Comparison of the types of child utterances mothers expand in children with language delays and with Down's syndrome.

Sixteen children with language delays and their mothers were studied to identify the types of child utterances mothers were most likely to expand. Eight of these children had Down's syndrome (DS), while the other eight were pairwise-matched for mean length of utterance (MLU) and did not have DS, but were language delayed. Twenty-minute mother-child free-play sessions were videotaped and transcribed. Trained observers coded utterances for child intelligibility, child utterance length, adult expansions and adult non-expansions. Sequential analysis results indicated that mothers of children with DS were more likely to expand partially intelligible multi-word utterances than to expand fully intelligible multi-word utterances. The opposite pattern occurred in the dyads without DS. Single-word utterances were least likely to be expanded in both groups. The implications of the results for language intervention and future research are discussed.

Mothers' lexicon of internal state words in speech to children with Down syndrome and to nonhandicapped children at mealtime.

This study examines internal state words in mothers' speech to children with Down syndrome, and the relation between the use of internal state words and the children's levels of social-adaptive, communicative, and linguistic functioning. Results indicate qualitative differences in mothers' use of internal state words to children with children Down syndrome, compared with a sample of maternal speech to nonhandicapped children who were matched on the Vineland scales for their level of adaptive functioning. Differences include use of fewer internal state words overall to children with Down syndrome, and different kinds of internal state words: more words referring to physiological states, and fewer words referring either to affect or to cognition. In general, child Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) was associated with the pattern of inner state words used by mothers, whereas no associations were found between children's social-adaptive competence and maternal input. Even when controlling for child MLU, there were, however, some qualitative differences in the inner state lexicons used to children with Down syndrome. Results suggest that speech to children with Down syndrome that is calibrated to their MLU may underestimate their competence in domains other than grammar.

Regular-class students' attitudes toward integrated multiply handicapped peers.

Regular-class students (N = 240) were questioned about their attitudes toward integrated multiply handicapped children. Factor analysis of the attitudes questionnaire revealed four dimensions of attitudes: casual-contact, contact-desire, deviance-tolerance, and peer-acceptance. The effects of sex, grade (or age), and integrated school experience on these dimensions were analyzed.