Private speech is a cognitive tool to guide thinking and behavior, yet its regulatory use in atypical development remains equivocal. This study investigated the influence of task difficulty on private speech in preschool children with attention or language difficulties. Measures of private speech use, form and content were obtained while 52 typically developing and 25 developmentally at-risk three- to four-year-old children completed Duplo construction and card sort tasks, each comprising two levels of challenge. In line with previous research, developmentally at-risk children used less internalized private speech than typically developing peers. However, both typically developing and at-risk children demonstrated a similar regulatory private speech response to difficulty with no systematic evidence of group difference. This was captured by an increase in all utterances, reduced private speech internalization, and more frequent forethought and self-reflective content. Results support the hypothesis of delayed private speech internalization but not regulatory deviance in atypical development.

Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have impairments in their language-learning abilities that may influence interactions with environmental opportunities to learn two languages. This study explores relationships between proficiency in L1 and L2 and a set of environmental and personal variables within a group of school-age Spanish–English bilingual children with DLD and a group of typically-developing peers. Within each group, current usage in the home, length of L2 exposure, gender, maternal education, analytical reasoning, and number of L1 conversational partners were used to predict proficiency in each language. Results showed that home language environment, particularly home L2 usage, strongly predicted L1 proficiency but had less influence on the L2. Female gender predicted L1 skills in both groups, whereas analytical reasoning predicted both L1 and L2 but only for children with DLD. This study expands the limited literature on how children with DLD interact with their environment to learn two languages.

Specific language impairment (SLI) is a very common childhood disorder that is characterized by impairments in expressive and/or receptive language regarding different modalities. Part V of the German version of the Token Test was evaluated as a potential screening tool for the early detection of SLI. Forty-five male and 16 female monolingual native German-speaking preschoolers with SLI (4–6 years) and 61 age- and gender-matched typically developing controls were examined with a German version of the Token Test and an established intelligence measure. Token Test performance was significantly worse in preschoolers with SLI including greater group differences at age 4 than at ages 5 and 6. Analyses showed a detection rate of 77% for Part V of the Token Test in the whole sample as well as 85.1% at age 4, 80.6% at age 5, and a nonsignificant detection at age 6. Correctly detected preschoolers with SLI showed significantly worse performance than typically developing controls regarding nonverbal and verbal intelligence, numeracy, problem solving, working memory, visual attention, and memory. Children with SLI show worse Token Test performance, whereas at ages 4 and 5, Part V of the Token Test could potentially serve as a screening tool for the detection of SLI.

The ability to generate narratives is important for literacy development. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been found to generate less complex narratives than typically developing peers. This pilot AB study was designed to investigate the efficacy of a brief intervention procedure to develop the macrostructure of original fictional narratives based on a realistic scenario in one child, aged 9 years 8 months, with autism spectrum disorder and language disorder. The intervention targeted the characters, setting, problem, feelings, and fix of fictional narrative. Intervention involved the use of macrostructure icons, pictures to support the generation of narratives, clinician modelling, and the participant telling the entire narrative each session. The participant received 12 training sessions of 4–6 minutes each and the intervention was effective. Areas for future research include implementation of a stronger research design and investigation of generalisation to fantasy-based fictional narratives.

Self-directed speech is considered an important developmental achievement as a self-regulatory mediator of thinking and behavior. Atypical self-directed speech is often implicated in the self-regulatory challenges characteristic of children with neurodevelopmental disorders. A growing body of evidence provides snapshots across age-levels and diagnoses, often presenting conflicting results. This systematic review is undertaken to impose clarity on the nature, extent, and self-regulatory implications of self-directed speech interruption in children with developmental language disorder (DLD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

A rigorous search process of relevant databases (i.e., PsychInfo, PubMed, CINAHL, ERIC) uncovered 19 relevant peer-reviewed articles that investigate self-directed speech in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Consistent across the research, children with DLD, ASD, and ADHD present with differential development and use of self-directed speech.

In its synthesis of findings, this systematic review clearly explicates the differential ontogenesis of self-directed speech in neurodevelopmental disorders and interprets the self-regulatory implications for children with DLD, ASD, and ADHD. Furthermore, the review spotlights important future research directions to better understand the mechanistic relationship between self-directed speech and self-regulation.

Executive functioning was investigated in 34 children (24 boys and 10 girls) with developmental language disorder (DLD) and 21 children (18 boys and 3 girls) with high-functioning autistic disorder (HAD) matched on Full Scale IQ, Nonverbal IQ, age (mean age 9 year, 1 month), and SES. The DLD group had a Verbal IQ that was 10 points higher than the HAD group. These children were given the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the Mazes subtest from the WISC-R, the Underlining test, and the Rapid Automatized Naming test. In addition, these children were given the Vineland Scales of Adaptive Functioning and the Wing Diagnostic Symptom Checklist in order to assess severity of autistic symptomatology. Results indicated that the only significant difference between the two groups on the cognitive tasks was perseverative errors on the WCST; there was no significant difference on total number of categories achieved or total number of errors on the WCST or on the other executive function measures. There was also significant overlap in the scores between the two groups and the difference in perseverative errors was no longer significant when Verbal IQ was partialled out. Executive functioning was strongly related to all IQ variables in the DLD group and particularly related to Verbal IQ in the HAD group. Although there was a relationship in the HAD group between executive functioning and adaptive functioning, as well as between executive functioning and autistic symptomatology, these relationships were generally no longer significant in the HAD group after the variance due to Verbal IQ was accounted for. The results are interpreted to indicate that although impaired executive functioning is a commonly associated feature of autism, it is not universal in autism and is unlikely to cause autistic behaviors or deficits in adaptive function.

Data from two twin studies are examined to assess genetic and environmental influences on literacy, and the etiological relationship between language and literacy. Study 1 used children from 86 families previously recruited for a study of the genetics of specific language impairment (see Bishop, North, & Donlan, 1995), who completed tests of single-word reading and spelling. Literacy problems in this sample were common, were strongly heritable, and showed a close genetic relationship with poor nonword repetition. Study 2 included two subsets of children: 37 twin pairs who had taken part in study 1, 3 to 4 years earlier, and 100 twin pairs recruited from the general population by Bishop et al. (1999). All children were given a standardised test of nonword reading. There was no genetic influence on nonword reading ability, either across the normal range, or at the lower extreme, though there were significant associations with some social variables. However, bivariate DeFries–Fulker analysis suggested that in this study, as in study 1, there was shared genetic variance between poor nonword repetition and literacy deficits. It is concluded that poor nonword repetition, which is known to be highly heritable, puts the child at risk for literacy problems. However, in a general population sample, such as that included in study 2, poor nonword repetition is a relatively rare correlate of literacy problems, which are more likely to have an environmental origin. Thus the different pattern of results in the two studies can be explained if one assumes that genetic influences are substantial only when literacy problems are severe and/or accompanied by oral language difficulties.

In this paper we compare adult outcome in a group of young men with autism and a group with developmental receptive language disorders. The two groups were first assessed in early childhood, when aged 7 to 8 years of age. Although matched at that time for nonverbal IQ (mean 92–93) and expressive language ability, the Autism group was significantly more impaired on most measures of social and communication skills and stereotyped behaviours. A later follow-up, in mid-childhood, suggested that although the groups were still quite distinct, social and behavioural problems had become more apparent in the Language group. The current study was completed when the participants were aged, on average, 23 to 24 years. The findings indicated that verbal IQ and receptive language scores had improved significantly more in the Autism group than in the Language group over time. Moreover, although the Language group were less severely impaired in their social use of language, many showed a number of abnormal features in this domain. There were no differences between the groups on tests of reading or spelling. Discriminant function analysis, which had clearly distinguished between the groups as children, now showed much greater overlap between them. Regression analysis indicated that although early language ability appeared to be related to outcome in the Autism group, in the Language group there was little association between measures of childhood functioning and later progress. The implications of these findings for understanding the nature of the underlying deficit in autism and the relationship between the two disorders are discussed.

This paper focuses on general social functioning in two groups of young men, one with autism and one with developmental receptive language disorders, who were first assessed at the ages of 7–8 years. At that time, although matched for nonverbal IQ (mean 92–93) and expressive language, the Language group showed significantly fewer social and behavioural problems. At follow-up, when aged on average, 23 to 24 years, the Autism group continued to show significantly more impairments in terms of stereotyped behaviour patterns, social relationships, jobs, and independence. However, problems in all these areas were also common in the Language group. Many still lived with their parents, few had close friends or permanent jobs, and ratings of social interaction indicated abnormalities in a number of different areas. On a composite measure of social competence only 10% of the Language group was assessed as having severe social difficulties compared to 74% of the Autism group. Nevertheless, 65% were rated as having moderate social problems and only 25% were rated as being of near/normal social functioning. Two individuals in the Language group, but none in the Autism group, had also developed a florid paranoid psychosis in late adolescence.

As in the follow-up of cognitive and linguistic functioning (see Mawhood et al., 2000, this volume, pp. 547–559), discriminant function analysis, which had clearly distinguished between the groups as children, now showed much greater overlap between them. Regression analysis indicated that although early language ability appeared to be related to outcome in the Autism group, there was little association between any measures of childhood functioning and prognosis in the Language group. Theoretically, these findings have implications for our understanding of the nature of autism and other pervasive language disorders, and of the relationship between them. Practically, they demonstrate the very persistent problems experienced by individuals with developmental language disorders, and their need for much greater help and support than is presently available.

Children with language impairment (LI) have been shown to be at risk for reading disability (RD) and behavior disorder (BD). Previous research has not determined the specific pattern of these conditions associated with LI. This study sought to determine if the behavior disorder and reading problems represented different outcomes or if these conditions occurred together when found with LI. A group of 581 second-grade children, including 164 children with LI, were examined for spoken language, reading, and behavior disorder. The data for each of these areas were examined as dimensional traits and as clinical categorical traits.

Reading and spoken language were found to be strongly correlated (r = .68); RD was found in 52% of the children with LI and in only 9% of the controls. Scores of parent ratings for BD were also significantly correlated with spoken language scores (r = .29). Clinical levels of BD were found in 29% of the children with LI and 19% of the controls. An examination of the co-occurrence of clinical levels of BD, RD, and LI showed BD in children with LI to be conditioned by the child's reading status. The data indicated that whereas RD was directly associated with BD, the association of LI with BD required the mediation of RD.

This review of children's language learning considers historical accounts of acquisition and individual variation, recent advances in methods for studying language learning, research on genetic and environmental input that have contributed to the interactionist perspective, and the relevance of cross-disciplinary work on language disorders and the biology of learning to future theories. It concludes that the study of children's language development is converging on an interactionist perspective of how children learn to talk, incorporating the contributions of both nature and nurture to emergent, functional language systems. Language learning is viewed as an integration of learning in multiple domains.

The purpose of the current study was to examine whether types of discourse deficits were associated differentially with psychiatric disorders (PD) and with language impairments (LI) in children. Discourse analyses examining the occurrence of different types of discourse deficits in language structure, information structure, and flow of information were performed on the spoken narratives of 111 children aged 7 to 12 years who comprised 4 groups: (1) psychiatrically referred children with LI (PD+LI), (2) psychiatrically referred children with normally developing language (PD), (3) nonreferred children with language impairments (LI), and (4) nonreferred children with normally developing language (controls). Discourse deficits in language and information structure characterized children with LI, whereas disruptions in the flow of discourse characterized children with PD. Children with the comorbid condition exhibited deficits associated with both LI and PD; in addition, they displayed distinct deficits related to pronominal reference and causal cohesion. The findings provide a preliminary understanding of the associations among language, discourse, and psychopathology in children.

This study examined characteristics of social cognitive processing, psychiatric disorder, and behavioral ratings of 380 children aged 7 to 14 years who had been referred consecutively for child psychiatric services with identified and unsuspected language impairments and with normally developing language. The results indicated that children with language impairments generally exhibited greater deficits in social cognitive processing, and particularly emotion decoding and social problem solving, than children who have language that is developing normally. Differences in psychiatric diagnosis and behavior problems were observed only between children with previously identified language impairments and children with normally developing language; children with previously identified language impairments were more likely to be diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and to be rated by both parents and teachers as having more severe attentional problems. In addition, teachers rated them as more socially withdrawn. The results suggest that it is important to incorporate measures of both social cognition and language functioning routinely into clinical assessment, something that currently is rarely done.