This investigation examined the reading outcomes of children with language impairments (LI). A large subsample of children who participated in an epidemiologic study of language impairments in kindergarten (J. B. Tomblin, N. Records, P. Buckwalter, X. Zhang, E. Smith, & M. O'Brien, 1997) was followed into second and fourth grades. Participants' language, reading, and nonverbal cognitive abilities were assessed. Results indicated that children with LI in kindergarten were at a high risk for reading disabilities in second and fourth grades. This risk was higher for children with a nonspecific language impairment (nonverbal and language deficits) than for those with a specific language impairment (deficits in language alone). Children with LI in kindergarten who had improved in spoken language abilities by second and fourth grades had better reading outcomes than those with persistent language impairments. Also, children's literacy knowledge/ experience in kindergarten and their initial reading achievement in second grade were good predictors of subsequent reading outcomes.

Research over the past 50 years has yielded several promising approaches and many specific intervention techniques designed to enhance the communication and language development of young children with intellectual and developmental delays and disabilities. Yet virtually no systematic research has been conducted on the effects of different treatment intensities. We review how intervention intensity has been defined in the literature and propose a set of terms borrowed from medicine that are intended to capture the dynamic aspects of this concept as an aid to further investigation. On the basis of this approach, we propose four types of knowledge that can be generated through the systematic study of treatment intensity and discuss appropriate methods for investigating the effects of differential treatment intensities. We conclude with three recommendations for the field.

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A logistic regression formula and classification data based on these results are provided. Suggestions are offered concerning how this information could be used in an early identification and intervention program for children who are at risk for reading difficulties.

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The present study investigated the use of the Reading Component Model to subgroup poor readers. A large sample of poor readers was identified in second grade and subgrouped on the basis of relative strengths and weaknesses in word recognition and listening comprehension. Although homogeneous subgroups were not identified, poor readers could be classified into four subgroups that differed significantly in reading-related abilities. Further analyses showed that poor readers' strengths and weaknesses in listening comprehension, and to a lesser extent in word recognition, were foreshadowed by their abilities on related kindergarten measures. Follow-up testing in the fourth grade indicated that poor readers' individual differences in word recognition and listening comprehension were consistent and that subgroups were moderately stable. The implications of these results for the assessment and remediation of reading disabilities are discussed.

In this study 538 children composed 1 oral and 1 written fictional story in both 2nd and 4th grades. Each child represented 1 of 4 diagnostic groups: typical language (TL), specific language impairment (SLI), nonspecific language impairment (NLI), or low nonverbal IQ (LNIQ). The stories of the TL group had more different words, more grammatical complexity, fewer errors, and more overall quality than either language-impaired group at either grade. Stories of the SLI and LNIQ groups were consistently stronger than were those of the NLI group. Kindergarten children with language impairment (LI) whose standardized test performance suggested normalization by 2nd grade also appeared to have recovered in storytelling abilities at that point. By 4th grade, however, these children's stories were less like the children with TL and more like those of children with persistent LI than they had been in 2nd grade. Oral stories were better than written stories in both grades, although the greatest gains from 2nd to 4th grade were generally made on written stories. Girls told stronger stories than did boys at both grades, regardless of group placement. It is concluded that story composition tasks are educationally relevant and should play a significant role in the evaluation of children with developmental LI.

Two approaches to grammar facilitation in preschool-age children with language impairment were evaluated. One approach was administered by a speech-language pathologist and the other was presented by the subjects’ parents, who were trained by the speech-language pathologist. Both treatment packages ran for 4 ½ months and made use of focused stimulation procedures and a cyclical goal-attack strategy. Subjects were 30 children between the ages of 3:8 and 5:10 (years:months) who had marked delays in grammatical development. Children who served in a delayed-treatment control group averaged no gains over their no-treatment period. In contrast, large treatment effects were observed for both treatment groups on three of four measures of grammatical expression. However, closer inspection of the data revealed that the effects for the clinician treatment were more consistent across treatment administrations than were those for the parent treatment. Although the specific contributions of the focused stimulation procedures and the cyclical goal attack strategy were not evaluated, the results support the viability of these components as parts of larger treatment packages. The results also support the participation of parents as primary intervention agents in grammar facilitation programs. When parents take such a large role in the intervention process, however, it is imperative that the children’s progress be monitored carefully and that program adjustments be made whenever gains are smaller than expected.