Abstract

This study re-examined the language and social skills of four females with language impairment who were initially studied eight years ago (Brinton, Fujiki, Montague, & Hanton, 2000; Fujiki, Brinton, Isaacson, & Summers, 2001). Language measures included the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Fourth Edition (Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 2003) and a thirty minute language sample. Social measures included the UCLA Loneliness Scale-Version 3 (Russell, 1996), parent, teacher and student forms of the Social Skills Rating System (Gresham & Elliott, 1990), and an interview with each participant's teacher or speech-language pathologist. Results of the current assessment were compared to results from the original assessment. In terms of social ability, the two girls who were classified as having the best social skills initially, Jean and Kristine, still appeared to be the most successful in the current study. Despite their social strengths, Jean's teacher indicated that she was socially immature and had difficulty reading the social cues of teachers and peers. Kristine reported that she prefers isolation. Her teacher reported that Kristine may be at risk for self-harm. Amy was still enrolled in resource and speech-language services. Though she had found acceptance in a cultural peer group, her communication style often appeared rude and disrespectful to adults. Marie was dismissed from speech-language intervention, but was still enrolled in resource and received extra academic support from Sylvan Learning Center to be moderately successful. Socially, she demonstrated a high level of problem behaviors and mood swings. According to the UCLA Loneliness Scale, she experienced the most loneliness and isolation of the four subjects. Similar to what has been observed in group studies of children with language impairment, the results from this study found social deficits in these individuals persisted into young-adulthood.

Degree

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Communication Disorders

Rights

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