Chromosome studies of children with specific speech and language delay.
Mutton DE, Lea J
Dev Med Child Neurol 1980 Oct 22:5 588-94

Abstract
Among 88 children with speech and language problems from whom chromosome results were obtained, four were identified with a chromosome anomaly. Three had sex chromosome aneuploidy and had developmental problems, particularly with articulation. The fourth child had low-grade trisomy 21 in blood, with minimal signs of Down's syndrome but with bilateral conductive hearing loss. It is suggested that delay in speech development is one facet of the developmental problems that may be significant in later behavioural problems in adolescent and adult males with X and Y aneuploidy.

Abstract
Forty-one children with sex chromosome anomalies identified from the chromosome screening of a newborn population were blindly evaluated by a speech-language pathologist, along with a control group of 31 siblings. 47,XXX girls and 47,XXY boys were found to have increased problems in auditory perception, receptive language, and expressive language; the problems of the 47,XXY boys were less severe than those of the 47,XXX group, and reflected specific deficits in their ability to process linguistic information rather than a deficit in comprehension. An increased occurrence of speech production problems among the 45,X girls was associated with the presence of oral/structural malformations that often had no measurable effect on their production of speech sounds. Although the 45,X girls and 47,XYY boys had no significant increase of problems in auditory reception, receptive language, and expressive language, the trend of the data suggested more difficulty than in the control groups. The mosaic children were not different from the control subjects. Some children in all groups were found to have normal speech and language development.

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Unexpected sex-ratios in families of language/learning-impaired children.
Tallal P, Ross R, Curtiss S
Neuropsychologia 1989 27:7 987-98

Abstract
There is a well-documented propensity of males affected with developmental language/learning impairment. Results from this study demonstrate, unexpectedly, that this sex-ratio difference of males to females with developmental language/learning disorders was found to occur significantly only in families with a language/learning-impaired mother. In addition, a remarkably aberrant offspring sex-ratio was found in families of language/learning-impaired children who had an affected mother, but not father. Mothers who were developmentally language/learning-impaired had three times as many sons as daughters, and five times as many language/learning-impaired sons as daughters. Genetic and hormonal influences that might affect both sex-ratio and neuroanatomical development and disorders are discussed.

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Praxic and nonverbal cognitive deficits in a large family with a genetically transmitted speech and language disorder.
Vargha-Khadem F, Watkins K, Alcock K, Fletcher P, Passingham R
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1995 Jan 31 92:3 930-3

Abstract
A pronounced speech and language disorder affecting half of the 30 members of the four-generational KE family has been attributed by some researchers to a specific defect in the generation of morphosyntactic rules. The reported selectivity of the impairment has led to the view that the affected members suffer from a grammar-specific disorder. Our investigations of the same KE family indicate that the inherited disorder has a broad phenotype which transcends impaired generation of syntactical rules and includes a striking articulatory impairment as well as defects in intellectual, linguistic, and orofacial praxic functions generally. Although the evidence from this family thus provides no support for the existence of ''grammar genes,'' their linguistic difficulties do constitute a prominent part of their phenotype. Investigations of the neural and genetic correlates of their disorder could therefore uncover important clues to some of the bases of the primary human faculties of speech and language.

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A grammatical specific language impairment in children: an autosomal dominant inheritance?
van der Lely HK, Stollwerck L
Brain Lang 1996 Mar 52:3 484-504

Abstract
The aim of this study is to provide further characterization of a subgroup of so-called ''Grammatical specific language-impaired (SLI)'' children. The Grammatical SLI children have a persistent and disproportionate impairment in grammatical comprehension and expression of language. Previous research has indicated that their language impairment may be characterized by a domain-specific and modular language deficit. This study provides an initial investigation as to whether there is a genetic basis underlying their disorder as has been found for other forms of SLI and for SLI in general. The incidence of familial aggregation of language impairment was investigated in 12 Grammatical SLI children (aged 9:3 to 12:10). A familial language impairment (LI) history was classified as positive if one or more of the probands' relatives had a history of a speech/language or reading/writing problem which required speech therapy or any other form of remedial help. Case history information provided an initial indication that the Grammatical SLI children had a significantly higher incidence of a positive familial LI history than could be expected by chance. A questionnaire provided evidence of a positive LI history in the first-degree relatives of the SLI probands and 49 normally developing control probands. The SLI probands had a clearly and significantly higher incidence of a positive familial LI history than the control probands (77.8 vs. 28.5%, respectively). The results are consistent with a genetic basis underlying Grammatical SLI. The pattern of impairment in the SLI probands' relatives is consistent with an autosomal dominant genetic inheritance. In contrast to the control probands, the SLI probands' impaired relatives did not show a male gender bias. Thus, the gene does not appear to be sex-linked. The data indicate that further research is warranted to investigate the nature of the LI in the relatives of the Grammatical SLI probands and the genetic characteristics of this subgroup. The implications for the biological, domain-specific, and modular bases to language are discussed
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Brain Lang 1983 May;19(1):115-23

Mirror writing in right-handers and in left-handers.

Tankle RS, Heilman KM

To determine whether normal left-handers were more adept than were normal right-handers at mirror writing, we tested right-handers and left-handers for their ability to mirror write. Independent of hand used, left-handers wrote mirror words (but not normal words) faster than did right-handers, which suggest that left-handers may be better able to reverse directions (left leads to right to right leads to left). Although when using their preferred hand, left-handers made fewer errors than did right-handers (using their preferred hand), the left hand both in right- and in left-handers was superior to the right hand. That the left hand was superior to the right is compatible with the hypothesis either that the right hemisphere contains mirror engrams or that movements away from the body are more accurate than movements toward the body or both.
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Brain Lang 1998 Sep;64(2):182-214

Do the hands talk on mind's behalf? Differences in language ability between left- and right-handed children.

Natsopoulos D, Kiosseoglou G, Xeromeritou A, Alevriadou A

University of Thessaloniki, Hellas, Greece.

Two hundred seventy children of school age, 135 of whom were left-handed and an
equivalent number of whom were right-handed, have been examined in the present study using a test battery of nine language ability measures: Vocabulary, Similarities, Comprehension (WISC-R), Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning, Sentence Completion, Comprehension of Sentential Semantics, Comprehension of Syntax, and Text Processing. The data analysis has indicated that: (1) One-factor solution applies both to the right- and left-handed population according to Standard Error Scree Method (Zoski & Jurs, 1996) with regard to language ability measures. (2) Handedness discriminates between right-handers (superior) and left-handers (inferior) in language ability. (3) There have been subgroups of left-handed children who differ in language ability distribution compared with right-handed children according to Hierarchical Cluster Analysis. (4) Extreme versus mild bias to hand
preference and hand skill do not differentiate performance subgroups neither within the left-handed nor within the right-handed main group. (5) Sex and familial sinistrality do not affect performance. The results are discussed in relation to (a) "human balanced polymorphism" theory advocated by Annett (mainly Annett, 1985, 1993a; Annett & Manning, 1989), (b) potential pathology (mainly Bishop, 1984, 1990a; Coren & Halpern, 1991; Satz, Orsini, Saslow & Henry, 1985) and "developmental instability" (Yeo, Gangestad & Daniel, 1993), and delay of left-hemisphere maturation in left-handed individuals (Geschwind & Galaburda, 1985a,b, 1987), by pointing out the strength and weaknesses of these theoretical approaches in accounting for the present data. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.
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Onset of speech after left hemispherectomy in a nine-year-old boy.
Vargha-Khadem F, Carr LJ, Isaacs E, Brett E, Adams C, Mishkin M
Brain 1997 Jan 120 ( Pt 1) 159-82

Abstract
Case Alex, with Sturge-Weber Syndrome affecting the left hemisphere, failed
to develop speech throughout early boyhood, and his comprehension of single words and simple commands remained stagnant at an age
equivalent of 3-4 years. But then, following left hemidecortication at age
8.5 years and withdrawal of anticonvulsants when he was more than 9 years old, Alex suddenly began to acquire speech and language. He also showed an unusual degree of residual motor capacity on his right side. Alex's remarkable progress in learning speech and language, and the development of his other cognitive abilities, were measured periodically from the age of 9 to 15 years. His most recent scores on tests of receptive and expressive
language place him at an age equivalent of 8-10 years. Comparison with the
level of function attained in these domains by nine other left hemispherectomized patients with early onset of disease and comparable
IQ (range, 40-68) but with early development of speech and language,
suggests that, surprisingly, Alex has suffered no permanent disadvantage from his protracted period of mutism and severely limited comprehension. Although the findings in Alex, as in other left-hemispherectomized patients, indicate define limits to the cognitive and linguistic capacity of the isolated right hemisphere, Alex's achievements appear to challenge the widely held view that early childhood is a particularly critical period for acquisition of speech and language or any of their selective aspects, including phonology,
grammar, prosody and semantics. It is concluded that clearly articulated, well structured, and appropriate language can be acquired for the first
time as late as age 9 years with the right hemisphere alone.

 Author Address
Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Institute of Child Health, UK.
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Children's language disorders: recent research advances.
Ludlow CL
Ann Neurol 1980 Jun 7:6 497-507  [look at the date!]

Abstract
Between 3 and 8% of preschool children in Britain and the United States are
delayed in their language development by more than a year below the normal range. Evidence suggests that such children are particularly impaired in acquiring syntactic and morphological rules, although well-defined syndromes of impaired language development have not yet been determined. The effects of preschool impairments in language development on subsequent school achievement are significant: 60% of these children are in special classes for the learning impaired at 9 years of age. Auditory
processing deficits have been demonstrated in language-impaired children, but the contributions of such deficits to language development difficulties have yet to be determined. While autistic children have severe
cognitive disorders and visual and auditory perceptual disturbances, the difficulties of nonautistic language-impaired children seem confined
more to language expression and comprehension. Recent neuropsychological
evidence concerning brain organization for language behavior suggests that these children have deficiencies in language functions which normally depend on left hemisphere functioning.

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Communication development and its disorders: a psycholinguistic perspective.
Paul R, Cohen DJ
Schizophr Bull 1982 8:2 279-93

Abstract
There is a reciprocal relationship between the study of language disorders
and research in normal language development. Recent studies in normal acquisition have led to a model of language development that
includes not only linguistic achievements, but the development of social and
cognitive abilities that lay the basis for the transition from prelinguistic communication to the use of conventional forms. This model has
been applied to the study of developmental disorders of language learning.
Such a model allows the more puzzling disorders of language development, such as childhood aphasia and primary autism, to be placed in a framework that predicts language disruption when underlying perceptual,

Relationship between imaginative play and language development in
hearing-impaired children.
Schirmer BR
Am Ann Deaf 1989 Jul 134:3 219-22

Abstract
The relationship between imaginative play and language development was
investigated in a group of 20 severely and profoundly hearing-impaired children between the ages of 3 and 6. Each child was videotaped
in a 60-minute session interacting with the investigator and playing with
three sets of toys: a miniature house, barn, and garage. Analysis of the subjects' language revealed that 15 were operating in Brown's (1973) Stage 1, one in Stage 3, and four in Stage 5. Play was analyzed along three dimensions: (a) percentage of time engaged in imaginative play; (b) use of planned pretend; and (c) use of story line. A significant relationship was found between imaginative play and language development. Results revealed no relationship between imaginative play and chronological age. Correspondences were found between language development and use of planned pretend and story line.

Abstract

To what extent is the neural organization of language
dependent on factors specific to the modalities in which
language is perceived and through which it is produced?
That is, is the left-hemisphere dominance for language
a function of a linguistic specialization or a function of
some domain-general specialization(s), such as
temporal processing or motor planning? Investigations
of the neurobiology of signed language can help answer
these questions. As with spoken languages, signed
languages of the deaf display complex grammatical
structure but are perceived and produced via radically
different modalities. Thus, by mapping out the
neurological similarities and differences between signed
and spoken language, it is possible to identify
modality-specific contributions to brain organization for
language. Research to date has shown a significant
degree of similarity in the neurobiology of signed and
spoken languages, suggesting that the neural
organization of language is largely modality-independent.
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Language learning and retention in young language-disordered children.
Gaines R, Leaper C, Monahan C, Weickgenant A
J Autism Dev Disord 1988 Jun 18:2 281-96

Abstract
Simultaneous sign and spoken language training was conducted with young,
language-disordered children under standardized training and follow-up conditions with a stringent learning criterion to determine if language learned was stable over time. Twenty-one children between 36 and 86 months with no or nonfunctional language participated in the study. Diagnoses included
autism, mental retardation, combined autism and mental retardation, and developmental aphasia. Children completed a mean of 74 signed speech
training sessions. Sessions were twice daily, 5 days a week. Follow-up
evaluations were made approximately 6 months after training. Of the 21 children, 17 learned at least one word and 7 children learned multiple-word phrases during the training. Most language learned in training was found to be retained at follow-up approximately 6 months later. Gestural imitation, play style, language age, developmental age, and fine motor skills had strong correlations with language learning and retention.
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Whole language and deaf bilingual-bicultural education--naturally!
Mason D, Ewoldt C
Am Ann Deaf 1996 Oct 141:4 293-8

Abstract
This position paper discusses how the tenets of Whole Language and Deaf
Bilingual-Bicultural Education complement each other. It stresses that Whole Language is based on natural processes through which children can translate their constructs of personal experiences, observations, and perspectives into modes of communication that include written language and, in the present case, American Sign Language. The paper is based on two emphases: (a) Whole Language emphasizes a two-way teaching/learning process, teachers learning from children, and vice versa; and (b) Deaf Bilingual-Bicultural Education emphasizes American Sign Language as a language of instruction and builds on mutual respect for the similarities and differences in the sociocultural and socioeducational experiences and values of Deaf and hearing people. Both Whole Language and Deaf Bilingual-Bicultural Education attempt to authenticate curriculum by integrating Deaf persons' worldviews as part of educational experience.
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A comparison of sign and verbal language training with nonverbal retarded
children.
Kahn JV
J Speech Hear Res 1981 Mar 24:1 113-9

Abstract
Twelve nonverbal, hearing, retarded children were matched and then randomly assigned to sign language training, speech training, and placebo groups. Four of the subjects received speech training using the Bricker. Dennison, and Bricker (1976) program, and four subjects received
sign language training using an adaptation of the Bricker et al. program. The results indicated no statistically significant difference between the verbal and sign language groups through the sign group and verbal group did learn significantly more than the placebo group. A closer examination of the findings indicated that although all four of the sign language subjects learned some signs, only two of the four speech training subjects learned to say words. The findings were interpreted as indicating that some nonverbal retarded children will benefit [MORE?] from sign language than speech training. Suggestions for the direction of future research are given.
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Dissociation between linguistic and nonlinguistic gestural systems: a case
for
compositionality.
Corina DP, Poizner H, Bellugi U, Feinberg T, Dowd D, O'Grady-Batch L
Brain Lang 1992 Oct 43:3 414-47

Abstract
This paper addresses the issue of the separability of disorders of sign
language from disorders of gesture and pantomime. The study of a left-lesioned deaf signer presents one of the most striking examples to date
of the cleavage between linguistic signs and manual pantomime. The
left-hemisphere lesion produced a marked sign language aphasia disrupting both the production and the comprehension of sign language.
However, in sharp contrast to the breakdown of sign language, the ability
to communicate in nonlinguistic gesture was remarkably spared. This case has important implications for our understanding of the neural mediation of language and gesture. We argue that the differences observed in the fractionation of linguistic versus nonlinguistic gesture reflect differing degrees of compositionality of systems underlying language and gesture. The compositionality hypothesis receives support for the existence of phonemic paraphasias in sign language production, illustrating structural dissolution which is absent in the production of pantomimic gesture. Understanding the neural encoding of compositional motoric systems may lead to a principled anatomical account of the neural separability of language and gesture. Thiscase provides a powerful indication of the left hemisphere's specialization for language-specific functions.