Sean M. Redmond

Conversational profiles of children with ADHD, SLI and typical development

Conversational indices of language impairment were used to investigate similarities and differences among children with Attention‐Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and children with typical development (TD). Utterance formulation measures (per cent words mazed and average number of words per maze) differentiated the ADHD group from the SLI and TD groups (ADHD>TD=SLI). In contrast, measures of lexical diversity, average sentence length and morphosyntactic development (number of different words, MLU, and composite tense) differentiated the SLI group from the ADHD and TD groups (SLI<ADHD=TD). High levels of within group variation were observed in childrens speaking rate (words per minute). Implications for differential diagnosis and the establishment of phenotypes for developmental language disorders are discussed.

Differentiating SLI from ADHD using children's sentence recall and production of past tense morphology

Measures of sentence recall and past tense marking were used to examine the similarities and differences between children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), children with specific language impairment (SLI), and typically developing (TD) children. Both SLI and ADHD group means for sentence recall tasks were significantly lower than the TD control group (SLI<ADHD<TD). In contrast, limitations in past tense marking were characteristic of the SLI group (SLI<ADHD = TD). Frequent affix omissions or bare stem errors (e.g. the girl colour the picture; the girl fall in the net) differentiated the SLI group from the other two groups. Over‐regularization errors (e.g. the girl falled into the net) did not (SLI = ADHD = TD). Clinical implications are discussed.

Contributions of Children's Linguistic and Working Memory Proficiencies to Their Judgments of Grammaticality

PURPOSE The authors explored the cognitive mechanisms involved in language processing by systematically examining the performance of children with deficits in the domains of working memory and language. METHOD From a database of 370 school-age children who had completed a grammaticality judgment task, groups were identified with a co-occurring language and working memory impairment (LI-WMI; n = 18) or specific language impairment (SLI) with typical working memory skills ( n = 60) and matched control groups. Correct and incorrect use of grammatical markers occurred either early or late in sentence stimuli, imposing a greater working memory load for late-marker sentences. RESULTS Children with SLI showed a lower preference for grammatical items than typically developing controls, regardless of error marker position. Children with LI-WMI demonstrated a performance pattern modulated by error marker position: Their preference for grammatical items was lower than typically developing controls for late but not early marker sentences. CONCLUSION This pattern of results suggests that there are distinct and dissociable impacts of working memory and linguistic skills on metalinguistic functioning through a grammatical judgment task.

Absenteeism Rates in Students Receiving Services for CDs, LDs, and EDs: A Macroscopic View of the Consequences of Disability

PURPOSE Elevated levels of absenteeism have been reported for students receiving special education services, especially students with learning disabilities (LDs) and emotional disturbances (EDs). In contrast, little is known about absenteeism rates associated with students with communication disorders (CDs). METHOD Archival records of student attendance for the 1997-2001 academic years from a mid-sized urban school district in the Intermountain West were used to examine absenteeism rates in students receiving services for CDs, LDs, and EDs. Two cohort samples were generated (K-4th grade and 5th-9th grade). RESULTS Students with CDs displayed absenteeism rates that were comparable to those of students receiving general education. Significant group and group x grade effects were found. Students in the LD and ED groups displayed elevated levels of absenteeism, especially at Grade 9. CONCLUSION The outcomes of this study support the characterization of the socioemotional concomitants associated with CDs as being typologically different and exerting a weaker influence on students health levels than those associated with either LDs or EDs.

Eliciting Verbs From Children With Specific Language Impairment

The focus of assessment and intervention is often aimed at increasing the lexical skills of young children with language impairment. Frequently, the use of nouns is the center of the lexical assess...

Consequences of Co-Occurring Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder on Children's Language Impairments

PURPOSE Co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and communication disorders represent a frequently encountered challenge for school-based practitioners. The purpose of the present study was to examine in more detail the clinical phenomenology of co-occurring ADHD and language impairments (LIs). METHOD Measures of nonword repetition, sentence recall, and tense marking were collected from 57 seven- to nine-year-old children. The performances of children with ADHD+LI status were compared with those of children with specific language impairment (SLI) and children with typical development (TD). RESULTS ADHD status had no independent detrimental impact on the affected childrens LIs (SLI = ADHD+LI < TD). A modest positive correlation was found between the severity of childrens ADHD symptoms and their sentence recall performance, suggesting a tendency for affected children who had higher levels of ADHD symptoms to perform better than those children with lower levels. CONCLUSION These outcomes are difficult to reconcile with attention-deficit/information-processing accounts of the core deficits associated with SLI. Potential protective mechanisms associated with ADHD status are discussed.

Markers, Models, and Measurement Error: Exploring the Links Between Attention Deficits and Language Impairments

PURPOSE The empirical record regarding the expected co-occurrence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and specific language impairment is confusing and contradictory. A research plan is presented that has the potential to untangle links between these 2 common neurodevelopmental disorders. METHOD Data from completed and ongoing research projects examining the relative value of different clinical markers for separating cases of specific language impairment from ADHD are presented. RESULTS The best option for measuring core language impairments in a manner that does not potentially penalize individuals with ADHD is to focus assessment on key grammatical and verbal memory skills. Likewise, assessment of ADHD symptoms through standardized informant rating scales is optimized when they are adjusted for overlapping language and academic symptoms. CONCLUSION As a collection, these clinical metrics set the stage for further examination of potential linkages between attention deficits and language impairments.

Language Impairment in the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Context

PURPOSE Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a ubiquitous designation that affects the identification, assessment, treatment, and study of pediatric language impairments (LIs). METHOD Current literature is reviewed in 4 areas: (a) the capacity of psycholinguistic, neuropsychological, and socioemotional behavioral indices to differentiate cases of LI from ADHD; (b) the impact of co-occurring ADHD on childrens LI; (c) cross-etiology comparisons of the nonlinguistic abilities of children with ADHD and specific LI (SLI); and (d) the extent to which ADHD contributes to educational and health disparities among individuals with LI. RESULTS Evidence is presented demonstrating the value of using adjusted parent ratings of ADHD symptoms and targeted assessments of childrens tense marking, nonword repetition, and sentence recall for differential diagnosis and the identification of comorbidity. Reports suggest that the presence of ADHD does not aggravate childrens LI. The potential value of cross-etiology comparisons testing the necessity and sufficiency of proposed nonlinguistic contributors to the etiology of SLI is demonstrated through key studies. Reports suggest that children with comorbid ADHD+LI receive speech-language services at a higher rate than children with SLI. CONCLUSION The ADHD context is multifaceted and provides the management and study of LI with both opportunities and obstacles.

A cross-etiology comparison of the socio-emotional behavioral profiles associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and specific language impairment

Abstract Cross-etiology comparisons provide important information that can help practitioners establish criteria for differential diagnosis and tailor interventions towards the source of children’s difficulties. This study examined the extent to which parent rating scales of socioemotional behavioral difficulties differentiate cases of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from cases of specific language impairment (SLI), and typical development (TD). Parents of 60 children (7–8 years) completed the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) and the Conners Parent Rating Scale-Revised (Conners, 2004). Significant differences were observed between ratings provided for the children with ADHD and the children with SLI and TD across several scales which assessed behavioral and emotional difficulties. Most of the observed differences between ratings provided for the SLI and TD groups were not significant when nonverbal IQ was treated as a covariate or when syndrome scales were adjusted for the presence of language and academic items. In contrast, these adjustments had little impact on observed differences between the children with ADHD and the other groups. These results highlight important and clinically useful differences between the scope and the scale of socioemotional behavior difficulties associated with ADHD and SLI.

Is Speed of Stimulus Categorization Slower in Stuttering Speakers? A Cognitive Event-Related Potential Study

This study examined stimuli classification skills in stuttering and nonstuttering speakers using a group study design across two measurement times. Auditory P300 event-related potentials were assessed in 10 stuttering speakers and 12 nonstuttering speakers. Study participants were recorded twice: stuttering speakers before and after a 3-week stuttering modification treatment program and controls three weeks apart. Right and left hemispheric P300 responses to tonal and speechlike stimuli were measured