Phonological Development in Hearing Children of Deaf Parents

Phonological development in hearing children of deaf parents Dr. Diane Lillo-Martin 5/9/2010 The researcher wishes to determine the significance of a unique linguistic environment on the effects of phonological development. The research examines whether 3 hearing children of deaf parents, hereafter referred to as CODAs, have inconsistencies, as compared to children in a typical linguistic environment, in their syllable structure, phonological processes or phonemic inventories. More specifically, the research asks whether their speech is more consistent with children of typical environments or more similar to children with phonological delays or disorders or articulation disorders. After the examination of these three components to a child's phonological development, it can be concluded that the linguistic environment of CODA children does not negatively hinder their phonological language development.

Joint Attention in Young Children with Autism

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are classified as pervasive developmental disorders characterized by social, communicative, and behavioral impairments. According to formal and informal reports, children with ASD present with receptive and expressive language delay. Joint attention (JA: the behavior that occurs when two individuals focus on the same object or event) has been identified as a possible marker of delayed language development in children with ASD. In this study, the JA behaviors in children with ASD were contrasted with initially language-matched typically developing (TYP) children across three visits. Measures of language, the frequency, duration, and source of initiation of JA episodes, and the choice of toy during those episodes, were coded. Across visits and groups, mothers initiated more JA episodes than children; however, typical children also initiated more JA episodes than ASD children at visits 1 and 2. Also, the total duration of typically developing children’s JA episodes was generally longer than that of the ASD children’s, significantly so at Visit 2. Significant associations emerged between children’s vocabulary and two measures of JA: frequency and number of maternal initiations. Teaching parents to incorporate JA training in their interactions with their children may likely help children with ASD acquire language.

Hole in the Head: a Play, Accompanied by a Conspectus of Knowledge, Both Repressed and Researched, that Directly Influenced the Playwright in Her Development of a New Work

"Hole in the Head" is a play about a woman who wakes up. Maude wakes up in the first act, and in every subsequent scene she undergoes some form of physical or emotional awakening as characters walk in and out of her front door."Hole in the Head" is accompanied by an introduction that attempts to understand the interplay between creativity and academia through an analysis of theatre, feminist and queer theory, and science.