: cognitive referencing, cognitive hypothesis, discourse, eligibility, language intervention

Submitted on February 10, 1997
Accepted on May 18, 1998

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. F. Loeb, R. B. Gillam, L. Hoffman, J. Brandel, and J. Marquis The Effects of Fast ForWord Language on the Phonemic Awareness and Reading Skills of School-Age Children With Language Impairments and Poor Reading Skills Am J Speech Lang Pathol, November 1, 2009; 18(4): 376 - 387. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Skarakis-Doyle, W. Campbell, and L. Dempsey Identification of Children With Language Impairment: Investigating the Classification Accuracy of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories, Level III Am J Speech Lang Pathol, August 1, 2009; 18(3): 277 - 288. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Skarakis-Doyle and L. Dempsey The Detection and Monitoring of Comprehension Errors by Preschool Children With and Without Language Impairment J Speech Lang Hear Res, October 1, 2008; 51(5): 1227 - 1243. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. A. Troia Migrant Students with Limited English Proficiency: Can Fast ForWord LanguageTM Make a Di ference in Their Language Skills and Academic Achievement? Remedial and Special Education, December 1, 2004; 25(6): 353 - 366. [Abstract] [PDF]

				E. McCartney Include us out? Speech and language therapists' prioritization in mainstream schools Child Language Teaching and Therapy, June 1, 2000; 16(2): 165 - 180. [Abstract] [PDF]