Non-linguistic cognitive treatment for primary language impairment.

Children with primary or 'specific' language impairment (PLI) demonstrate subtle deficits in nonlinguistic cognitive processing skills that may play a causal or contributing role in PLI. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility that short-term treatment of non-linguistic cognitiv...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Clinical Linguistics & Phonetics Vol. 23; no. 9; pp. 647 - 665
Autores principales: Ebert KD, Kohnert K
Formato: clinical trial research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Sep2009
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Children with primary or 'specific' language impairment (PLI) demonstrate subtle deficits in nonlinguistic cognitive processing skills that may play a causal or contributing role in PLI. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility that short-term treatment of non-linguistic cognitive processing skills improves language abilities in school-aged children with PLI. Two children with severe PLI participated in a treatment study following a single-subject multiple-baseline design across participants and skill areas. Treatment activities targeted auditory memory and speed of processing for visual information. Results of both repeated dependent measures and pre- and post- standardized language testing indicated that participants made gains in expressive language skills, particularly naming. This preliminary evidence suggests that treatment of non-linguistic cognitive processing skills may facilitate change in some areas of language skill. Treatment of non-linguistic processing skills should be further explored as a complement to more traditional language interventions.