Mark Guiberson

Hispanic Representation in Special Education: Patterns and Implications

The inaccurate placement of minority students in special education programs can take various forms including overrepresentation, underrepresentation, and misidentification. First, overrepresentation occurs when the percentage of minority students in special education programs is greater than that in the school population as a whole. Second, underrepresentation occurs when students with disabilities are not identified and do not receive appropriate services. Last, misidentification occurs when students with disabilities are identified as having a disability different from the one they actually have (G. Meyer & J. M. Patton, 2001; C. Y. Wilkinson, A. A. Ortiz, P. M. Robertson, & M. I. Kushner, 2006). To answer the question of whether Hispanic children are disproportionately represented in special education, the author conducted a literature review in a systematic manner using computerized databases. In addition, the author provides an integrative review of the literature on Hispanic representation in special education, presents specific issues that complicate the accurate identification of Hispanic or Latino, and identifies implications for practice.

Speech-Language Pathologists’ Preparation, Practices, and Perspectives on Serving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children

This study describes the backgrounds, diversity training, and professional perspectives reported by 154 Colorado speech-language pathologists in serving children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds. The authors compare the results of the current survey to those of a similar survey collected in 1996. Respondents reported that they were comfortable working with racially and culturally diverse students, but they felt less competence when working with linguistic minorities. They also reported using standardized English assessment less frequently with CLD students and reported using professionals for interpretation more often than family members. However, respondents also reported less confidence when using interpreters and reported that they had challenges in accessing interpreters. Challenges included a shortage of appropriate assessment tools and a lack of normative information about language development in linguistically diverse children. Based on these results the authors describe implications and future directions to continue to improve services to children from CLD backgrounds.

Bilingual skills of deaf/hard of hearing children from Spain

Abstract Background/aims This study described the first language (L1) and second language (L2) skills of a group of Spanish deaf/hard of hearing (DHH) children who were bilingual. Methods Participants included parents of 51 DHH children from Spain. Parents completed an electronic survey that included questions on background, details on childs hearing loss, and bilingual status and L2 exposure. Parents also completed the Student Oral Language Observation Matrix, a rating scale that describes language skills. Results DHH bilingual children demonstrated L1 skills that were stronger than their monolingual DHH peers. Bilingual children demonstrated a wide range of L2 proficiency, and most were exposed to an L2 through parents and/or schooling. The majority of parents reported that their children demonstrated L2 skills that were either better than or at the level they had expected. Conclusion These results correspond with earlier studies that indicate the DHH children are capable of becoming bilingual. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Cross-linguistic interactions from second language to first language as the result of individualized narrative language intervention with children with and without language impairment

This study investigated the extent to which results of English narrative intervention interacted cross-linguistically with Spanish for 73 bilingual children. We employed a quasi-experimental design, using matched-pairs random assignment for children with typically developing language and a nonrandom block design for children with language impairment. At pretest and posttest we elicited three different English and Spanish narrative retells. We conducted two 25-min, individualized narrative intervention sessions in English with the treatment group, focusing on causal subordination and story grammar. The results indicated that the English narrative intervention was efficacious for both causal subordination and story grammar. They also indicated that the typically developing children had significantly greater cross-linguistic transfer of causal subordination and story grammar than did the children with language impairment.

Rasch analysis of a Spanish language-screening parent survey

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and refine items from a parent survey designed to screen the language skills of Spanish-speaking preschoolers. This investigation applied Rasch modeling to systematically evaluate and identify items that demonstrated favorable qualities. A set of 124 parent survey items was administered to 107 Spanish-speaking parents of preschool age children. Parents completed survey items intended to provide a global measure of preschool language abilities. Rasch analyses of the survey items were conducted using WINSTEPS. Results indicated that 59 items, all vocabulary items, fit the Rasch model. Sufficient unidimensionality was obtained, with the model accounting for 58% of the variance. Item difficulty estimates ranged from -7.43 to 4.12, with a shortage of items at both the lower ability level and at the higher ability level. Analyses of pruned and remaining items identified the type of items that may be most useful for a refined item bank. These results will inform the development of new items for a Spanish language-screening parent survey for preschool age children.

False Belief Understanding in Language Impaired and Typically Developing Spanish-Speaking Preschoolers from Lower Income Backgrounds

Research Findings: The present study describes developmental trends in false belief (in other and self) in 46 Mexican-dialect Spanish-speaking children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds with and without language impairment (LI). Results indicate that typically developing childrens performance on false belief tasks improves with age, with very few 3-year-old children, half of the 4-year-old children, and most 5-year-olds demonstrating false belief understanding. Results also reveal that children acquire false belief in other in advance of false belief in self. Although there were no group differences between 3- and 4-year-old typically developing and LI children, there were significant differences in false belief performance between the 5-year-old typically developing and LI children. Practice or Policy: Implications for screening and enhanced false belief teaching strategies are presented.

Validity of a parent vocabulary checklist for young Spanish speaking children of Mexican immigrants.

The primary objective of the current investigation was to examine the concurrent and predictive validity of a parent vocabulary checklist with young Spanish speaking children of Mexican immigrants. This study implemented a longitudinal approach. Nineteen families participated when children were 15–16 months of age, and then again at 30–32 months of age. The Spanish version of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (Inventarios del Desarrollo de Habilidades Communicativas, INV) and spontaneous language samples collected during naturalistic play were used to examine the relationship between observed and reported vocabulary. Vocabulary reported through the INV-II and vocabulary observed at 30–32 months were significantly correlated, suggesting that the INV-II captures a valid representation of vocabulary at this age. Comparatively, vocabulary reported on the INV-I, was not correlated with observed vocabulary at 15–16 months of age or reported or observed vocabulary at 30–32 months of age. These results suggest that the INV-I, when used with 14–16-month-olds, demonstrates limited concurrent and predictive validity. Implications for the clinical use of the INV-I and INV-II are presented.

Telehealth Measures Screening for Developmental Language Disorders in Spanish-Speaking Toddlers

BACKGROUND This is the second of two studies that described the use of telehealth language screening measures for use with young Spanish-speaking children. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to describe the classification accuracy of individual telehealth language screening measures as well as the accuracy of combinations of measures used with Spanish-speaking toddler-age children from rural and underserved areas of the country. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study applied an asynchronous hybrid telehealth approach that implemented parent-structured play activities with a standard set of stimuli, and interaction with a My First Words e-book. These interactions were recorded with a mini camcorder. In addition, a traditional pen and paper parent questionnaire measure was collected. Sixty-two mostly Spanish-speaking preschool-age children and their parents participated. Twenty-two children had developmental language disorders (DLDs) and 40 had typical language development. RESULTS Although several of the individual measures were significantly and strongly associated with standardized language scores, only reported vocabulary had classification accuracy values that were desirable for screening for DLDs. An improvement was observed when reported vocabulary was combined with a number of different words children produced during interactions with parents. CONCLUSIONS This research provides additional evidence showing the effectiveness of a hybrid telehealth model in screening the language development of Spanish-speaking children. More specifically, reported vocabulary combined with number of different words produced by a child can provide informative and accurate diagnostic information when screening Spanish-speaking toddler-age children for DLDs. These findings replicate the first study in showing that hybrid telehealth approaches that combine the use of video technology and traditional pen and paper surveys yield strong results, and may be a viable screening alternative when face-to-face access to a bilingual provider is not possible.

Gesture, Play, and Language Development of Spanish-Speaking Toddlers With Developmental Language Disorders A Preliminary Study

The purpose of this preliminary study was to (a) examine relationships between the symbolic and language skills of a mixed (developmental language disordered [DLD] and typical language [TL]) Spanish-speaking sample; (b) describe gesture, play, and language skills of DLD and TL groups; (c) compare the development between groups; and (d) explore whether combining symbolic and language measures predict language scores. A major focus of this study was to interpret how this information may be clinically useful, especially for non-Spanish-speaking speech-language pathologists who are responsible for the initial screening, monitoring, and/or assessment of the language development of young Spanish speakers. Analyses revealed that some symbolic skills were significantly associated with language, but group differences were detected only in conventional gesture usage. Conventional gesture and number of different words (NDW) combined significantly predicted language scores. This study showed that play-based approaches provide important developmental information that contributes to screening and assessment decisions.

Identifying Culturally Consistent Early Interventions for Latino Caregivers

A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was applied to identify promising culturally consistent early intervention (EI) approaches with Latino caregivers. The researchers collected multiple sources of data, analyzed them separately, and then integrated relevant findings with other sources to identify promising EI approaches. Data included acculturation level, coded caregiver interaction style, and reported caregiver preferred activities. Based on the integration of these data and other sources, several themes and promising interventions were identified for Latino caregivers of young children. The use of imperatives, asking questions to redirect attention, and explicit teaching are discussed as well as ways to expand upon these behaviors through request for clarification, use of expansions, focused stimulation, and dialogic reading. Identifying culturally congruent interventions that fit with caregiver’s style and prepares the child for academic settings is also discussed.