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In 1964, the author proposed a multisensory approach to reading, and reading was seen as a language skill related to the development of verbal symbolic behavior. A closer focus was permitted on the child's learning process, which consists of preverbal learning (perceptually automatized and subconsciously acquired) and conceptual learning (which is only accomplished when the child can bend his perceptually processed alphabets to his expressive verbal needs). Further research has indicated that an early development of either auditory or visual perceptual processes leads to early and accurate use of speech or reading, respectively. Research also has shown that as the child develops he appears to use one modality in preference to others in learning, but modality dominance tends to be overcome by most children around the age of 9. In 1969, perceptual process development was clearly defined by Chalfant and Schefflin, and since then a perceptual test battery which seeks to determine the level of development of necessary preverbal skills has been developed. Although the battery is still in an experimental form, sufficient research has been done with it to offer some direct observations. It was concluded that most research studies suggest that slower developing individual modalities is a natural process which should not be confused with other handicaps and that educational programs should be developed to suit the modality preference of the individual child. (AW)

Presented is an informal speech addressed to parents of exceptional children. Discussed is the fact that terminology for slow learners and learning disabilities has changed through the past 20 years and that many labels may be more harmful to the child than the actual disability. In an attempt to be reassuring, it is stated that in many cases speech, motor, and cognitive difficulties clear up in the development process if merely left to work themselves out at the child's own pace. Several individual cases are described. (JM)

TO DETERMINE WHETHER A SMALL PORTABLE INSTRUMENT COULD BE USED WITH SPEECH THERAPY TO REDUCE STAMMERING SEVERITY, AN ELECTRONIC SOUNDMAKING DEVICE WAS DEVELOPED. INDIVIDUALLY FITTED WITH MOLDED EARPLUGS, THE DEVICE WAS SIMILAR TO A HEARING AID BUT PRODUCED A CONSTANT TONE OF SUFFICIENT VOLUME TO INTERRUPT AUDITORY FEEDBACK DURING SPEECH AND THEREBY TO REDUCE THE CIRCULARITY OF NONFLUENCY. TO TEST THE DEVICE, SUBJECTS WERE SELECTED FROM GRADE SCHOOL, HIGH SCHOOL, AND COLLEGE. HALF OF THE SUBJECTS RECEIVED BIWEEKLY 1-HOUR SPEECH THERAPY FOR 6 MONTHS WITH THE USE OF THE AID. THE REMAINING SERVED AS CONTROLS AND RECEIVED NO THERAPY. EACH OF THE 24 SUBJECTS WAS PRE- AND POSTTESTED WITH (1) FOUR SUBSCALES OF THE WECHSLER ADULT INTELLIGENCE SCALE OR THE SAME SUBSCALES OF THE WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALE FOR CHILDREN, WHICHEVER WERE AGE APPROPRIATE, (2) THE IOWA SCALE OF SEVERITY, AND (3) THE GRAY ORAL READING TEST (EVALUATED IN TERMS OF TIME IN SECONDS TAKEN TO READ THE ASSIGNED PARAGRAPHS). PRETESTS INDICATED NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS ON AGE, INTELLIGENCE, OR THE GRAY TEST AND IOWA SCALE. ALSO, POSTTESTS INDICATED THAT THE GRAY TEST WAS NOT SIGNIFICANT BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS IN PRE- AND POSTTRAINING ASSESSMENT. THE RATINGS ON THE IOWA SCALE, HOWEVER, INDICATED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP (BEYOND THE .05 LEVEL) AS COMPARED TO THE CONTROL GROUP. IN ADDITION, THE THERAPIST JUDGED 10 OF THE EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS AS IMPROVED, AND THE SUBJECTS THEMSELVES CONSIDERED THE DEVICE HELPFUL. FURTHER RESEARCH IS URGED, AND A SCHEMATIC DRAWING OF THE AID IS INCLUDED. A TABLE PRESENTS DATA, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY LISTS 12 ITEMS. (GD)

A study, at the University of Chicago, of 177 unselected children--an entire first-grade class of normal intelligence, of common ethnic background, and within 6 months of their sixth birthday--was made to determine (1) whether those children with speech inaccuracies consistent enough to qualify them for speech therapy would achieve in their school subjects as well as children having no speech inaccuracies; (2) whether students receiving speech therapy (offered to half of the speech inaccuracy group) improved their school achievement or their articulation accuracy acquisition more than those not receiving therapy; and (3) whether a significant relationship existed between perceptual-modality factors and either school achievement or articulation. The study revealed no difference in school achievement between children who were considered to be in need of speech therapy and those who were not; no difference in school achievement whether a child had therapy or not; and no difference in improvement in articulation whether a child had speech therapy or not. A low but statistically significant relationship was found between the perceptual abilities and both articulation and school achievement. (Author/LH)

THE DIFFERENCES AMONG CHILDREN IN THEIR USE OF SPECIFIC MODALITIES FOR LEARNING AND THE NECESSARY ESTABLISHMENT OF PERCEPTUAL BASES FOR CONCEPTUAL LEARNING ARE DISCUSSED. A MODEL IS PRESENTED WHICH EMPHASIZES THE MODALITY-BOUND NATURE OF INPUT AND OUTPUT, AND ELABORATES THE HIERARCHIAL BUT INTERRELATED NATURE OF THE MATURATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEURAL SYSTEM. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE DISTINCTION OF MODALITY LEARNING LIES IN THE DIRECTION FOR ASSISTING UNDERACHIEVERS. THE EFFECT UPON READING ACHIEVEMENT IS DISCUSSED. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. THIS PAPER WAS PREPARED FOR PRESENTATION AT THE INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONVENTION (12TH, SEATTLE, MAY 4-6, 1967). (BK)

A longitudinal study of 120 children through grades one to six was undertaken. The present study focused on the intermediate grades (four through six). The goals were to explore the relationships among perceptual processing ability development, articulatory accuracy, intelligence, and academic achievement. The assessment battery consisted of an original five-part perceptual test battery; the Bender Visuo-Motor Gestalt test, the Dual Modality Test of Articulation, and the Metropolitan Achievement Test. The major findings of the study were that: the perceptual tests showed a yearly change characteristic of developmental processes; perceptual process ability and articulation errors became asymptotic by the end of the third grade; there was no discernible difference in articulation accuracy whether or not a child was exposed to speech therapy during the first three grades; there was a continuing effect upon school achievement of the level of perceptual processing ability at grade one; there was almost no discernible relationship between early articulation ability and school achievement at any grade level; and speech therapy did not enhance school achievement of those children who were exposed to it over those who were not. (Author)

Relatively little research has been done on the quantitative characteristics of children's word usage. This spoken count was undertaken to investigate those aspects of word usage and frequency which could cast light on lexical processes in grammar and verbal development in children. Three groups of 30 children each (boys and girls) from middle-class background were used. No child had any apparent speech or hearing handicap; all were from relatively urban areas and came from English-speaking homes. Each child was shown a 20-card form of the Thematic Apperception Test and was asked to tell stories for the pictures displayed on the cards. Each story-telling session lasted one hour and was tape-recorded. For each age group there are three word lists: (1) words ordered by frequency of use, (2) words categorized by part-of-speech classes, and (3) words alphabetically ordered. The codification procedure and the rationale for each frequency list are explained in detail. (FB)

This word count is a composite listing of the different words spoken by a selected sample of 54 English-speaking adults and the frequency with which each of the different words was used in a particular test. The stimulus situation was identical for each subject and consisted of 20 cards of the Thematic Apperception Test. Although most word counts are for written language, this spoken one was specifically undertaken to develop a base level from normal spoken language so that later a contrastive linguistic analysis of the verbal efforts of adult aphasic patients could be made. Three types of word frequency lists resulted--(1) words in the order of relative frequency of use, (2) words organized alphabetically within part-of-speech classes, and (3) words ordered alphabetically throughout. (FB)

THE AIM OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WAS TO IDENTIFY THE ARTICULATORY INACCURACY PROFILES OF CHILDREN ACCORDING TO THE ETIOLOGY OF THE CONDITION PRODUCING THE SPEECH DIFFICULTY. DURING THE FIRST PHASE OF THE RESEARCH, A BATTERY OF TESTS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE ARTICULATORY PATTERNS, VERBAL INTELLIGENCE, AND AUDITORY PERCEPTION OF NORMAL CHILDREN WAS PREPARED AND TESTED. THE SECOND PHASE OF THE RESEARCH WAS DEVOTED TO A STUDY OF THE ARTICULATORY ERRORS OF THREE EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS OF CHILDREN WITH SPEECH PROBLEMS STEMMING FROM DEVELOPMENTAL LAGS, FROM MENTAL RETARDATION, AND FROM AN OPERATED CLEFT PALATE OR CONGENITALLY SHORT PALATE. THE DATA COLLECTED FROM BOTH PHASES OF THE STUDY REVEALED THAT THE ARTICULATORY PROFILES DERIVED FOR CHILDREN WITH DIFFERENT ETIOLOGIES ARE EACH DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER AND READILY IDENTIFIABLE AS THE PROFILE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE ETIOLOGY OF THE DISORDER. THE GROUP CONSIDERED AS SUFFERING FROM DEVELOPMENTAL LAGS WAS FOUND TO HAVE ARTICULATORY ERROR PROFILES IDENTICAL WITH THE NORMAL POPULATION AND THEREFORE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AS PART OF THAT GROUP. (WB)

Paper presented at Annual Convention of the American Speech and Hearing Association (44th, Denver, November, 1968). (JJ)

Uncertainty scores of the type proposed in this study, if suitably refined, may measure the developmental progression from stereotyped reliance on individual syntactic forms to flexible utilization of productive rules. (Authors/CB)