Part 1 Defining language and communication disorders: language and communication; language, spoken language and speech; disorder, disability, impairment, delay and deviance; standards of comparison. Part 2 Categorizing language and communication disorders: the medical approach; the linguistic approach; combining the medical and linguistic taxonomies. Part 3 Prevalence of language disorders in children. Part 4 Non-linguistic variables associated with language disorder: sex; social class; intelligence; behaviour problems; overview of variables associated with language disorders. Part 5 Prognosis for children with language disorders: stability of language disorders; prognosis for reading abilities; prognosis for intelligence; prognosis for behaviour problems; overview of longitudinal evidence. Part 6 Assessing language disorders: functions of assessment; contexts of assessment; standardized tests; naturalistic observations; non-standardized elicitations. Part 7 Intervention strategies: issues of intervention; goals of intervention; in intervention techniques; agents of intervention; settings of intervention; language units.
There are many ways of defining and categorizing language and communication disorders. This introduction examines the definitions of language impairments in children; categorizing language impairments; methods of diagnosis and assessment; related or accompanying problems; testing methods and strategies for intervention. Examining the prevalence of language disorders in children, the book is an important summary of current awareness of language impairments in children. It offers advice on assessment methods and intervention, and provides a detailed glossary of the most important terminology used in the book.
