Nickola Wolf Nelson

Measuring written language ability in narrative samples

A language-levels model was used to analyze written narratives. The results have implications for instruction and for documenting change in the story-writing performance of students with and without special needs in the area of written language development. This study was based on stories written at midyear by 277 students (224 typical learners and 53 children with special difficulty in the area of written language) across grade levels one through five. Measures that differentiated students by grade level and special difficulty are reported by language level. Discourse-level measures were total words, total T-units, and story scores. Sentence-level measures were sentence codes (simple or complex, correct or incorrect), mean length of T-unit, and number and types of conjunctions. Word-level measures were number of different words and proportions of words spelled correctly. Gender differences were found for productivity measures in favor of females; no differences were found when comparing stories written by African American and Caucasian students.

Performance is the prize: Language competence and performance among AAC users

The acquisition of language by children who are nonspeaking is associated with special concerns that are sometimes overlooked. A newer view of language competence and performance suggests that, rather than being simply a front for underlying language competence, language performance is what a person really knows about language. Under this view, what the person knows is actually different in different contexts, when different modalities are used for input and output, and when different levels of support are available from the environment. Implications are considered for assessing and fostering development in the domains of phonology, lexicon, syntax, morphology, speech acts, conversation, and discourse. The “domain model” is combined with Snows (1991) “task model” of communicative competence, which encompasses the dimensions of audience, background, and message. The combined models may be used for designing systematic assessment and intervention activities to help children develop into competent, literate...

Curriculum-Based Language Assessment and Intervention

The rationale and methods for conducting curriculum-based language assessment and intervention are discussed. Such procedures involve the use of curriculum content and contexts for measuring a stud...

The Responsiveness to Intervention Approach and Language Impairment.

To date, research, development, and implementation efforts in responsiveness to intervention (RTI) approaches have focused on prevention and often identification of learning disabilities. In this article, the authors extend the conversation to considering an RTI-type approach as being useful in changing the way prevention and identification of language impairments are addressed in the schools. Current practices in serving students with language impairment are explored as a backdrop for considering new assessment, intervention, and program delivery approaches. Among the focal points in this discussion, RTI is presented as a possible alternative to the cognitive referencing approach to establishing language impairment eligibility. Other beneficial RTI factors are explored, including the utility of RTI as a prevention framework, universal screening, tiered instruction/intervention, and a teach-test-reteach approach. Specific suggestions are provided to researchers and clinicians, including placing emphasis on moving from a caseload to a workload approach to service delivery.

The Effects of Text-Based and Graphics-Based Software Tools on Planning and Organizing of Stories

This article describes a research study comparing the effects of two computer-based writing tools on the story-writing skills of fourth-through eighth-grade students with language-related learning disabilities. The first tool, the prompted writing feature of FrEdWriter (Rogers, 1985), allowed students to answer story grammar questions, then type stories using those responses as the plan; the second tool, Once Upon a Time (Urban, Rushing, & Star, 1990), allowed students to create graphic scenes, then type stories about those scenes. Nine students attended a series of afterschool writing labs twice weekly for 11 weeks, using each tool for half of the writing sessions. Group results did not clearly favor either tool; however, individual differences suggested that use of planning features should be linked to student needs. Students who had less internal organizational ability benefited from the computer-presented story grammar prompts and wrote less mature stories when using the graphics-based tool. Students with relatively strong organizational skills wrote more mature stories with the graphics-based tool.

Longitudinal follow-up of factors associated with food selectivity in children with autism spectrum disorders

The objective of this study was to examine food selectivity in children with autism spectrum disorders longitudinally. Additionally explored were the stability of the relationship between food selectivity and sensory over-responsivity from time 1 to time 2 and the association between food selectivity and restricted and repetitive behavior at time 2. A total of 52 parents of children with autism were surveyed approximately 20 months after completing an initial questionnaire. First and second surveys each contained identical parent-response item to categorize food selectivity level and a scale to measure sensory over-responsivity. A new scale to measure restricted and repetitive behaviors was added at time 2. Results comparing time 1 to time 2 indicated no change in food selectivity level and a stable, significant relationship between food selectivity and sensory over-responsivity. The measure of restrictive and repetitive behavior (time 2) was found to significantly predict membership in the severe food selectivity group. However, when sensory over-responsivity and both restricted and repetitive behaviors were included in the regression model, only sensory over-responsivity significantly predicted severe food selectivity. These results support conclusions about the chronicity of food selectivity in young children with autism and the consistent relationship between food selectivity and sensory over-responsivity.

Language and Communication in Autism: An Integrated View

Children with autism spectrum disorders can have varying degrees of difficulty acquiring spoken and written language, but symptoms of communication impairment associated with social impairment are uniformly present, distinguishing autism spectrum disorders from other neurodevelopmental disabilities. Early diagnosis and early intervention involving parents can improve prognosis. Red flags for social communication problems can be observed early. This article summarizes findings from the National Standards Project of the National Autism Center, which identified 11 types of treatment, 8 of which address communication. Both contemporary behavioral approaches and naturalistic developmental approaches are included in this set.

Formal Classroom Lessons: New Perspectives on a Familiar Discourse Event.

Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to analyze the discourse expectations of formal classroom lessons in order to provide an informational base for curriculum-based language intervention...

Development of the pediatric test of brain injury.

Objective:The Pediatric Test of Traumatic Brain Injury (PTBI) 1 (currently in its research edition) is a tool for assessing the cognitive-linguistic skills of school-aged children and adolescents in acute care and rehabilitation settings after traumatic brain injury. Development of the PTBI was motivated by the fact that, to date, no standardized test has been available to assess the full range of cognitive-linguistic impairments associated with pediatric brain injury. In this article we describe how the research edition of the PTBI was developed, provide rationale for the areas of assessment, discuss a plan for standardization, and illustrate its use with three children with TBI. Design:The PTBI was constructed to sample the attention, memory, language, reading, writing, metalinguistic, and metacognitive skills that are particularly at risk in pediatric brain injury and that are relevant to the general education curriculum. Material:The test material for the PTBI was selected on the basis of clinical and experimental evidence that children and adolescents with TBI demonstrate a wide range of cognitive and language deficits. These first appear in the early stages of recovery and often persist but change over time. Conclusion:Our goal is to standardize the PTBI so it can be used to establish baseline behaviors and track cognitive-linguistic recovery.

Associations of Physiological Factors, Age, and Sensory Over-Responsivity with Food Selectivity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship among physiological factors, age, sensory over-responsivity (SOR) and food selectivity in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). METHODS: One hundred forty-one parents of children with ASD were recruited through a national autism organization, Autism Speaks, to fill out a survey regarding their child’s mealtime behavior. Survey contained items to measure the severity of food selectivity behavior, the presence of physiological factors (i.e., reflux, constipation, food allergies and the need for a specialized diet) and sensory over-responsivity (SOR). Results were analyzed using Chi Square, ANOVA and logistic regression. RESULTS: No relationship between physiological factors and level of food selectivity was found. Older children in the 3-9 year old range did not have more foods in their diet repertoire than younger children. Finally, children with fewer than 10 and those with 11-20 foods in their diet (i.e., severe food selectivity and moderate food selectivity respectively) were found to have significantly higher scores on a measure of SOR when compared to children with 21+ foods (typical selectivity). CONCLUSIONS: When addressing food selectivity in children with ASD, consideration of the possibility that the child may not outgrow restricted diets is warranted. Also, treatment for food selectivity may be more effective if SOR is included in protocol.