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Communication Impairments (communication + impairment)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	33%

Selected Abstracts

Adults with intellectual disabilities: prevalence, incidence and remission of self-injurious behaviour, and related factors

JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009
S.-A. Cooper
Abstract Background Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) is a serious condition, with implications for the person, their family and financial costs to the state providing care. The previously reported prevalence of SIB has ranged from 1.7% to 41%, or 1.7%,23.7% in community studies. There has been little study of remission rate, and incidence has not previously been reported. SIB has been reported to be individually associated with lower ability, autism and communication impairments, but given the inter-relationships between these three factors, it is not known whether they are independently associated with SIB. This study investigates the point prevalence, incidence and remission rates of SIB among the adult population with intellectual disabilities (ID), and explores which factors are independently associated with SIB. Method A prospective cohort study design was used in a general community setting. The participants were all adults (16 years and over) with ID in a defined geographical area. Individual assessments were conducted with all participants. Results The point prevalence of SIB (as defined by DC-LD) was 4.9%, the two-year incidence was 0.6%, and two-year remission rate was 38.2%. Independently related to SIB were: lower ability level, not living with a family carer, having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, visual impairment, and not having Down syndrome. Other factors, including communication impairment, autism, and level of deprivation of the area resided within, were not related. Conclusions SIB is not as enduring and persistent as previously thought; a significant proportion gains remission in this time period. This should provide hope for families, paid carers and professionals, and reduce therapeutic nihilism. Our study is a first tentative step towards identifying risk-markers for SIB, and developing aetiological hypotheses for subsequent testing. The extent to which SIB may be a relapsing-remitting (episodic) condition requires further investigation, so does further hypothesis-based investigation of factors that might be predictive of incidence of, and remission from, SIB. [source]

The depiction of stuttering in contemporary juvenile fiction: Implications for clinical practice

PSYCHOLOGY IN THE SCHOOLS, Issue 7 2008
Kenneth J. Logan
We reviewed 29 contemporary juvenile fiction books featuring characters who stutter to assess the presentation of stuttering-related content. Although plots varied widely, most characters displayed attributes or accomplishments that offset their communication impairment. Many characters improved social and/or communicative functioning during the stories, though rarely in conjunction with professionally administered intervention. Most books depicted listener responses to stuttering, including impatience, teasing, ridicule, and bullying. Some books contained incorrect or distorted information, which could convey the mistaken impression that stuttering is simply a symptom of emotional distress. Nonetheless, most portrayals of stuttering seemed sufficient for the books to be considered for use as an instructional tool in certain education and intervention activities. Potential applications of the books in these contexts are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

A locus for an auditory processing deficit and language impairment in an extended pedigree maps to 12p13.31-q14.3

GENES, BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR, Issue 6 2010
L. Addis
Despite the apparent robustness of language learning in humans, a large number of children still fail to develop appropriate language skills despite adequate means and opportunity. Most cases of language impairment have a complex etiology, with genetic and environmental influences. In contrast, we describe a three-generation German family who present with an apparently simple segregation of language impairment. Investigations of the family indicate auditory processing difficulties as a core deficit. Affected members performed poorly on a nonword repetition task and present with communication impairments. The brain activation pattern for syllable duration as measured by event-related brain potentials showed clear differences between affected family members and controls, with only affected members displaying a late discrimination negativity. In conjunction with psychoacoustic data showing deficiencies in auditory duration discrimination, the present results indicate increased processing demands in discriminating syllables of different duration. This, we argue, forms the cognitive basis of the observed language impairment in this family. Genome-wide linkage analysis showed a haplotype in the central region of chromosome 12 which reaches the maximum possible logarithm of odds ratio (LOD) score and fully co-segregates with the language impairment, consistent with an autosomal dominant, fully penetrant mode of inheritance. Whole genome analysis yielded no novel inherited copy number variants strengthening the case for a simple inheritance pattern. Several genes in this region of chromosome 12 which are potentially implicated in language impairment did not contain polymorphisms likely to be the causative mutation, which is as yet unknown. [source]

Adults with intellectual disabilities: prevalence, incidence and remission of self-injurious behaviour, and related factors

Practitioner Review: The assessment of language pragmatics

THE JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY AND ALLIED DISCIPLINES, Issue 8 2002
Catherine Adams
Background: The assessment of pragmatics expressed in spoken language is a central issue in the evaluation of children with communication impairments and related disorders. A developmental approach to assessment has remained problematic due to the complex interaction of social, linguistic, cognitive and cultural influences on pragmatics. Method: A selective review and critique of current formal and informal testing methods and pragmatic analytic procedures. Results: Formal testing of pragmatics has limited potential to reveal the typical pragmatic abnormalities in interaction but has a significant role to play in the assessment of comprehension of pragmatic intent. Clinical assessment of pragmatics with the pre-school child should focus on elicitation of communicative intent via naturalistic methods as part of an overall assessment of social communication skills. Assessments for older children should include a comprehensive investigation of speech acts, conversational and narrative abilities, the understanding of implicature and intent as well as the child's ability to employ contextual cues to understanding. Practical recommendations are made regarding the choice of a core set of pragmatic assessments and elicitation techniques. The practitioner's attention is drawn to the lack of the usual safeguards of reliability and validity that have persisted in some language pragmatics assessments. Conclusions: A core set of pragmatic assessment tools can be identified from the proliferation of instruments in current use. Further research is required to establish clearer norms and ranges in the development of pragmatic ability, particularly with respect to the understanding of inference, topic management and coherence. [source]

Supporting the Participation of Disabled Children and Young People in Decision-making

CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 1 2009
Anita Franklin
Increasing children's and young people's participation in decisions, about their own care and about service development, is a policy priority. Although in general participation is increasing, disabled children are less likely to be involved than non-disabled children and it is unclear to what extent children with complex needs or communication impairments are being included in participation activities. This article presents research exploring factors to support good practice in participation and discusses policy and practice implications. [source]