Penelope K. Hall

Part IV: Treatment of DAS.

Three previous letters written to the parent(s) of children with developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) described the speech characteristics of DAS, the nature and causes of the disorder, and problems that often co-occur with DAS. This final letter discusses the treatment of DAS and includes an appendix of publications for a more complete review of this aspect of the problem.

Part I: Speech Characteristics of the Disorder.

Practicing speech-language pathologists frequently ask about the existence of information regarding developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) that they can share with the parents of their clients and patients. Hoping to fill a need, a series of letters, addressed to the parent(s) of a child with DAS, has been written. These letters discuss such issues as the nature and causes of DAS, other problems often associated with the disorder, and the treatment of DAS. This initial letter discusses the characteristics involved in the disorder. Included with this letter is an appendix of publications that may be helpful for both parents and speech-language pathologists.

Part III: Other Problems Often Associated With the Disorder

Two previous letters written to the parent(s) of children with developmental apraxia of speech (DAS) shared information regarding the speech characteristics and the current thinking concerning the nature and causes of the disorder. A future letter will discuss treatment of DAS. However, children with DAS often seem to have problems in addition to those involving their speech production. This third letter discusses several of the problems that may co-occur with DAS, and includes an appendix of publications that can provide additional information concerning other problems that may be present with DAS.

An Assessment of a Controlled Association Task to Identify Word-Finding Problems in Children

Assessment tasks purported to identify or describe word-finding problems are reviewed. Data comparing the performances of normal and disordered language-learning children on a specific controlled w...

Nasality and precision of articulation.

Two reading passages, one with nasal consonants and one without, were tape-recorded for 72 subjects: 34 selected as having precise articulation and 38 selected as having imprecise articulation. These speech samples were evaluated for degree of precision and also for degree of nasality by the psychological scaling method of equal-appearing intervals employing a 7-point scale. Analysis indicated a relationship between degree of precision and degree of unpleasant nasality, that is, a tendency for decreases in precision to be accompanied by increases in nasality and a tendency for males to be more imprecise in articulation and more nasal than females.

The Use of Preprofessional Students as Communication Aides in the Schools

A cooperative program was developed between a university and the public schools where preprofessional undergraduate students were trained as communication aides and worked in elementary schools und...

Part IIThe Nature and Causes of DAS

In a previous letter to the parent(s) of children with developmental apraxia of speech (DAS), the speech characteristics often exhibited as part of the disorder were described. In this second letter, the issues involved in current thinking about the nature of the disorder are explored. Also shared is information concerning what is thought to be known about the causes of the disorder. An appendix of publications exploring these issues appears at the end of the letter.

Assessing Referential Communication Skills: The Use of a Non-Standardized Assessment Procedure.

This article describes a method used to assess the degree to which school-aged children with communication disorders are competent with one aspect of referential communication, an important pragmatic skill. The focus of the article is on the development and use of a nonstandardized assessment probe that could have utility as part of a comprehensive diagnostic test battery for language disorders or for language therapy. Rationales for the use of nonstandardized probes, and results from presentations of the probe to a heterogeneous group of children with diagnosed communication disorders are discussed.

The Token and Reporter's Tests Using Two Scoring ConventionsA Normative Study With 286 Grade and Junior High Students

The performance of 286 children on the 36-item DeRenzi and Faglioni form of the Token Test and the 26-item DeRenzi and Ferrari Reporters Test were analyzed. Two different scoring conventions were ...

The Token and Reporter's TestsUse With 123 Language-Disordered Students

The performance of 123 language-disordered children on the DeRenzi and Faglioni form of the Token Test and the DeRenzi and Ferrari Reporters Test were analyzed using two scoring conventions, and t...